Lorraine Charles

Lorraine’s expertise is the political economy, development, education and livelihoods in the Middle East.  She has also worked on issues related to the Syrian crisis since 2011.

Lorraine is a research associate at the Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge and the Geneva Centre for Security Policy on their Syria Transitions Challenges Project. She is also Project Affiliate for Refugeework.net, a research project at the University of Edinburgh, which conducts research on digital livelihoods for refugees. She is co-founder and director of Na’amal, which provides support for refugees and other vulnerable populations to access dignified livelihoods, particularly remote work, via soft skills training, mentorship and links to the private sector. She is also the project manager for Basmat Amal, a volunteer education and livelihood project that provides support to vulnerable Syrian families in Abu Dhabi. She has worked as a consultant with NGOs, INGOs and government entities as well as in academia and the private sector.