My experience can be summarized in 3 letters: C, K, and T.
C for Coffee and Connection
Over the years, I saw how a cup of coffee can solve conflicts, raise morals, ease failures, and more importantly build connections. Throughout my career, I learned that answers were not always found in textbooks, but most of the time through simple human connection. This realization helped me overcome many challenges in the different professional roles I took on. Genuine connection became one of my resilience strategies and always a source of fascination.
K for Khal and Knowledge
Helen Khal is one of my favorite Lebanese female painters. One of her paintings conveys knowledge about history, technique, culture, and gender. Having previously worked in two different sectors, development and the private sector, and having an inclination to art and academia, I was always interested in how (and by whom) knowledge is produced, transmitted and mobilized. Particularly, to new ways of harvesting different types of knowledge and creating spaces that bring them together.
T for Travel and Transformation
Traveling is a fundamental aspect of my personal and professional growth. I traveled to Kuwait when I was 21 to pursue my first career, then a few years later, I went to Scotland to seek my MSc in International Development. Afterwards, I moved to South Africa to start my second career. Through the transformational experiences, I learned to adapt quickly, befriend my fears, and most importantly, face complexity with ease. I also discovered that my best work environment is a diverse, multicultural, and innovative one.
Drawn mostly to the genuine, curious, and active energy of the team, I joined Perspectivity as a Young Enterpriser and Perspectivity Network as a coordinator in April 2020. I am currently based in Beirut, Lebanon.
My focus will be to bring Perspectivity’s innovative participatory methods and tools to the MENA region in different capacities, mainly through facilitating cross-sectorial partnerships and participatory, system-level change processes to advance the region’s sustainability, resilience, and social welfare.
Contact:
E: nohad.elhajj@new.perspectivity.org
S: nohad elhajj
L: Nohad ElHajj
Helen Khal’s paintings at one of the exhibitions in Beirut