QAIC Welcomes Two New Hires

QAIC made multiple hires in the past month to expand our team; we welcome two experienced, driven, and passionate members to our organization:

Susan Barrows Libby has joined our team as the Director of Communications. She brings over 25 years of experience in communications and external relations, the past 15 of which have been working with international relief and development organizations. Having spent two years in Haïti after her undergraduate studies, Susan developed a keen interest in and respect for cultures and religious beliefs.

While the predominance of her nonprofit work has been with large, global organizations, she recently shifted to advising small, micro-focused nonprofits. She has worked with at-risk populations in Iraq and Afghanistan and mentored transitioning senior military officers.

Susan’s long-time interest in comparative religion, arts and culture, and international development and relations drew her to Qatar America Institute for Culture. She is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in International Strategy and Statecraft at The Institute of World Politics in Washington, D.C.

MK Smith has joined our team as the Senior Communications Officer. She comes to QAIC with 4 years of experience working for nonprofit organizations.  The organizations for which she worked were primarily concerned with misrepresentations of the Arab Middle East, such as the Arab Studies Institute and the Beirut Forum. During her undergraduate studies, MK was fortunate to spend a semester studying at Georgetown University Qatar (GU-Q). At GU-Q, her education was not limited to the classroom. The semester exposed her to the beauty of Qatari culture and the power of cross-cultural understanding among classmates and colleagues. Her interest in QAIC is grounded in her aspirations to introduce those living in America to the nuanced culture of the Arab Middle East, just as those living in the region have done for her. 

MK holds a B.A. in Arab and Islamic Studies, as well as Political Science, from Villanova University and a M.A. in Arab Studies from Georgetown University’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies. At Georgetown, she concentrated her research on the intersections of Islam, Law, and Gender. MK’s studies and career have allowed her to live and study in Qatar, Jordan, Morocco, England and Switzerland. She is proficient in Arabic.