Lama Al Atassi is an expert in Middle Eastern affairs and prominent commentator whose research and work focuses on the interaction between politics and civil society.  She has published extensively in Arabic and French on political issues, especially as they relate to Islam, the status of women, and the coexistence of religious communities.

Since the onset of the Syrian Revolution, Ms. Atassi has worked with NGOs at the United Nations, the European Parliament, and the Federation for World Peace International, to highlight the atrocities and war crimes carried out by the Syrian regime. She has also worked extensively to promote the social education of the Syrian refugee population in France and elsewhere. Through her own Paris-based NGO, the House of Syria, Lama and her team promote high-profile cultural activities in order to promote and preserve Syrian culture and national identity.

Previously Lama served as the Europe-based director of communications for the Free Syrian Army from 2011 to 2012; as a member of the first Syrian opposition conference, Change in Syria for Democracy; and as founder and president of the Paris-based NGO France-Syrie Démocratie, which organized actions in support of the Syrian revolution in France.

Ms. Atassi holds a master’s degree in Skill assessment career development and coaching  from the University of Paris Nanterre, and she worked in the NTIC field in France from 2000-2010 before focusing her work on the Syrian crisis. She continues to work as a consultant in skills assessment and career management in Paris.

As the descendant of a prominent Syrian opposition family who has spent most of her life in France, Ms. Atassi serves the unique role of promoting civil society understanding between the Syrian and French people. Since 2011, she also has been a prominent media commentator on the difficulties and opportunities facing the Syrian people, with frequent television and radio appearances in French and Arabic, including France 2, Franceinfo, France 24, BFM TV, Dubai TV, BBC TV, and many others.