Mahmoud Al-Bakour is a research fellow with the American Center for Levant Studies.  He is a Syrian researcher and investigative journalist specializing in documenting human rights violations in the Syrian conflict. He has years of experience in producing reports of the human toll of the conflict and in managing youth volunteer teams inside Syria.

From 2017 to 2019, Al-Bakour worked as a field researcher at Syrians for Truth and Justice, a non-governmental organization focused on documenting human rights violations.

Al-Bakour also has years of experience in Syrian media and in publishing multimedia reports on the human rights situation in Syria. In 2013, he was a co-founder of Radio Alwan FM, based in Saraqeb, and until 2018 he produced and presented several radio programs at the station.  From 2015 to 2016, he also served as Director of the Media Office of the Local Council of Saraqeb City, Idlib Governorate. And from 2018 to 2019 he worked as a correspondent for The Bridge satellite channel.

As a youth volunteer manager, Al-Bakour founded the Sheraa Volunteer Team and served as its Director General from 2019 to 2022. Al-Bakour’s team was among the first to provide psychological support, education, and talent development among displaced children coming to northern Syria.

In addition to his role with ACLS, Al-Bakour is currently the Director of the Legal Office and Freedoms of the Syrian Media Association in Northern Syria, which includes more than 350 activists.

Al-Bakour holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the Sryian Virtual University in Damascus and is originally from the city of Saraqeb, Idlib Governorate, Syria.