Sammar is the Research and Program Manager at the Center for Middle East Development, where she works with our international partners to coordinate the content of CMED conferences. She first joined CMED in 2015 as a student intern while earning her Bachelor’s degree from the UCLA International Institute in International Development Studies, with a concentration in the Middle East and North Africa. In 2016, Sammar joined the permanent staff as CMED’s first Center Associate, where she supported conference administration and logistics.

Sammar previously worked at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a think-tank based in Washington, D.C. She speaks fluent Spanish and spent one year teaching English in Jaen, Spain. After work, Sammar can usually be caught eating hummus, making Spotify playlists, or re-watching The Dark Knight Rises.