Seven Years of Building Leadership: 58 New Leaders Organizing for Change

By Tamara Khalaf

Director of Teaching and Learning
Ahel for Community Organizing

In leading our workshops and courses, I am always mindful that these spaces must be more than a safe haven for leaders—they should be launchpads, sending people back into their communities equipped for action and impact. This vision guided us as we concluded the 7th year of our five-month, Arabic-language course, Organizing and Leading Collective Action for Change. This year’s program graduated 58 inspiring leaders from 10 countries—Jordan, Morocco, Lebanon, Sudan, Tunisia, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Palestine, and Egypt—each advancing campaigns for justice in extraordinarily challenging times.

A year of unprecedented challenges

In 2025, leaders organized in the midst of some of the most difficult political and socio-economic challenges in the region’s recent history. In Gaza, people have endured nearly two years of genocide and devastating war, living through displacement, famine, and countless other tragedies. Across the Middle East, communities continue to struggle with severe political, economic, and humanitarian challenges.

Against this backdrop, the course became more than training—it was a space for leadership, solidarity, and hope. Over 20 weeks, leaders engaged in live lectures, small-group sections, skill practice, and personalized coaching, applying the five organizing practices—public narrative, building relationships, structuring leadership teams, strategizing, and taking action—directly to their own campaigns.

Through this process, leaders discovered new ways of leading. As Salman from Lebanon reflected, “I now believe a true leader is someone who asks the right questions and creates a safe space for people to answer them—so they can build the solutions themselves.” Majed from Tunisia shared that “Good organizing does not lead people—it helps them realize they were leaders all along; they just forgot the way.” For Ali from Iraq, this shift was transformative: “Restoring power to the people is no longer just a slogan to me—it has become my guiding work method.”

This year’s campaigns tackled urgent and diverse issues: in Lebanon, campaigns worked to expand women’s leadership, strengthen grassroots organizing, and promote mental health support; in Tunisia, they defended women farmers’ rights and advanced rural cooperative work; in Palestine, organizers built youth teams to address community issues and reclaim public spaces; in Iraq, activists strengthened environmental protection and legal advocacy; in Egypt, campaigns mobilized farmers in Shubra Meles to revive local markets and advanced policies to protect press freedom; and in Jordan and Syria, initiatives focused on empowering women and fostering participatory leadership. Other campaigns across the region promoted youth leadership in schools and encouraged political participation through strategic electoral organizing—all grounded in building strong, sustainable grassroots teams that can lead change in their communities.

Impact Snapshot – What leaders achieved during the course

Gratitude and looking ahead

This achievement would not be possible without the dedication of our Masaq team, led by Rahaf Abu Doha with the steadfast support of Walaa AbdelFattah. The course was guided by Nisreen Haj Ahmad as lead lecturer, alongside teaching fellows Sahbiya Kayyal (Tunisia), Thuraya Hejazi (Syria), and Salwa Hammad (Palestine).

We extend special thanks to our partners for providing 53 scholarships this year, ensuring access for leaders who might otherwise be excluded. As we look to the future, sustaining and expanding this kind of support will be vital to ensure that every leader can participate, regardless of financial means.

As we look ahead to the 8th year of the course in 2026, we remain committed to building leaders who can organize for justice in the hardest of times. With your continued partnership, we can ensure that more campaigns, more communities, and more voices are equipped to lead change.

Together, we are building the collective power our region needs.