Bassma Kodmani

Basma Kodmani is a political scientist by training and a Professor of International Relations at Paris University.

She is the Executive Director of the Arab Reform Initiative and previously led the Governance and International Cooperation Programme for the Middle East in North Africa at the Ford Foundation. In August 2011, Kodmani participated in the founding of the Syrian National Council and was a member of the Executive Bureau and Head of the Foreign Relations Bureau until 2012.

She was the recipient of the 2011 Raymond Georis Prize for innovative philanthropy for the role of the Arab Reform Initiative in promoting democracy in the context of the Arab Spring.