Maha Al-Azar

Responsible for all communication for USAID-funded Lebanon Water Project, a five-year development project whose goal is to improve the water service and water quality in Lebanon, via infrastructure, institutional development, and capacity building interventions
Develop and implement communication strategy for the project. Goal of communication strategy is to promote USAID achievements; raising awareness about several water-related topics; and enhancing the capacities of government of Lebanon partners and boosting their image with the public
Devise creative ways to communicate about technical aspects of the project in an engaging manner
Develop engaging videos for social media and events
Create and implement social media strategy, including creating Facebook page and managing it
Develop communication capacities of government of Lebanon partners
Act at media and press liaison for project and government partners, booking interviews and placing articles to promote project achievements
Report success stories to USAID through engaging articles
Manage and supervise the work of communication officer and audiovisual officer
Develop and produce communication material, including brochures, fact sheets, flyers, content for TV and Facebook, and branded giveaways
Develop and implement communication campaigns whose goals is to change behaviors related to water use, including conserving water and reduce pollution
Organize events attended by U.S. Embassy and government of Lebanon senior officials
Edit content in English and Arabic for social media, news media, and communication material, including coloring books, card games, scripts, educational teacher’s guide sheets etc…

I set the communication strategy for the school and implemented it, irganizing special donor events, producing an interactive magazine that uses augmented reality, and writing engaging articles about school activities

Set strategies to develop relations between the university and local, regional and international media
Handle crisis communication and develop strategic communication plan
Identify appropriate spokesperson(s) for the university, prepping them for interviews as needed
Coordinate between event planning, web, electronic/social media, photography and graphic design
Plan future coverage, and generate feature ideas for university publications
Develop relations with news outlets and liaise between them and the university
Manage News and Media Unit team; develop policies and procedures; streamline workflow
Pitch stories about students and university activities to local and foreign media
Edit articles in university publications and website
Write feature articles, web stories, talking points and news releases
Act as representative and liaison for university abroad

- Develop relations between the university and local, regional and international media
- Liaise between local and foreign news correspondents and the university; build relations with the press and diplomatic corps
- Pitch stories about students and university activities to local and foreign media
- Edit articles in university publications and website
- Plan future coverage, and generate feature ideas for university publications
- Write feature articles and news releases
- Act as representative and liaison for university abroad

- Managed 35 reporters and staff
- Decided on news and feature coverage; developed long-term strategy for editorial content
- Conceptualized and planned for the paper’s future; developed a page on youth issues
- Assigned stories to reporters and photographers
- Coached and trained interns and reporters

- Researched and wrote daily and feature articles mainly on legal, political or environmental issues in Lebanon
- Established wide network of contacts in various sectors
- Generated ideas for feature articles