Maggie Mitchell Salem

Maggie is Resident Senior Director at National Democratic Institute (NDI). Previously, Maggie was Executive Director of QFI (Qatar Foundation Intl) where she and a talented team led student-centered K-12 education programs in three areas: Arabic Language, Arab Societies & Culture, and Connected Communities. Before, she was Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region at the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), a leading democracy and governance NGO. She was Director of Communications and External Relations at the Middle East Institute and started her career as a Foreign Service Officer at the U.S. State Department. There she served as a Special Assistant to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and as a Special Assistant to Ambassador Martin S. Indyk at the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel. Maggie completed coursework for a master’s degree in contemporary Arab studies at Georgetown University and was a Fulbright scholar in Syria. She holds bachelor’s degrees from The Johns Hopkins University in political science and psychology.