An international expert in urban planning and development. She has been Vice President of the International Urban Development Institute in the United States since 2005. She served as Head of the Qasioun Foothills Development Project, and an Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University in America between 1985 and 2008. She also worked in the Supreme Council for Urban Planning and Development. " in Egypt. She has 35 years of experience working in Africa, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. She holds a doctorate in urban and regional planning from Harvard University, a master’s degree in the same field, and a bachelor’s degree in architecture from Cairo University .