ARABELLE BARBIR

Co-founded the nonprofit organization Babylon Inc. and volunteered to facilitate and implement grants projects supporting vulnerable communities and raising youth awareness.

• In Lebanon – Political Section- Liaise between U.S Federal Grants Offices and local grantees, and serve as Grants Officer Representative (GOR)
• Manage grants projects for civil society in the Good Governance and Transparency, Civic Education, Youth participation, women's empowerment, environment, Science & Technology fields.
• Coordinate the U.S Department of State’s Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) educational and leadership exchange programs.
• Advise on strategies for future assistance programs.
• Coordinate with other donors on development assistance programs with non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
• Recruit candidates to match different youth programs.
• Managed and monitored more than a 100 U.S Federal awards.
• Trained new project officers on their roles and responsibilities.
• Managed and supervised administrative and daily program operations, complying with policies and regulations
• Coached team members on productivity strategies to accomplish challenging goals
• Identified program obstacles and communicated possible impacts to team
• Developed and maintained logistics workflows, procedures and reports

• In Lebanon – Executive Office-Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI, Served as Project Officer.
• Submitted recommendations on different MEPI exchange and educational programs.
• Monitored implementers’ compliance with U.S Grants regulations.
• Liaised with MEPI Washington and regional offices.
• Facilitated international visits of US official delegations.
• Translated official documents from Arabic and French to English.
• Reviewed and evaluated hundreds of project proposals and programs applications.

• Economic & Commercial Section
• Developed business contacts for Japanese companies.
• Coordinated the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) economic projects and study grants with concerned governmental offices and representatives.
• Prepared embassy’s press releases.
• Served as confidential translator and interpreter to top diplomats.
• Supported the grassroots grants program and liaised with NGOs.

Supported the management of financial portfolios for important bank clients by coordinating between the front and the back offices.