Melissa El Feghali

Strategy and Operations Assistant (Based in Lebanon)

Melissa is a strategist, advocate, and active volunteer focused on youth leadership and advancing gender equality. She currently serves as Strategy and Operations Assistant at World YWCA, where she drives global engagement and operational coordination to support youth and women’s advocacy.

Melissa was a Global Youth Representative of the Gender Patrol at the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) and a member of the UN Youth Office’s Youth Reference Group, where she provides strategic input to the UNYO on advancing meaningful youth engagement.

In addition to her current roles, Melissa has extensive experience in application review and selection processes. She has reviewed and assessed applications for several youth programs, including imaGen ventures by Generation Unlimited, Moonshot Camp and Awards, and as a pre-shift consultant for the Global Youth Mobilization EU Youth Empowerment Fund (YEF). Her experience in these roles has equipped her with the expertise to evaluate and select impactful projects and initiatives that promote youth leadership and innovation across global platforms.

Melissa’s commitment to gender equality is further demonstrated by her role as a MEPI Tomorrow’s Leaders Gender Scholar during her studies at the Lebanese American University (LAU). She also has a published article in the Al-Raida Journal, exploring gender discrimination within Scouting. Melissa holds a Bachelor of Science in Bioinformatics with a Minor in Computer Science and has held leadership roles at The ARK as the Program Manager and later the COO, and at Geek Express where she was the co-lead trainer for the Girls Innovate Program, which empowered 120 young girls in Gambia with coding and ICT skills. She is also a Generation Connect Arab Youth Envoy Alumni, a Gender Champion at the ITU, and among the first certified NewGen Peacebuilders and Facilitators in the MENA region. She was previously a Generation Connect Implementation Intern at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Arab Regional Office; she played a key role in supporting the Generation Connect regional efforts, including organizing youth engagement activities and contributing to implementing the ITU Youth Strategy in the Arab region.