Dr. Manal Abdel-Samad
Strategic Governance Leader | Former Minister | Senior Executive Advisor | Academic |
Champion of Women’s Leadership and Equity
A Legacy of Leadership & Reform
To begin with, Dr. Manal Abdel-Samad is a seasoned executive leader, reform strategist, and educator with over 27 years of impactful experience across public governance, fiscal policy, digital transformation, executive education, and institutional reform in the Middle East. Furthermore, her career spans high-level public service, advisory roles on regional Giga projects, and thought leadership at the intersection of policy, innovation, and communication.
Steering a Nation Through Crisis: A Tenure of Principle
Notably, as Lebanon’s former Minister of Information, Dr. Abdel-Samad led the national communication strategy during one of the country’s most turbulent periods, encompassing the COVID-19 pandemic, the Beirut Port explosion, and the height of the financial and institutional crisis. In parallel, she championed transparency, media reform, and access-to-information initiatives, while leading efforts to modernize the media legal framework to better protect journalists’ rights and to align media regulation with rapid technological change, evolving digital ecosystems, and emerging media business models. Her tenure included securing international funding to digitize the national audiovisual archive and proposing a new public-interest media business model that balances sustainability with editorial independence. She also represented Lebanon at the Arab League, advocating for ethical journalism, inclusion, and regional dialogue, and contributing to collective efforts to advance responsible and future-ready media governance across the region.
Architect of Fiscal Modernization
Building on this, her public finance legacy includes playing a leading role as a pioneer member in the implementation of VAT, contributing to GCC-wide tax reform, and modernizing taxpayer services and fiscal transparency mechanisms. Previously, she served as Head of Tax Policy & legislation, Tax Audit, and VAT Refund at Lebanon’s Ministry of Finance, and has led governance reforms in Tunisia, Yemen, and Lebanon as part of technical missions with the IMF,UNDP, and USAID.
Shaping Vision 2030 & Corporate Innovation
Following this, Dr. Abdel-Samad has served as a Senior Executive Advisor with Big Four consulting firms, providing strategic advisory across the GCC – primarily in Saudi Arabia -and the wider Middle East. Her work has focused on national transformation and giga initiatives aligned with Vision 2030, including government innovation, tax strategy, policy transformation, and national branding. She brings a distinctive ability to bridge public-sector reform with private-sector execution in complex, high-impact environments.
A Resolute Voice for Women’s Equity
In parallel, a passionate champion of women’s leadership and equity, Dr. Abdel-Samad has broken gender barriers in ministries, boardrooms, and international forums, using her platform to inspire, mentor, and elevate women in public leadership, governance, and STEM fields. As a result, she is an active member of the OECD Women in Tax Transparency Network and a vocal proponent of equitable policymaking, inclusive reform, and women’s leadership visibility across the Arab world.
Educating the Next Generation of Leaders
Concurrently, an acclaimed educator, she has taught leadership, public policy, taxation, governance, and strategy at leading institutions, including the American University of Beirut (AUB), Université Saint-Joseph (USJ), and American University of Malta (AUM). Moreover, she also designs and delivers high-level capacity-building programs for ministers, C-suite executives, and senior public officials across the MENA region.
Credentials of Distinction
To summarize her qualifications, Dr. Abdel-Samad holds a PhD in Law with high distinction and congrats of the jury (Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne), an MBA in Finance from the American University of Beirut (GPA 4/4), and an Executive Certificate from Harvard Kennedy School in Public & Fiscal Policy. Finally, she is PMP certified and fluent in Arabic, English, and French.
Editor’s Note:
Ultimately, Dr. Manal Abdel-Samad’s biography is more than a list of titles and achievements; it is a blueprint for transformative leadership. In a landscape often defined by barriers, she has consistently built bridges—between policy and people, reform and reality, ambition and inclusion. Her journey reminds us that true impact is measured not only by the institutions we strengthen but by the people we empower and the ceilings we shatter for those who follow. She embodies the powerful truth that leadership, at its best, is a legacy of lifting others.
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