Lina AbiRafeh
Lina AbiRafeh | |
|---|---|
| Born | Saudi Arabia |
| Occupation(s) | Feminist advocate, writer, senior advisor, founder and chief changemaker of Better4Women |
| Years active | –present |
| Known for | Women's rights advocacy, gender equality in developing nations and humanitarian settings |
| Notable work | Burn it Down, Build it Better: A Woman's Guide to Ending Workplace BS (2025); Yalla Feminists: Arab Rights and Resistance (2023); Gender and International Aid in Afghanistan (2009); Freedom on the Frontlines (2022) |
Lina AbiRafeh is widely acknowledged as a leading authority on women's rights worldwide. An Arab-American feminist advocate and writer, her work centers on gender-related challenges within developing nations and humanitarian settings globally. AbiRafeh has collaborated with multiple United Nations bodies and global NGOs, held the position of executive director at the Arab Institute for Women at the Lebanese American University, and currently serves as a senior advisor. Since 2022, she has operated independently as a prominent “thought leader, influencer, and bold innovator in advancing women’s rights worldwide.”
She has published three books alongside over 100 articles on Medium. In July 2025, AbiRafeh took part in an Oxford Union debate concerning the Arab Spring. Additionally, she has delivered talks at TEDx forums and featured on major international media platforms including CNN, Al Jazeera, and Good Morning America.
Early life and education
AbiRafeh was born to a mother of Palestinian heritage who was a pharmacist, and a father of Lebanese descent working as an engineer. Her childhood began in Saudi Arabia, before relocating to northern Virginia at the age of ten.
She completed her undergraduate studies at Boston College and obtained a master’s degree in international relations from Johns Hopkins University. In 2008, AbiRafeh earned her doctorate in development studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science, where her dissertation examined gender-focused aid efforts in Afghanistan following the Bonn Agreement.
Career
Specializing in gender-based violence during crises, AbiRafeh has worked extensively with United Nations agencies and humanitarian organizations in countries including Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Lebanon, Nepal, and Papua New Guinea. Between 2015 and 2022, she was the executive director of the Arab Institute for Women at Lebanese American University.
Her advisory roles span various public and private organizations, notably UN entities and the Arab Institute for Women, concentrating on issues related to gender-based violence and equality. AbiRafeh also participates on several international advisory panels such as the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership, Forced Migration Review, Society of Gender Professionals, and the Global Women’s Institute.
In 2022, she established Better4Women, a boutique consultancy delivering innovative approaches to gender equality, where she holds the title of Founder and Chief Changemaker.
Awards
AbiRafeh earned recognition from Apolitical Group as one of the foremost influencers shaping gender equity policy in both 2018 and 2019. In 2021, she was granted a Vital Voices fellowship honoring exceptional women leaders and was acknowledged by the Women’s Media Center as a Progressive Women’s Voice. She received a Women in Power fellowship in 2022 along with fellowships awarded by the Council on Foreign Relations and British-American Project in 2023.
Selected publications
- Linda AbiRafeh, Burn it Down, Build it Better: A Woman's Guide to Ending Workplace BS, 2025.
- Lina AbiRafeh & Rebecca O'Keefe, Yalla Feminists: Arab Rights and Resistance, 2023.
- Lina AbiRafeh, Gender and International Aid in Afghanistan: The Politics and Effects of Intervention, 2009.
- Lina AbiRafeh, Freedom on the Frontlines: Afghan Women and the Fallacy of Liberation, 2022.