Jomana Qaddour has a very interesting story to tell. She immigrated from Syria to the US as a child with her parents, she lived most of her life in Kansas, and was "planned" to become an MD. However her passion and interest drove her to a completely different route - joined a JD (law degree) in Kansas. Her legal career took her to Washington DC where she used her networking skills to get into the world of policy and research, which eventually led to doing LL.M and SJD (on which she is still working) at Georgetown University, while at the same time she works at at the Atlantic Council and directing their Syrian file.

In this episode Jomana talks about her journey, but also about her lessons from her work in policy and research. She talks about how she learned about the importance of perspectives, and that theoretical solutions to complicated problems (such as the conflicts in Syria, Iraq, and Bosnia) must take into account the local perspective and not just impose an outsider's point of view. Alongside all that Jomana is also a co-founder of the "Syria Relief and Development" - a humanitarian organization that has provided over $115 million worth of aid in Syria and the region which enabled to and provide support to millions of people.

In this episode Danni drank her usual Amaratto, and Jomana drank coffee from a special mug with a picture of all four female US Supreme Court Justices.

Jomana's SJD research is on ethno-sectarianism and its impact on constitutional frameworks in Iraq, Bosnia, and Syria.

You can follow Jomana on:

Twitter: @jomanaqaddour

LinkedIn: Jomana Qaddour

Georgetown profile page

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Host: Danni Reches (@DanniReches)

Producer and Editor: Ido Rosenzweig (@IdoRosenzweig)

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