Profile
Dalia Salaam Rishani is a Lebanese publisher and advocate for educational, social, and political change in the Middle East. She serves as a trustee for the Al-Makassed Philanthropic Islamic Association of Beirut, one of the oldest educational and healthcare organisations in Lebanon, and is the Vice Chairperson of the Center for Lebanese Studies, focusing on research in education.
Dalia founded Hood Hood Books, a London-based children's publishing house that highlights Islamic and Eastern civilisations, promoting interfaith understanding. With over 25 years of experience, she has facilitated graduate scholarships for Lebanese students in the UK, and serves as a Global Advisor to the Knight Hennessy Scholarship Program at Stanford University.
Additionally, she is a trustee of St. Peter’s Foundation at Oxford University and recently joined the board of the Khalidi Library in Jerusalem which contains one of the largest collections of Arabic manuscripts in the world. As a member of Kulluna Irada, she actively participated in the 2022 parliamentary elections in Beirut, supporting reform-minded candidates. In 2023, Dalia received the Merit of the Emigrant Award for her social activism.
Dalia graduated from Oxford with a degree in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics and earned her Master's from Georgetown University. She began her career in finance at SG Warburg Securities in London. Dalia is also a mother of three and enjoys cycling in Europe.