Dalia Salaam Rishani is a publisher and an advocate for educational, social and political change in the Middle East.

She is a trustee of the Al-Makassed Philanthropic Islamic Association of Beirut, one of the oldest educational and healthcare organisations in Lebanon. Dalia is the Vice Chairperson of the Center for Lebanese Studies, which undertakes impartial and balanced research on Lebanon, especially in the field of education.

Dalia is a member of the Board of Kulluna Irada, a civic organisation for political reform in Beirut. She played an active role in the parliamentary elections in May 2022, enabling “Change” candidates standing against the political establishment.

Dalia is a Global Advisor to the Knight Hennessy Scholarship Program at Stanford University and a trustee of St. Peter’s Foundation at Oxford University. Recently, she joined the board of the Khalidi Library in Jerusalem, which contains one of the largest collections of Arabic manuscripts in the world.

Dalia has been actively involved for over 25 years in advancing and enabling graduate scholarships to talented Lebanese students wanting to study in Britain and the USA.

In 1996, Dalia founded Hood Hood Books, a publishing house in London for children and young adults, specialising in the Islamic and Eastern civilisations.

Born in Beirut, Dalia graduated from Oxford University with a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics and later obtained her Masters at Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, Washington DC. Dalia began her career in finance at SG Warburg Securities, London.

Dalia is a proud mother of three boys – Yusef, Talal and Karim. She has a passion for cycling and has taken part in a number of tours throughout Europe.