David Lazaro is the Director of Edraak, based in Amman, Jordan, and has held the role since 2023.Edraak, an initiative of Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan, is an educational platform for Arabic speakers serving over 10 million youth, refugees, professionals, university students and public/private sector entities in the MENA region. David leads the organization’s efforts in business development, project design and public speaking engagements through the MENA, US, Asia and Europe. Edraak currently implements projects in Jordan, Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Oman, the UAE, Palestine, Lebanon and Morocco. Prior to joining Edraak, David led the donor and private sector-funded educational and capacity building portfolio of Amideast/Jordan as the Senior Manager for Training & Partnerships from 2016-2022. There, he coordinated closely with educational leaders such as Fulbright and Education USA in outreach, utilization of FTA’s in the fieldwork or educational support programs in Jordan, and close collaboration with the U.S. Embassy in Amman and the Jordan Ministry of Education. He also led national level capacity development and professionalization for the Jordan Armed Forces, as well as refugee response programs for UN agencies. David worked with Amideast in the Sultanate of Oman prior to coming to Jordan, serving as a Programs Officer leading youth and workforce development programs in the country’s oil and gas sector from 2012-2016.