Born in eastern Syria (Deir Ezzor). Since 2011, I've been building at the intersection of governance, technology, and conflict resolution; using blockchain and AI as tools for accountability, transparency, and institutional rebuilding in post-conflict societies.
At Web3 Foundation, I was Governance Lead for Polkadot and Kusama: owned three core governance programs, developed proposal review standards, and collaborated with hundreds of proposers, startups, and community groups on governance-related issues. Before that, I managed U.S. State Department stabilization programming in eastern Syria through DT Global. I co-founded Charli3, the first oracle on Cardano, and exited in 2021. I currently take freelance contracts in blockchain governance and decentralized treasury design.
I founded ZeFi to bring blockchain education to MENA, Arabic-first, and built Nawafith.net as an AI intelligence platform for Syria's transition.
I write about what I've lived: Foreign Affairs, Oxford, Yale, Washington Post. My photos from the revolution were published by Reuters and the Associated Press under the name Zendetta.
Fellowships: Yale Kerry Initiative, Ethereum Foundation (Cohort 2), Antler EIR (NYC), U.S. State Department Leaders for Democracy
Arabic native · English fluent · German getting there
| Project | Description |
|---|---|
| nawafith.net | AI intelligence platform for Syria. 770+ Arabic & English sources. Entity extraction, faction mapping, daily briefings. Featured in Wired Middle East. |
| zendetta.com | My story as an immersive WebGL documentary. 7 languages. Original artwork and soundtrack. Built with Psychoactive. Awwwards Site of the Day, CSS Design Awards Site of the Month, Muse Creative Platinum (x2), W³ Gold. Hosts the Zendetta Grant for Syrian university applicants. |
| nafas | Voice capture framework for AI-assisted writing. Two-file system: nafas.md captures your voice, ghirbal.md runs an 8-angle review modeled on the Damascene star. |
| ze.fi | Arabic-first blockchain education. First comprehensive platform of its kind in MENA. Designed for low-bandwidth environments across Syria, Iraq, Turkey, and Jordan. Featured in Cointelegraph. |
Foreign Affairs (6 articles on Syria, armed groups, and conflict dynamics, 2015-2017)
Academic
- Rebel Group Attrition and Reversion to Violence, Oxford International Studies Quarterly (2020)
- The Coming Catastrophe in Syria's Prisons, Yale Journal of International Affairs (2020)
Major media & platforms
- What refugees say about why they are leaving Syria now, Washington Post (2015)
- Eleven Years Later, War Rages on in Syria, Newsweek (2022)
- Beyond Borders: Blockchain in a Crisis, Ethereum.org (2023)
- After 11 Years of Syrian War, Can Education Foster Peace?, Fulbright.org (2022)
- Fear of a Deadlier Successor to ISIS in Deir Ezzor, Al Bawaba
- Published in The New Humanitarian, HuffPost, Al Arabiya
- Inside the Tech Systems That Kept Syria Running Under the Assad Regime, Wired Middle East (2026)
- Syrian refugee turned civil activist found calling as blockchain evangelist, Cointelegraph (2022)
- A Syrian democracy activist overcomes detentions, barriers in path to Yale, Yale Jackson School
- In two charts, this is what refugees say about why they are leaving Syria now, Washington Post (2015)
- After a year of torture in Syrian jail, an activist finally makes it to the US, The World from PRX
- Blockchain for Impact Workshop, Harvard Belfer Center
- Arab Nations Experiment with Blockchain Technology but Universities Rarely Teach It, Al Fanar Media
- Syrian Students at Bard College Berlin: A Humanistic Imperative, Bard College Berlin
