Israa Nour

Israa Nour is a Policy Analyst at Open Society Foundations (OSF). As part of the U.S. Foreign Policy team, Israa’s role involves advocacy, research, and grant writing on issues related to Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East. Over the past three years, she has also co-led the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in U.S. Foreign Policy Campaign that strives to build the capacity of under resourced and underrepresented groups and organizations in the field of national security.

Prior to joining OSF, Israa was an UNICEF Sudan volunteer. Fluent in Arabic, she conducted field surveys on issues of sexual gender-based violence in North Darfur and several states in the east of the country. Her research and findings supported programmatic planning and policy recommendations to the Ministry of Social Welfare and National Council for Child Welfare in Khartoum. The investment in disaggregated data and community programs built up the people’s resilience and empowered them to demand critical services from their government. Before UNICEF, Israa served as a volunteer English lecturer at University of Khartoum.

Israa graduated with a B.S. in Anthropology and Biology from Virginia Commonwealth University. She resides in Virginia with her husband and daughter.