Today we’d like to introduce you to Noor Zada.
Hi Noor, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I hold a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Jordan
From a young age, I had a desire to positively impact people’s lives and found fulfillment in aiding and offering assistance to others. Throughout my university years, I was highly involved with the Community Service Office, which had a significant influence on shaping my character and provided me with numerous opportunities to work with diverse groups of individuals, such as young girls and boys, elderly persons, cancer patients, and youth peers, as well as volunteers with various NGOs. As a result, I discovered my passion for the NGO sector and, specifically, training and capacity building.
In 2007, I embarked on my career journey with Partners-Jordan, a local NGO, where I began by directly working with youth to train them on mediation skills, providing them with an alternative to violent behavior in schools. Later, I worked on numerous projects related to Women’s Rights, Governance, Anti-Corruption, and advocacy.
However, a significant milestone in my career was leading a Participatory Budgeting project on a local municipality level in Jordan, Lebanon, Yemen, and Bahrain from 2009 to 2014. The project was aimed at promoting citizens’ involvement in decision-making processes and budget allocation: (201) Participatory Budgeting Project in Jordan (English Version) – YouTube.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Noor is a distinguished professional in the NGO sector, with over 16 years of invaluable experience. Her impressive career at New Tactics in Human Rights began in 2014, where she swiftly progressed through the ranks and held various positions such as MENA Training Manager, MENA Program Manager, and MENA Director. As the current Global Program Manager, Noor is a visionary leader responsible for the strategic planning, development, and management of the New Tactics program, aligning it with CVT’s strategic plan and the program’s principles of innovation, empowerment, collaboration, and inclusion.
For over 35 years, CVT- Center for Victims of Torture has provided services to survivors of torture and other gross human rights violations, pioneered research in torture rehabilitation, documented violations, and conducted advocacy campaigns and initiatives to advance human rights.
About the program, I lead: For over 20 years, New Tactics has built the strategic effectiveness and tactical innovation of human rights activists around the world through training and mentoring, the provision of online resources, and convening an online community of activists to support and learn from one another. The program has produced award-winning publications, conducted in-person and online training and mentoring in its Strategic Effectiveness method (SEM), and developed an online community of practice with numerous resources for activists to explore and use. Highlights include the documentation, translation, and curation of a searchable online database with 250 tactics available in English and 235 available in Arabic; training conducted in over 25 countries; the launch of its interactive, online Tactical Mapping Tool (TMT) in Arabic and English; and online courses in the SEM in Arabic and English.
One of the most fulfilling experiences is witnessing the transformation in people’s mindset after completing the Five Steps Strategic Effectiveness Method training, empowering them to return to their countries and initiate advocacy campaigns to improve people’s lives and uphold their rights. since 2011 the program has built the capacity of 3,289 human rights activists from over 1,121 organizations in 16 countries in the MENA region (Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco the Palestinian Territories, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Yemen)
I also take great pride in being a part of the DEI work since 2019. In Jordan, we established a one-year action plan, provided capacity building for all DEI staff, created a policy and reporting mechanism, and are continuously working to advance DEI. I am also part of the CVT DEI Global Council.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts, or blogs that help you do your best?
Favorite Books:
• The Whole-Brain Child- Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson
• Sophie’s World-Jostein Gaarder
• Forty Rules of Love is a novel by Elif Shafak.
Podcasts:
• The Human right Chat: Human Rights Chat | Podcast on Spotify
• Thamanyah: فنجان مع عبدالرحمن أبومالح | Podcast on Spotify.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.newtactics.org / www.cvt.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/newtacticsus/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NewTactics
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@newtacticsus
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/newtactics
