Meet Our Team
Waleed Alhariri, Founder & CEO
Waleed Alhariri’s focus, academically and professionally, has long been on human rights, diplomacy, and sustainable development.
Along with founding Sheba Bees, Alhariri is a member of the Executive Management Team at the Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies, Yemen’s leading research organization. Alhariri also served as director of the Sana’a Center’s U.S. office from 2020-2023; he is the current director of the Center’s groundbreaking Yemen International Forum.
In these roles, Alhariri has brought together policymakers, Yemeni political and economic stakeholders, regional and international diplomats as well as local mediators, experts, civil society actors and journalists. Alhariri's work includes advising the international diplomatic community, UN agencies, and international non-governmental organizations on Yemen-related policy issues. He is a Fellow-in-Residence at the Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute.
Following Yemen’s 2011 pro-democracy uprising, Alhariri worked with the International Peace Institute and as a research assistant and human rights monitor with Human Rights Watch. Alhariri, who lives in New York, was born in Yemen and grew up in Yemen and the United States. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Hunter College of the City University of New York with a B.A. in Political Science and Human Rights.
Asmaa Althami, Branding and Design Specialist
Asmaa Althami, a Yemeni-American graphic designer and digital artist based in California, specializes in branding, advertising, package design, and illustration.
Althami, who holds an AA degree in New Media and a BA in Integrated Design, draws inspiration from diverse cultures, incorporating cultural elements into her designs to create a universal appeal. She works part-time as a UX/UI designer at California State University, Fresno, where she designs and executes social media, marketing, web design, and course content. Althami is also a freelance graphic designer and can be found on Instagram at @soomative.