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Tarek is a sexual and bodily rights activist from Lebanon advocating for the rights and protection of LGBT communities in the MENA region. He served as the head of Helem, the first LGBT rights organization in the Arab World from 2012 until 2024. His expertise lies in global LGBTIQ movements, strategic advocacy, digital rights, and policy reform. Tarek is a fellow at the Program on Law and Society in the Muslim World at Harvard Law School, an Ashoka Foundation global changemaker, a Ford Foundation global fellow, and a Fellow at University of Pennsylvania’s Perry World House. He previously worked as the head of communications and strategic planning for the MENA region at the Brookings Institution and at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He obtained his MA in international relations from the Fletcher School at Tufts University and his MPA in human rights advocacy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

During his fellowship, Tarek will concentrate on the impact of artificial intelligence on LGBTQ rights in the MENA region and the wider global south. His research seeks to examine possible legal and policy frameworks to safeguard and protect marginalized communities affected by existing and emerging discriminatory technologies.