OUR DIRECTORS

Ziyad Baroud is the former Minister of Interior and Municipalities (MoIM) of the Republic of Lebanon; he served in two consecutive cabinets, from July 2008 until June 2011. The MoIM was awarded under his leadership the 2010 United Nations Public Service Award First Prize. In 2010, he received in Washington DC the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) 2010 Manatt Democracy Award as a tribute to his commitment to freedom and democracy. In September 2014, he was awarded “Commendatore Della Stella d’Italia” by the Italian President. In April 2014, he was awarded “Grand Officier de l’Ordre du Cèdre” by the Lebanese President. In July 2011, he was awarded “Commandeur de Numéro de l’Ordre Civil du Mérite” by the King of Spain. In October 2010, he was awarded “Officier de la Légion d’Honneur” by the French Presidentafter he was awarded, in 2009, “Grand Officier de L’Ordre National du Mérite de la République Française”. In 2007, he was named Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. 

Prior to his appointment as Minister, he held a number of positions including, Member of the Lebanese National Commission on Electoral Law (2005-2006). In 2004, he was elected Secretary General of the Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections to lead a group of more than 1300 domestic electoral observers. He has also served as a board member for the Lebanese chapter of Transparency International since 2006. Additionally, he is the chairperson of  the board of Trustees of  of Notre Dame University (NDU). 

A court lawyer by practice and Managing Partner at HBD-T Law Firm, he held a number of academic posts as lecturer in prestigious universities in Lebanon: Université Saint Joseph and Holy Spirit University of Kaslik. He has a number of publications on subjects related to local governance, decentralization, human rights, and other political and legal issues. He also worked as a consultant to various UN Agencies in Lebanon. 

A graduate of College Saint Joseph, he acquired his master’s degree in Law from Saint Joseph University of Beirut in 1992 and pursued his doctoral studies in Paris.