Salma Refass is a Non-Resident Research Fellow at Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government and she is specialized in Public Policy and Economics focusing on the MENA region. She has centered her work on government-focused public policy change theory and processes, and research relevant to the public sector in hybrid regimes.
Her research addresses the complexities of translating policy texts into practice at local, national and international levels and rethinking policy implementation in complex environments. It crosses boundaries of policy analysis, gender studies, political science, international relations, institutionalist theory and sociology among others.
She has gained interdisciplinary experience working in both academia and the not-for-profit sectors. Economist by training, she worked as an analyst on a number of policy programs and initiatives in the Education, Health and Social sectors and led a series of impact assessment missions for development programs implemented around the globe (Morocco, South Africa, Kenya, Pakistan…) on behalf of international organizations. Prior to that, she worked as a quantitative researcher on academic projects in the Department of International Relations, at the University of Sydney.
Salma holds a Master’s degrees in Public Policy & Governance from the University of New South Wales and in Applied Economics from the University of Sydney, and a BA from Saint Louis University in Economics. She is currently working towards her PhD in Governance.