Sumi Alkebsi is communications manager at Doha Debates, overseeing Doha Debates’ marketing and communications efforts.

Previously, Sumi worked at Qatar Foundation International in the communications and youth engagement departments. Before that, Sumi led endeavors in the startup field, focusing on public relations, marketing and content management. Sumi cut her teeth at the Yemen Times in Sana’a, Yemen, where she wrote articles and copy edited for the publication, and worked collaboratively with the editorial team to improve the reporting quality at the most widely read English newspaper in the country.

Sumi earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications with a minor in religious studies from Marymount University and a Master’s of Arts in digital marketing and data analytics at Emerson College. Sumi’s interests include social media, intercultural communications, Arab studies, learning new languages, and finding solutions to the global climate crisis.

As an Arab American with roots and passion in the United States and the SWANA region, Sumi loves maneuvering between both cultures and languages. She strongly believes in the importance of cross-cultural collaboration. Her conviction in global citizenship guided her pursuit to join the Doha Debates team and continues to strengthen her passion for global awareness of diversity, as well as mutual understanding.

Doha Debates Staff