SMEX (@smexbeirut) is represented by the founders, husband-and-wife team Jessica Dheere and Mohamad Najem, and translation coordinator Rebecca Saab Saade. We also work regularly with a network of trainers and other tech for social change experts in Lebanon and around the world.
After spending 10 years as a magazine journalist in Washington, DC, and New York, Jessica Dheere cofounded Social Media Exchange, with her husband Mohamad, in May 2008. She has a master’s degree in Media Studies from the New School in New York and a BA in art history from Princeton University. In addition to managing the overall strategy of SMEX, she leads the development of all workshop and online course curricula. Periodically, she teaches online and citizen journalism in the Journalism Training Program at the American University of Beirut. She has lived in Lebanon since 2006.
Mohamad Najem handles all operations and logistics for Social Media Exchange and also gives training in English and Arabic. He previously worked as a fixer and translator for online and citizen journalists coming to cover the aftermath of the 2006 war and as a logistics officer with the French NGO Architectes de l’Urgence. He holds a master’s in business administration from Business and Computer University in Beirut.
An activist with experience working with mentally challenged youth, marginalized women, and feminist grassroots organizing, Rebecca Saab Saade found Social Media Exchange as a training participant. She has been working with SMEX since May 2009 as a translator (Arabic, English, and French) and blogging trainer. She is also as a part-time translator at Meedan.net. She spends her free time experimenting with communication tools, fighting all forms of discrimination, and reclaiming her Arabic language, one word at a time.
About SMEXbeirut
SMEXbeirut is the website of Social Media Exchange, a Beirut–based organization specializing in new media training, translation, and creation for civil society groups in Lebanon and the region.
Our Team
SMEX (@smexbeirut) is represented by the founders, husband-and-wife team Jessica Dheere and Mohamad Najem, and translation coordinator Rebecca Saab Saade. We also work regularly with a network of trainers and other tech for social change experts in Lebanon and around the world.
@jessdheere
After spending 10 years as a magazine journalist in Washington, DC, and New York, Jessica Dheere cofounded Social Media Exchange, with her husband Mohamad, in May 2008. She has a master’s degree in Media Studies from the New School in New York and a BA in art history from Princeton University. In addition to managing the overall strategy of SMEX, she leads the development of all workshop and online course curricula. Periodically, she teaches online and citizen journalism in the Journalism Training Program at the American University of Beirut. She has lived in Lebanon since 2006.
@monajem
Mohamad Najem handles all operations and logistics for Social Media Exchange and also gives training in English and Arabic. He previously worked as a fixer and translator for online and citizen journalists coming to cover the aftermath of the 2006 war and as a logistics officer with the French NGO Architectes de l’Urgence. He holds a master’s in business administration from Business and Computer University in Beirut.
@pazuzu_hsp
An activist with experience working with mentally challenged youth, marginalized women, and feminist grassroots organizing, Rebecca Saab Saade found Social Media Exchange as a training participant. She has been working with SMEX since May 2009 as a translator (Arabic, English, and French) and blogging trainer. She is also as a part-time translator at Meedan.net. She spends her free time experimenting with communication tools, fighting all forms of discrimination, and reclaiming her Arabic language, one word at a time.