Courtney Lobel is Chief Development Officer at the Middle East Institute, where she oversees fundraising strategy to advance MEI’s non-partisan policy analysis, education programs, and arts center. Courtney is a development executive with 15 years experience in senior roles at international policy organizations and the humanitarian sector.
She was formerly Senior Director of Development and Communications for Relief International, which delivers aid in 16 countries with a particular focus on healthcare services in Syria, Yemen, Turkey, and Iran. Prior to that, she was the Director of Private Sector Initiatives at the International Crisis Group; the Deputy Director of Foundation Relations at the Council on Foreign Relations; and a development officer for American Jewish World Service.
She served as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in Bulgaria, where she helped establish a youth organization in a town on the Turkish border. She also held the role of project coordinator for a youth nonprofit in Tallinn, Estonia.
Courtney majored in Political Science at the University of Central Florida and has published op-eds on philanthropy and fundraising in the Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Chronicle of Philanthropy, and Quartz. She is a member of Women in International Security.