Program Officer, WaterSkoll Global Threats Fund
Bessma Mourad is the Program Officer for Water at the Skoll Global Threats Fund. In her role, she manages a portfolio of grantees working to identify and address the risks stemming from water and climate insecurity. Bessma also helps to identify and cultivate new projects that contribute to the strategic direction of the team. Prior to joining SGTF, Bessma worked with the United Nations Environment Programme’s Post Conflict and Disaster Management Branch, working at the intersections of natural resource management, conflict prevention, and peacebuilding. There, she helped to catalyze a project on women, natural resources, and peacebuilding with UN Women and UN Peacebuilding Office as well as helping to lead a project on climate change, migration, and conflict. Prior to that role, she worked in philanthropy at the Global Fund for Women, providing grant support to grassroots women’s rights organizations in the Middle East and North Africa.
Bessma holds a B.A. in Environmental Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz and an M.S. from the Energy and Resources Group at the University of California, Berkeley. Bessma serves on the Board of Directors for the Community Water Center, a non-profit that works toward community-driven water solutions in California's San Joaquin Valley.