Selma Talha-Jebril

Selma Talha-Jebril is the Evaluation, Research, and Business Development Specialist on IIE’s Research, Evaluation, and Learning (REL) Team. Ms. Talha-Jebril brings more than 12 years of experience in designing and managing medium to large-scale education-related programs, evaluations, and research projects implemented in North and West Africa, the Levant, and Gulf countries and funded by key donors such as the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the U.S. Department of State, the Department for International Development (DfID), and leading private foundations.

Ms. Talha-Jebril oversees quantitative and qualitative data collection across world regions, analysis, and project coordination for the Ford Foundation’s International Fellowships Program (IFP) Alumni Tracking Study and has authored key publications for the IFP study. She also serves as the REL team’s Business Development Specialist, focusing on growing the REL team’s work in international higher education scholarships and fellowships, leadership programming, M&E, research-related projects, and external impact evaluations. Her most recent publication, International Higher Education Scholarships and Fellowships for Social Justice: The Role of Foundations, explores private philanthropy’s role in funding international scholarship and fellowship programs committed to reducing long-standing disparities in higher education. Ms. Talha-Jebril has presented on the intersections of philanthropy and international scholarship and fellowship programs at professional conferences, including the National Scholarship Providers Association (NSPA), Asia-Pacific Association for International Education (APAIE), and the Comparative International Education Society (CIES). She also has facilitated moderated discussions addressing issues of higher education inclusion, quality access, and equity. In 2022, she moderated a distinguished panel of experts on the role of private foundations and higher education institutions in increasing access to higher education and promoting inclusion for underprivileged scholarship recipients.

Before joining IIE, Ms. Talha-Jebril consulted for the United Nations, worked at Chemonics International and Search for Common Ground on projects implemented in North African countries. She provided technical M&E contributions and was in charge of strategically developing and fostering stakeholder relationships, including with Ministries of Education, prominent civil society organizations, members of the parliament, and community members. Ms. Talha-Jebril is an advisory council member of the Center for the Advancement of Languages, Education, and Communities, US/MENA representative for Business Africa, and an active member of the MENA Evaluation Network.

She holds a Masters in Sustainable Development, International Policy, and Management from the School for International Training Graduate Institute and a Bachelor’s in international Relations from Université de Cergy-Pontoise in France.