Noura Aljizawi is a researcher at the Citizen Lab at Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto. Her work takes an in-depth look at human rights issues connected to disinformation, digital authoritarianism and digital transnational repression. Originally from Homs, Syria, she was a prominent figure in the Syrian uprising. She played a key role in the peaceful movement, and has written and spoken publicly about her experience of abduction, detention and torture. Ultimately, she was forced to flee to Turkey, where she became vice president of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces. She was elected to a role on the organization’s Geneva negotiation panel and participated in peace talks in 2014.

While still in Turkey, she founded Start Point, a nongovernmental organization dedicated to human rights and psychosocial support for Syrian women and girls who had been detained and tortured. She subsequently moved to Canada and completed her Master’s degree in Global Affairs from the University of Toronto Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. Noura has extensive experience with civic and social organizations and focuses on political strategy, business development, global affairs, human rights and gender issues.