Dr. Elmasry is a writer, speaker and the founder of the Culture and Education for the Child and Family Foundation, CECF, whose Board of Trustees she chairs. She has studied Pharmacology at the University of Minnesota Medical School and received a Ph.D. degree. She later joined Abbott Laboratories in North Chicago, IL and developed the Pharmacology of the thrombolytic drug Abbokinase. Her last position was manager of Technology Licensing at Abbott Laboratories.

 

During her stay in the US, which lasted more than 30 years, she has actively participated in the volunteer social, educational and cultural work of her community: she was one of the founders of the Chicago Chapter of the largest Arab-American organization, ADC (the American-Arab Anti- Discrimination Committee), and chaired its board of directors. She was the vice-president of the American-Muslim Council in Washington, DC, and the founder and the vice-president of the Arab-American Action Network in Chicago.

 

Dr. Elmasry was appointed by the governor of Illinois, Jim Edgar, to the board of directors of the Illinois Humanities Council and served with the first lady of Chicago, Maggie Daley, on the Child, Youth and Family Advisory Committee of the Chicago Community Trust. She helped bring to the Chicago Cultural Center and coordinated the exhibition of Arab women artists, “Forces of Change”, and was one of the 3 founders of the Trialogue of Abrahamic religions at the Islamic Cultural Center of Greater Chicago. She served on the board of SANAD social services organization, and headed the Chicago chapter of the Kahlil Gibran Memorial Garden in Washington, DC. She served on the board of trustees of St Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, IN, and the school board of the Islamic Cultural Center of Greater Chicago.

 

Since her return to Egypt, she has written, published, lectured and volunteered for the culture, education and the direct and indirect empowerment of children, youth and women. She set-up a not-for-profit foundation, “Culture and Education for the Child and Family Foundation”, CECF, that is registered with the ministry of social solidarity (registration no. 7208/2008) and she chairs its board of trustees. She published the 4 books of Ana wa Nahnoo which, through the character of the “Book” supported by Q&A, discussions, fun activities, games and art, empower children by instilling in them a sense of self-value, teaching cultural and ethical values, such as to be organized, to always work with goals, to be honest with themselves, to show emotional intelligence and to respect oneself and others, to value individual differences as assets not liabilities and to value democracy, rule of law, separation of powers, etc.

 

The Ana wa Nahnoo program was created for our part of the world, and was developed with the help of awards from the US embassy in Egypt, protocols of cooperation with the Ministry of Education and the National Council for Youth and with the help of thoroughly trained teachers and facilitators.