Heba Hayek

Heba Hayek is a London-based Gaza-raised Palestinian author, creative and facilitator. Heba has completed a Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at Miami University, Ohio, and studied for an MA in Social Anthropology at SOAS University of London. Heba's explorations are rooted in an anti nation state, decolonial, queer, Afrikan feminist thought. She navigates topics such as disposability, Global South solidarity movements, land-justice, SWANA drill music, and some more. Heba is drawn to intimate and reflective processes of creating and writing, offering their readers graceful but also disrupting and exciting ways of thinking about and perceiving the world. Sometimes you'll find Heba editing videos, taking photographs and enjoying tech stuff, but it depends. Their work has been featured in The Evening Standard, Shubbak Festival, Wasafiri Magazine, The Markaz Review, Salvage Journal, the Middle East Eye and Full Stop. Their debut, Sambac Beneath Unlikely Skies has been published by Hajar Press and received a 2021 Book of the Year by the White Review, the Middle East Eye Book and the New Arab.

Worked from London as a full time remote marketing consultant for a project to build and develop Mercy Corps' digital economy program Gaza Sky Geeks (GSG). In my time there, I worked directly with Gaza Sky Geeks' communication and Talent Matching Team to bring meaningful income opportunities to Palestine's top talents. 1. Worked amongst a multilingual and international team to bring job opportunities to tech geeks, freelancers and designers based in Gaza. 2. Launched a communication and social media strategy while working closely within the team's graphic designers and SEO expert. 3. Supported in launching an extension program in Sulaymaniyah in Kurdistan. 4. Supported customer observation research and customer satisfaction surveys to provide the best products and communication channels for Gaza's tech and creative ecosystem to thrive. 5. Monitored and ran social media campaigns 6. Designed and executed the program's local and international newsletters. 7. Launched the design of the Gaza Sky Geeks' one decade anniversary's celebration.

Healthy Feminist is a Social Business launched by Hala Sabbah as a response to the lack of existing platforms for South East Asia & North Africa self identified women, aimed at providing affordable and accessible healing dialogue on social issues and mental wellness across genders and societies. During my time there I: 1. Lead a full re-brand of Healthy Feminsit project including recreating the online website in Arabic and English as well as creating all the content needed for it. 2. Provided expert consultation for social media strategy, team management and vision of the project. 3. Worked on designing an online course targeted at University students and NGO employees to access a deeper understanding of the region's politics, culture and heritage through a decolonial lens, all created directly by Arabic speaking specialists and activists.