Qutaiba Idlbi is a Senior Consultant with Pechter Polls, specialized in social psychology and cultural appropriation in the Middle East, with a focus on Syria and a Researcher at the Global Policy Institute working on policy and advanced education in the Middle East.

Qutaiba is a native of Damascus. He was in Syria at the outbreak of protests in March 2011, detained twice by Syrian internal security services and forced to leave the country. Since leaving, Qutaiba supported numerous Syrian political and humanitarian efforts both domestically and internationally.

He has extensive refugee experience, advancing national engagement efforts as a Research Assistant with the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services; promoting refugee awareness through numerous speaking engagements across the U.S, acting as Associate Producer for the Red Lines documentary; and volunteering for various refugee relief organizations in Lebanon and Egypt.

Qutaiba's research experiences include working as an Associate with Caerus Associates, focusing on governance and security developments in Syria, and providing research assistance on the different governance and military structures in Syria to Mouaz AL-Khateeb, the founding president of the Syrian National Coalition. Qutaiba is also a Co-Founder and was the Vice President of People Demand Change, an aid and development firm providing service delivery and monitoring and evaluation support to conflict areas in Syria, Yemen, and Lebanon.

Citizen Journalism, Summer 2018 Student Stories

The following articles were reported by students in Paper Airplanes' online Citizen Journalism class in the summer of 2018. Subject matter and quotes do not represent or reflect Paper Airplanes' views as an organization.