Yara Matar is an advocacy and fundraising professional currently leading the setup and launch of Operation End Starvation’s (OES) philanthropic fundraising campaign, which aims to raise more than $1 billion in private financing over the next six years.

Yara also serves as Director for Global Advocacy and Philanthropy at the Eleanor Crook Foundation (ECF), where she leads the Foundation’s advocacy efforts across Europe and the Gulf. In this role, she identifies strategic partnerships and co-financing models to help scale life-saving malnutrition interventions for children and mothers, including Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) and Multiple Micronutrient Supplements (MMS).

Prior to joining OES and ECF, Yara spent more than 10 years as a strategy consultant, advising public-sector clients across the Gulf on national strategies and large-scale transformation efforts in areas including food security, agriculture, and water. She also worked at SEEK Development, a social impact consultancy in Berlin, where she co-led the development of resource mobilization and advocacy strategies alongside clients ranging from NGOs to foundations.

Yara holds a Master of Public Administration (MPA) from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Saint Joseph University in Beirut.