Kinda Hibrawi is an acclaimed artist, strategist and creative director with marketing skills in the non-profit sector. With over a decade of experience in creative design, non-profit development, advocacy and outreach, she has worked on various projects with the U.S. State Department, UNRWA, UNICEF as well as national organizations. She co-founded and led seven education and creative therapy programs for displaced Syrian refugees on the Syrian-Turkish border starting in Atmeh, Syria (June 2013) to Reyhanli, Turkey (December 2015). The programs, under the Karam Foundation and featured on NBC Nightly News, served over 4,000 Syrian refugee children and youth in workshops led by over 130 international mentors. The United Nations named her a 2012 Global Thinker and Influencer at the Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development. In May 2014, she was awarded the Ward Humanitarian Medal by the Williston Northampton School, in MA for her work with refugees. She is recognized as an internationally renowned painter in Arabic Calligraphy using her artwork to bring awareness to non-profits on Palestine, Lebanon, Syria and local charity work in the US for children with cancer. Hibrawi is invited to speak about her work on art, activism and non-profit development to the media and at major Universities including UCLA, MIT, Chapman University and Harvard. In 2017, she founded Suppers With Love, a volunteer-led initiative for recently arrived Syrian refugees in California. Guests break bread with a Syrian refugee family in their home, helping to welcome them into the U.S. and build a stronger community of support.
In 2019, she co-founded and is chief creative officer for Mint + Laurel, a social enterprise based in Los Angeles, CA. Mint + Laurel aims to preserve an ancient heritage through craft and storytelling by collaborating with Syrian artisans impacted by conflict.
A Syrian-American artist, Hibrawi’s original artwork is sought by collectors worldwide and has been exhibited in group and solo shows across the US, including the Arab American National Museum and the Venice Biennial in 2015 . Of Syrian descent, from Aleppo, she grew up between Saudi Arabia, Syria, Bahrain, Lebanon, and the United.States. She currently resides in Southern California.
“Artists have always been catalysts for social change and activism, they are tuned in to social issues, as their job is to interpret the human experience. The arts can bring hope, healing, and foster cultural awareness for the greater good. People connect through vulnerability—what better way to do this than through the arts. ”
