Shahla Al Kli is Counterpart’s Chief of Party for the USAID-funded Iraq Civil Society Activity, a program that focuses on strengthening citizen engagement and participation in the public sphere, especially among women and youth. Al Kli is also a non-resident scholar at the Middle East Institute. Prior to that, she served as Research Analysis and Knowledge Mobilization Director at Proximity International, the Middle East Deputy Regional Director at Mercy Corps, a Principal Development Specialist at DAI Global, an advisor to the Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament, a senior advisor to the Speaker of the Kurdistan Parliament, a former Country Director for Counterpart’s Iraq programs, and an auditor at the Central Bank of Iraq. She is a long-term development practitioner in the Middle East with expertise in politics, governance, security, state building, and fragile states. Her doctoral dissertation about governance and decentralization in Iraq at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University was awarded the Peter Ackerman Award for outstanding scholarly work.

• Peer-Reviewed Paper: Environmental and Peacebuilding Journal, April 2024. “The Coming Twilight of a Petro-State? Traumatic Decarbonization as a Driver of Political Transformation in Iraq”
• Paper: World Peace Foundation-USIP, May 2023. “Decarbonization and Political Transformation in Iraq: The Impact on Politics, Society and Regional Relations”
• Article: The Middle East Institute, March 2023. “Internal Pressure and External Influence are Transforming Baghdad-Erbil Relations”
• Panelist: The Gulf International Forum, September 2022: “Understanding Iraq Crisis, Weak Institutions, Strong Militias, Uncertain Future”
• Panelist: The World Bank, March 2022: “Decentralization in Middle East and North Africa, MENA”