Christelle Barakat is a Researcher on public policy at the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies (LCPS) and an incoming Schwarzman Scholar. She is a Lebanese Fulbright Foreign Student Program graduate of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she earned an M.A. in Peace and Conflict Studies with a concentration in International Peace Development. She also holds a B.A. in Political Science and International Affairs from the Lebanese American University (LAU) where she was part of the Honors Program and earned three minors in Conflict Analysis and Resolution, Gender Studies, and Legal Studies.
Christelle has extensive experience in youth leadership, diplomacy, disarmament, and conflict resolution. She has led multiple global Model UN conferences, introducing young people to diplomacy and conflict resolution, and has been selected as a Youth Leader for a World Without Nuclear Weapons, Leader to the Future, Leader for Tomorrow, and Youth Champion for Disarmament by the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA). She is also an Emerging Expert with the Forum on the Arms Trade, an Atomic Anxiety in the New Nuclear Age Fellow, and an advisory board member of BASIC EVN. Christelle is a 2023 Diana Award recipient.