Dr. Nancy Okail is the Executive Director of TIMEP, and has more than 15 years of experience working on issues of democracy, rule of law, security and extremism in the Middle East and North Africa region. She analyzes these issues advocates in favor of human rights through her testimony to legislative bodies, providing policy briefings with senior government officials, speaking at public and private events, and writing for academic and popular publications. Prior to joining TIMEP, Dr. Okail was the director of Freedom House’s Egypt program.

She has also worked with the Egyptian government as a senior evaluation officer of foreign aid and has also managed programs for several International organizations. Dr. Okail was one of the 43 non-governmental organization workers convicted and sentenced to prison in a widely publicized 2012 case for allegedly using foreign funds to foment unrest in Egypt. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Sussex; her dissertation examined the power relations of foreign aid.