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Layla E. Picard

Executive Director

Layla Picard founded the YPP in 2010. Her fascination with Yemen began upon visiting the country for the first time in 1999. She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where she studied the history, politics, and cultures of Southwest Asia. She has conducted extensive research on Yemen's 20th- and 21st-century conflicts, and on the rise of anti-state social movements. Layla is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Politics at the University of Virginia.

Layla has written about the war in Yemen for Just Security and LobeLog, and has appeared on and been quoted by major international outlets including NBC, Foreign Policy, Huffington Post, VICE News, Middle East Eye, RT America, and Al Jazeera. She is currently co-authoring an academic paper on the social and political impact of Yemen’s 2011 peaceful revolution with YPP board member and assistant professor of sociology Dana M. Moss.