About Our Staff

Gina Waneis, Director

Gina Waneis (she/her/هي) is a proud first-generation Syrian-American. As an alumna of UC Riverside, Gina holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a minor in Education. During her undergrad, she was active with the Middle Eastern Student Center, where she became a founding sister of Epsilon Alpha Sigma, also known as the Empowered Arab Sisterhood, and was involved in Highlander Orientation. Gina graduated with an M.S. in Higher Education from California State University, Fullerton.

She helped start the SWANA organization and co-wrote the SWANA Resolution during graduate school. Most recently, Gina served as the inaugural SWANA Retention Specialist at UC Santa Cruz, where she helped build a foundation by creating signature programs, improving data practices, and increasing visibility for the community. Outside of these roles, Gina serves as a Director of Scholarships for the Syrian Americans Network For Educational Advancement and as the Communications Coordinator for NASPA Region VI.

In her free time, you can catch Gina spending time with her family, traveling with her friends, or trying new recipes she finds online.

Badiaa Hiresh, Program Coordinator

Badiaa Hiresh (she/her/هي), an American-Lebanese professional, was born and raised in Lebanon, where she built a dynamic career while raising two daughters. Her time living both in Lebanon and the United States has given her a rich international perspective, deepening her understanding of cultural dynamics and global interconnectedness.

In her previous roles, She has made impactful contributions to school development and higher education strategy, seamlessly blending her background in business with educational leadership to drive innovation and growth. Outside of her professional life, Badiaa is a passionate advocate for peace. As a longtime Peace Coordinator, she has dedicated years to inspiring positive change and fostering meaningful dialogue across communities.

Badiaa is also a deeply reflective writer and the author of three internationally published books. Through her writing, she empowers readers to embrace transformation—both personal and societal—with compassion and purpose. We are honored to have Badiaa join the MESC team and look forward to the energy, wisdom, and creativity she brings to our community!

Amy Maatouk, Programming Intern

Amy Maatouk is one of our interns for Event Programming. She is a fourth-year Psychology major on track to graduate in 2026.

Amy grew up in Syria and moved here as a refugee after the war. Her favorite food is a tie between Lebni and Manaesh. She loves a variety of hobbies including crocheting and painting. She also loves listening to music and playing electric guitar. She listens to everything from classic Rock and Soul to modern-day Hip-hop. As a psych major and Arabic minor, a big goal of hers is to destigmatize mental health in SWANA communities and pursue advocacy work.

Coming to the United States as a refugee, Amy saw her community being misrepresented and misunderstood often. As a result, she wanted to create a community that was safe for SWANA students, which is why she wanted to work at the MESC. Her role at the MESC is to help with programs and events throughout the year such as our weekly MESCafes. She's been working at the MESC since the spring of her freshman year, and it's become a second home for her. Her favorite memory of MESC is programming and working ME Week. So her favorite MESC event had to be ME week!

Antriana Bigiazian, Programming Intern

Antriana Bigiazian is one of our Programming Intern. She is currently a fourth year student majoring in Political Science/International Affairs and Sociology/Law and Society.

She is Armenian-Greek who is very passionate about advocating for student rights on the state, and federal level. In her free time, she loves rewatching Avatar: The Last Airbender or Korra while enjoying some Wingstop– specifically 6 wing combo mango habanero and garlic parmesan BONE IN. She also enjoys playing video games such as Fortnite, she calls herself a “Pro” even though she has not touched the game in a while due to her packed schedule.

Apart from enjoying games and shows, Antriana enjoys spending time at the MESC. Her favorite memory from the MESC was the first day of ME Week back in Spring 2025; it was a great time with lots of students, and delicious food. She loves programming events like that where students are able to get a taste of MESC, and learn more about the SWANA community. She shares that this upcoming year she will focus on bringing a light on underrepresented student experiences, and stories through her programming. By the time she graduates, she hopes to continue helping out her community and creating space to share important stories and experiences of people.

Sherry Saad, Marketing Intern

Sherry Saad is one of our Marketing Interns at the MESC and a third-year Biology major with aspirations of becoming a physician dedicated to serving underserved communities. Born and raised in Egypt for the first half of her life, Sherry brings a rich cultural perspective and a strong sense of community to her work. She is also a proud Coptic Orthodox Christian and a first-generation college student whose academic and personal journey reflects dedication, leadership, and compassion.

Beyond her role at MESC, Sherry is deeply involved in the healthcare field as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) in Los Angeles County, the Director of Enrollment for the COPE Health Scholar Program at Kaiser Permanente Riverside, and a UC Riverside Health Brand Ambassador. Her passion for healthcare is matched by her creative drive—she enjoys photography, content creation, and promoting student engagement through digital media.

Outside of her professional and academic pursuits, Sherry loves exploring new coffee shops, spending time at the beach or Disneyland, and staying active through workout classes. She values connection, creativity, and community, and is always eager to meet new people and make meaningful memories.

Aakif Iqbal, Marketing Intern

Aakif Iqbal is one of our Marketing interns on the Marketing team. He is currently a fourth-year student majoring in Computer Science.

He is a Pakistani and Kashmiri American who enjoys a variety of hobbies. Whether its watching movies and writing reviews on them, reading interviews, learning about history, and reading. His favorite movie of all time is "Reds" and his favorite album is "Dunya" by Mustafa. Aside from the MESC, Aakif also works at The Highlander newspaper as Assistant Radar Editor and a Program Advisor for Residential Experience in Markaz, the SWANA living-learning community.

Aakif’s favorite memory thus far was the Fall open house. He says the reason he loves it so much is because that event is what introduced him to the MESC and is the event that he made most of the friends he has on campus. Besides the open house, he also says he loved the Culture show which was put on during ME week because he got the ability to Dabke with a professional Dabke group and also perform guitar.

Nooreen Marabeh, Outreach Intern for New Students

Nooreen Marabeh is our Outreach intern for New Students. She is currently a fourth-year biology major.

A little bit about Nooreen is that she is Palestinian, raised in SoCal, and loves food. Some of her hobbies include baking and cooking with her family. When she is not working at the MESC you can find her at club meetings for SJP and Shifa society as a board member.

What she loves about the MESC is that it isn't just a place to hang out but to learn about different backgrounds and cultures and connect with those who share similar backgrounds. If she had to pick, her favorite event that the MESC put on would have to be SWANA Con because it was a blast meeting new people and attending different workshops

Dania Alkam, Alumni and Advocacy Intern

Dania Alkam is our Alumni and Advocacy Intern. She is currently a fourth-year student majoring in Bioengineering.

Dania was born and raised in Palestine. She enjoys spending her free time traveling, shopping, or spending time with friends and family. Though her schedule is typically packed, she will always make time for impromptu iced coffee runs.

Dania’s favorite memory of the MESC thus far was attending her first SWANAcon at UC Riverside. She enjoyed learning, meeting new people, and watching the performances held in the space. Growing up, Dania attended many MESC events with her older sisters, encouraging her to contribute to the community upon starting at UCR.

Muntadhar Aljadeed, Student & Community Organization Outreach Intern

Muntadhar Aljadeed is our Student & Community Organization Outreach Intern. He is currently a third-year student majoring in Political Science with a focus on International Affairs.

He is an Iraqi who enjoys exploring nature, working on cars, and playing tennis with his friends. As a Shia Muslim of strong faith, Muntadhar values community, service, and uplifting underrepresented voices. His passion for civic engagement comes from his experience as an immigrant, recognizing how important it is for communities like his to be seen and heard.

Muntadhar’s favorite memory of the MESC thus far was during his first year, when he began spending time at the center and felt a strong sense of belonging. Meeting new people from different cultures, learning about their traditions, and sharing his own made the space feel like a second home. This experience is what inspired him to join the MESC team and give back to the community that welcomed him.

Hadi Hassanin, IMPACT Intern for Arab American Civic Council

Hadi Hassanin is the IMPACT Intern for the Arab American Civic Council. He is currently a third-year student majoring in Business Finance.

He is a Palestinian who absolutely loves to snowboard (he will not shut up about this), watch movies, socialize about literally any topic, play video games (League of Legends booooo), and serve the community. Some of his favorite topics to talk about are coffee and overall existentialism.

Hadi’s favorite memory of the MESC thus far was attending SWANA con 2024 because it solidified some of his closest friendships to this day. He always talks about how the community at the MESC was nothing but kind and loving. Hadi made an entire friend group to lean on and call family. So to sum it up, ATTEND OUR EVENTS, be just like Hadi and build a loving community that welcomes everyone!

Anahita Hooshyai far, IMPACT Intern for Human Migration Institute

Anahita Hooshyari far is the IMPACT Intern for Human Migration Institute. She is currently a 3rd-year student majoring in Sociology/Law & Society, with a minor in Environmental Studies.

She is an Iranian who enjoys crocheting herself new trinkets and making her friends handmade gifts. She learned this hobby of crocheting/knitting/sewing from her grandmothers in Iran. Even on a hot summer day, she will still make herself some Persian chai with nabat. She is the real depiction of the saying “you can take the girl out of Iran,

Anahita’s favorite memory of the MESC thus far was the MESCafé done on the various cultures and identities within the SWANA region. During this MESCafé, we participated in a trivia style game about the different identities represented within SWANA. The room was packed and the smell of chai took over the room, and we were surprised to see how much we didn’t know about our own region. But with that we unlocked new knowledge about our own culture and people that we did not know well enough before, and learned something new that day.