Dr. Nesreen Barwari is Chief Executive Officers of KWS for Education, Learning and Capacity Development, and Founder and President of Breezes of Hope. Barwari was Minister of Municipalities and Public Works in the Government of Iraq from 2003 to 2006, and the only and first woman appointed to a ministerial position in Iraq after the regime change in 2003. Prior, she was Minister of Reconstruction and Development in the Kurdistan Regional Government. Her professional career started in 1991 with UNHCR and continued with several UN agencies from 1991 to 1998. In recognition of her work, the United Nations awarded her a UN-Habitat Scroll of Honour in 2003. The Arab League also honoured her with a distinction in public participation in 2004 as one of the top 10 distinguished women from the Arab world. Barwari earned her undergraduate degree in Architectural Engineering and Urban Planning from Baghdad University. Her graduate studies, in Public Policy and Management, were completed at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. She has a PhD in Political Sciences with focus on Development Planning from Dortmund University.