Raghad Makhlouf is an accomplished actress, director, and teaching artist, and a two-time Helen Hayes Award nominee for Outstanding Ensemble. She is thrilled to join The Art of Care initiative as the Associate Director. With a dynamic career that spans Syria, Lebanon, and Europe, she has an extensive repertoire of performances on stage and has appeared in more than 400 hours of television drama. As an actress, she has been associated with several prestigious theaters and theater companies in the US including Signature Theatre, Theater Alliance, Mosaic Theater, Shakespeare in The Woods, Spooky Action, The Welders, Folger Theatre, and Shakespeare Theatre Company. Her assistant directing and directing credits include productions like “Frontiers Sans Frontiers” at Spooky Action Theater, “Live from Jenin” at the Voices Festival, and “Silicon” and “Rosaline’s Story” at Al-Hamra Theatre in Syria. Raghad also served as a teaching assistant and assistant director at the Higher Institute of Drama in Syria for seven years, and she designed and led acting workshops for teenage Syrian refugees in Lebanon to support their emotional resilience. She believes in the therapeutic power of theater for underserved communities. In Syria, Raghad was part of an interactive theater group called The Studio, which toured Townes and villages, engaging residents and tackling local challenges through theater. She holds a BFA from the Higher Institute of Drama in Syria and an MFA in Classical Acting from George Washington University. You can follow her on Instagram at @raghadmakhlouf.