Lydia El-Sayegh is a Fall 2025 Herbert Scoville Jr. Fellow hosted by the Friends Committee on National Legislation Education Fund. Devoted specifically to FCNL’s Militarism and Human Rights work, Lydia is assisting the team in advocating for sustaining, nonviolent U.S. foreign policy.
With a Bachelor’s in biomedical engineering, Lydia brings a problem-solving and intently empathetic lens to peace and justice work. In her undergraduate studies, she focused eagerly on humanitarian engineering, leading her capstone team to design a low-cost, robust tool for fetal heart monitoring which won 1st place in the Rice360 Spring 2022 Global Health Technologies Competition. Through subsequent experiential learning and contributions to nonprofits like The Carter Center and Engineers Without Borders USA—including mapping disease incidence, catalyzing culture change for a more equitable workplace, fundraising, building organizational strategy, training staff, and fostering international partnerships—the seeds of advocacy were planted and watered in her. The connections between engineering & design, health, organization & movement strategy, faith, justice and peace have drawn her to pursue a Master of Arts in Peace and Justice at St. Stephen’s University alongside the Scoville Fellowship. Lydia came to FCNL through local activism in Atlanta, Georgia, organizing faith-based protests and congressional advocacy meetings with the local Quaker and interfaith communities.
Lydia holds her family—Palestinian Christian arrivants on Cherokee and Muscogee land (Atlanta, GA)—her faith, and her heritage extremely dear. With all the partners she can find, Lydia hopes to build a world where her younger siblings, her community in Palestine, and her global community all experience justice, equity, redemption, and peace.