
Joumana Silyan-Saba
Director of Civic Engagement & Human Rights, City of Los Angeles - Civil, Human Rights and Equity Department
2022, 2023, 2024
Joumana Silyan-Saba is an accomplished public leader, with a career in public service spanning 18 years of experience in non-profit, city government and academia. With a sense of optimism, Joumana is committed to diplomacy, inclusion and bringing about social change to expand equity and inclusion. She currently serves as the Director of Policy and Discrimination Enforcement for the Los Angeles City Civil + Human Rights and Equity Department. In this role, she is instituting the discrimination enforcement operation aimed at implementing the LA Civil Rights Law. She previously led efforts in Mayor Garcetti’s Office for Public Safety, and served as a Senior Policy Analyst for the City of Los Angeles Human Relations Commission where she led city-wide multi-faith engagements and advocated to advance various social justice policies.
As a thought leader, she has published research and contributed to articles on topics related to hate and extremism, faith engagement, and social cohesion. Ms. Silyan Saba is an Ambassador for Religions for Peace, a global multi-faith convening to promote peaceful, just and inclusive societies. She Chairs the Board of Directors for Life after Hate, and serves as the Co-Chair of the LAPD training Professional Advisory Committee.
Ms. Silyan-Saba has a Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice and earned a Master’s degree in Mediation, Negotiation and Conflict Management. She served as an Adjunct Assistant Professor and taught graduate courses on public policy conflict and peacebuilding. Ms. Silyan-Saba served as a non-resident Fellow at George Washington University Program on Extremism, and was invited to conduct trainings with the U.S. Department of State on community-law enforcement partnerships in both Nepal and India.

The effort to eradicate hate requires the active participation of every component of our society, to include governments, the private sector, communities of faith and indeed every aspect of civil society. There is no more urgent task in front of us. The organizers of the Eradicate Hate Global Summit are doing the United States and the world an enormous service by tackling hatred and extremism with a focus on honest dialogue and conversation, genuine learning and practical solutions. This will not happen overnight, but the Pittsburgh community’s leadership in this effort is genuinely inspiring and motivating.
