Zaid is an educator and former diplomat whose career has carried him from a U.S. classroom to U.S. missions abroad. He spent a decade with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), both overseas and in Washington, D.C. As a Foreign Service Officer at USAID, he directed large education portfolios in El Salvador and Pakistan, partnering with governments and schools to strengthen public education for hundreds of thousands of students. From Washington, he shaped U.S. development policy and managed programs for Palestine and Jordan, and earlier, he served at the U.S. Department of Education. He began his career teaching high school biology in Baltimore, and that classroom remains the lens he brings to all his work since. At Karam, Zaid serves as Chief of Staff, working alongside the CEO and leadership team to align strategy, programs, and growth as the foundation builds its next chapter for Syria.
Zaid was born in New Jersey and raised between there and Amman, Jordan, and is fluent in Arabic, Spanish, and English. He now lives in northern New Jersey, where home is family, long hikes in nature, and time at the pottery wheel. Endlessly curious, he is happiest picking up a new language or getting to know a culture from the inside.
