Salim Tannous

Assistant Vice President for Strategic Communications

Mr. Salim Tannous joined Stratcom as an Assistant Vice President in 2023.

Mr. Tannous holds an MA in Media Management from the University of Westminster, London. His studies have been all-encompassing and included coursework in fundamental managerial and strategic skills designed to help devise solutions to a wide range of organizational problems in the rapidly evolving and increasingly complex world of international management, development and communication.

Under the mandate of Berytech and with funding from the European Union, Mr. Tannous founded the Beirut Creative Cluster, a concentration of 50 companies that operate in the creative industries. The organization, built in a short span with very limited resources, achieved local and worldwide recognition and extensive media coverage. The European Union acknowledged the work after a rigorous auditing and benchmarking exercise at the end of which Mr. Tannous received a Label for Excellence in Cluster Management in 2012.

One area of focus was the culture of collaboration and the importance of leveraging the organization through partnerships, which led Mr. Tannous to apply for and obtain a scholarship to the Maastricht School of Management in the Netherlands. His studies in Effective Partnership Management covered public-private partnerships, negotiation techniques, arbitration, crisis management and conflict resolution.

Since 2007, Mr. Tannous has worked as a consultant with a focus on communications, fundraising and development. Among other achievements, he helped to stage fundraising events in New York in collaboration with the Ford Foundation and in Beirut, implement strategic plans and set up fundraising committees. His demonstrated capacity to raise funds and mobilize a significant number of people and organizations through high-profile networking events, job fairs and capacity-building activities has been exemplified further through the acknowledgment of the British Embassy in Beirut in 2015 when he received a British Business Award from ambassador Tom Fletcher.

Prior to joining LAU, Mr. Tannous directed the Communication and Development departments at the University of Balamand. He led the efforts in redesigning the brand and implementing brand guidelines, launched a new website and an alumni platform. He sat on the Ranking Committee and the Graduation Committee and organized the gala dinner in celebration of the university’s 30th anniversary.
Mr. Tannous taught courses in Communication Arts at the university and worked as a trainer under a cultural and arts program run by the British Council and the Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation. He also volunteered as a mentor in the Mowgli Mentorship program where he guided and assisted aspiring young entrepreneurs.