Alia Qatarneh
Scientist
Educator
Leader
Connecting the life sciences,
social impact, and leadership
Alia Qatarneh is a scientist, educator, and systems leader with over a decade of experience advancing equity, innovation, and organizational learning across the life sciences, education, and nonprofit sectors. She holds a doctorate in Education Leadership (Ed.L.D.) from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where her work examined organizational learning across a federated nonprofit network.
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Her career spans biotechnology education, multimillion-dollar grant development, curriculum innovation, nonprofit strategy, and systems-level leadership. Most recently, Alia served as Strategic Advisor to the CEO of Life Science Cares, a national nonprofit that mobilizes the financial and human capital of the life sciences industry to disrupt the cycle of poverty. In this role, she supported national expansion, governance strategy, and the design of organizational learning structures across a growing federated network. Alia also serves on the executive leadership team at TrailblazHERs Run Co., a Boston-based nonprofit dedicated to creating inclusive wellness spaces for women of color, where she leads strategy, partnerships, and communications.
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Across her work, Alia is committed to building learning-centered systems that expand opportunity, strengthen institutions, and align organizational growth with equity and social impact.
Areas of Practice
Science
Molecular biologist with a strong foundation in biotechnology applications, with hands-on research experience in protein synthesis and folding kinetics.
Education
Strategic educator with expertise in designing, implementing, and scaling science learning initiatives, driving innovative approaches that make complex scientific concepts accessible and engaging.
Organizational Development
Systems leader focused on designing the conditions, routines, and structures that help organizations learn, adapt, and strengthen practice across teams, networks, and distributed environments.
Social Impact
Cross-sector strategist experienced in governance, partnerships, communications, and organizational growth, with a commitment to aligning institutional strategy with corporate responsibility, community impact, and social good.
Much like an enzyme, learning processes depend on the conditions in which they operate. Similarly, workplace learning accelerates or stalls depending on the relational and structural conditions that surround it.
Dr. Alia Qatarneh
Learning from Practice: Designing Conditions for Organizational Learning Across a Federated Nonprofit Network