Lyne Sneige is currently the director of the Arts & Culture Program at the Middle East Institute (MEI) in Washington. Before joining MEI, Sneige was deputy director Lebanon and regional projects manager for Arts and Culture for the Middle East at the British Council operating out of Beirut. Sneige spearheaded several initiatives such as the Creative Economy and Cultural Leadership agendas in the region, and is a strong advocate of the important role that artists play in their societies, and a main contributor to changing perceptions of the cultural sector in the Middle East as an important conduit to social and economic change. Sneige is a frequent speaker and moderator at conferences and discussions, around the role of the arts in society. She is a Salzburg Global Seminar Fellow, a nominator to the Art Jameel Prize, an international award for contemporary art and design inspired by Islamic tradition organized in collaboration with the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and a consultant to the Beirut Museum of Art (BeMA) that is set to open in 2020.