Selaam Dollisso

Selaam Dollisso is a Marketing and Communications Associate based in Chicago, Illinois. She supports Meridian’s internal and external communications efforts through newsletter creation, copywriting and editing, graphic design, social media, marketing, and website management. Selaam also leads communications for the Meridian team that serves as Secretariat for Lacuna Fund, which funds researchers in the Global South — whose voices are underrepresented in Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications — to create machine learning datasets that solve urgent social problems and fill data gaps. 

Selaam received her bachelor’s degree in environmental policy, with her background also consisting of diverse science communication, editorial, web and creative storytelling experience. In the past, she has covered a diverse array of environmental subjects, including wildlife trafficking, coastal resilience, and food-trade policy. One of her fondest science communications experiences was filming and producing a short documentary following the work of a plant disease research team at her university. 

Outside of work, Selaam enjoys cooking, attending comedy shows, studying literature and poetry, and learning salsa.