Alyaa A. Taha is a Heritage Conservation and Partnership Development Specialist with Manāra Policy & Practice, bringing expertise in architectural heritage conservation, donor engagement and negotiations, and community-centered heritage processes across Egypt and the Arab region. Most recently, she served as AlUla Partnership Coordinator within the Division for Partnerships at UNESCO's Bureau of Strategic Planning (BSP) in Paris, the unit responsible for coordinating UNESCO's engagement with bilateral donors, multilateral organizations, regional institutions, and the private sector to mobilize resources for the organization's strategic objectives. This role followed two years as UNESCO Partnership and Programme Manager with the Royal Commission for AlUla in Saudi Arabia, where she managed relationships between government agencies, international heritage institutions, and funding partners, negotiated partnership modalities, and facilitated collaboration across the cultural heritage and sustainable development agenda for one of the Arab region's most significant heritage destinations. Across both roles, she developed sustained experience in brokering agreements between public and private stakeholders, navigating donor requirements, and positioning heritage programs to secure institutional and financial commitments. Earlier in her career, Alyaa worked as an architect with MADA Architects in Egypt, served as Assistant Lecturer at the German University in Cairo, and contributed to heritage research and urban development with Takween Integrated Community Development. She was part of the team on UNESCO's Urban Regeneration of Historic Cairo project and contributed to the Athar Lina Project, facilitating stakeholder workshops to guide the development of al-Khalifa Street in Historic Cairo through collaboration between Egypt's Ministry of State for Antiquities and the Danish Egyptian Dialogue Institute. She also contributed to heritage relocation studies for Heritage Malta at Fort St. Elmo in Valletta. Alyaa holds an MSc in Sustainable Heritage from University College London, with a dissertation examining architectural interventions in heritage sites through a cross-cultural comparison of King's Cross Station in London and Ramsis Station in Cairo, and a BSc in Architecture from The British University in Egypt.