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Add Brown School News on Google (opens in a new tab)Saria Bechara, a doctoral student in social work at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, has been named an Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) Excellence, Equity, and Inclusion Fellow for 2026.
The two-year fellowship supports students and professionals who display academic excellence, merit, and leadership and have overcome significant challenges related to their backgrounds or life circumstances as they pursue careers in public policy, analysis, and management.
Through the fellowship, Bechara will receive travel support, lodging, and registration to attend APPAM’s Annual Fall Research Conference, scheduled for Nov. 5-7 in Boston. She will also receive recognition and opportunities for networking, leadership development, and continued engagement with the APPAM community. In the second year of her fellowship, Bechara will also serve as peer mentor for an incoming 2027 fellow.
Bechara’s research focuses on the multidimensional well-being of conflict-affected communities. Her work is informed by her previous experience as a psychosocial support provider for refugee caregivers and children in Lebanon.
Her research examines how exposure to conflict and forced migration affects well-being, how different dimensions of well-being interact, and how contextual factors shape individual- and community-level outcomes. She also studies protective factors that promote resilience among individuals and communities affected by adversity.