Zakaria is a 2023 MENA Scholar in the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab Middle East and North Africa (J-PAL MENA) at the American University in Cairo (AUC) MENA Scholars Fellowship programme. From Morocco, Zakaria is a doctoral candidate in economics at the Université Ibn Tofaïl in Kénitra, Morocco. Launched in 2022 and supported by Community Jameel and the Sawiris Foundation for Social Development, the new J-PAL MENA Scholarship Fellowship seeks to build a community of regional researchers with technical and hands-on experience in designing and conducting randomised evaluations of poverty reduction programmes.