Philippe Nassif
Associate Vice President
Mr. Philippe Nassif is an Associate Vice President at The Cohen Group. He advises clients across the emerging technology, defense, sustainability, telecommunications, energy, and biotech industries to navigate government policy, cultivate engagement strategies, develop government relations, and mitigate geopolitical risk. Mr. Nassif has supported clients in identifying promising foreign markets and building relations with key stakeholders across the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, and Southeast Asia, in addition to the United States. Nassif is a member of The Cohen Group’s Middle East and Defense practices.
Prior to joining The Cohen Group, Mr. Nassif served as a Program Director on the Middle East and North Africa team at the National Democratic Institute (NDI) where he supported civil society, governance programs, and electoral observation missions across the region.
Before that, Mr. Nassif worked at Amnesty International USA as the US Government Relations Director for the Middle East, North Africa, and the Americas region. At Amnesty, Mr. Nassif worked with US government representatives in Congress and the executive branch to elevate various humanitarian and geopolitical challenges facing the world, often testifying before Congress and handling crisis communications and response for the organization and its coalition partners.
Prior to that, Mr. Nassif served as Executive Director of In Defense of Christians in the Middle East where he advocated for the ethnic and religious minorities in the region that suffered at the hands of ISIS. Previously, he worked at CARE USA advocating for humanitarian assistance across the Americas and the Southeast and South Asia regions. Before his work at CARE USA, Mr. Nassif worked at The US Global Leadership Coalition, at the White House on President Obama’s advance team, and for the Mayor of Houston, Texas. Mr. Nassif also ran for Houston City Council in 2015.
Mr. Nassif was named a Next Generation Latino Foreign Policy and National Security Leader by the New America Foundation, a Penn Kemble Fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy, a 2021 US National Security & Foreign Affairs Leader at The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), and a fellow at the Aspen Strategy Group.
A native of New Orleans, Louisiana, Mr. Nassif received his BA in International Relations from the University of St. Thomas in Houston, and his MA in International Conflict Resolution from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio. He speaks Arabic and Spanish.