Our People

Curt Rhodes has spent close to 40 years working with, and on behalf of, marginalized communities and young people across the Middle East.

As the recipient of the 2014 Dr. Jean Mayer Global Citizenship Award, Dr. Rhodes was recognized by Tufts University for his demonstrated compassion and tenacity in creating a highly effective and determined organization dedicated to the survival and nurturing of the most vulnerable and disenfranchised.

In recognition of his work with marginalized youth in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and in the region, Dr. Rhodes was awarded 2011 Social Entrepreneur of the Year for the Middle East and North Africa by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship.

Dr. Rhodes began his career in the Middle East in the early 1980s, as Assistant Dean in the School of Public Health at the American University of Beirut. During the 1982 invasion of west Beirut, he volunteered in a community-based clinic alongside students and friends, doing around-the-clock triage for wounded and ill civilians. That was when the seed idea for Questscope began to take shape. Living and working with people in great suffering compelled him to find a way that he and others in the Middle East could assist the most vulnerable: participating with the voiceless ones in invisible communities.

In 1988, Questscope was founded with the goal of putting the last, first. From the beginning, Questscope worked closely with local communities, identifying their aspirations and together addressing their greatest needs.

Muthanna Khriesat is the Chief Executive Officer of Questscope. 

In 1999, Muthanna joined Questscope as a volunteer and was exposed to a community of youth detached from society and in need of positive social change. Since then, he has dedicated his work to helping create social, educational, and entrepreneurial opportunities for marginalized youth.

He has held various positions for Questscope related to knowledge management and administrative leadership, including program director for mentoring disadvantaged youth, and more recently, Chief of Party for a USAID-funded alternative education program for out-of-school youth.

His extensive experience and dedication to furthering positive change in the MENA region led to his appointment as Jordan country director in 2010, and Regional and Jordan Country Director in 2015.

Muthanna has responsibility for program design and institutional relationships with governmental agencies, including the Ministries of Education and Social Development and the Department of Public Security.

He also oversees relations with UN agencies for initiatives with Syrian refugees and vulnerable Jordan youth, including UNICEF, UNESCO, UNFPA, and UNODC.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the Princess Sumaya University of Technology in Amman, Jordan. His interests are centered on adapting technology to advance social aims.

A Jordanian national, Muthanna resides in Minneapolis with his wife and two sons.

Roy Ramez Moussalli is the founder and executive director of the Syrian Society for Social Development, a Syria-based, non-profit, non-governmental organization established in 2009 to focus on disadvantaged youth and communities displaced by conflict.

He also provides leadership for the development of Questscope programs in Syria and the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region with various governmental and non-governmental agencies over the past 15 years.

He is a member of the Damascus Chamber of Commerce and is a graduate of the American University of Beirut (BS 1977, Mechanical Engineering).

Ma’en is Questscope's Jordan Country Director. He most enjoys building relationships in the communities where Questscope works.

The most important people in his life are his wife and three kids. In his free time he enjoys reading, music, and writing poetry.

I love the family work environment here at QS, but my biggest challenge is to accomplish my missions and be particular within the little time given.

I take so much pride with my work, for I feel Im giving a fraction to help youth for a second chance in life, and all that couldn’t be achieved unless we are one hand in one team.

The biggest challenge in my work is the pressure of the workload, but it’s so rewarding to see the fruit of all this hard work after being tolerant and patient.

I’m proud of being a part of an organization with a true vision and a great mission.

The best book I read is the Holy Quran.

What do you find the most challenging at Questscope?

What do you like or enjoy most about Questscope?

How it feels like home What is your proudest moment at Questscope?

That we change people lives in so many and in different ways What is the most important thing you have learned during your work here?

that change is possible Tell us a little about yourself. What is the best book you have ever read?

The book I enjoyed the most "Married to a Bedouin".

Jim has worked as Questscope’s financial controller for almost 24 years. His co-workers and the work of Jean Vanier, especially the book Becoming Human, inspire him.

His favorite hobby happens to be mixing and pouring concrete!