Meet Team
Chafic Kolaylat is a Lebanese creative professional and Deaf rights advocate. Deaf since early childhood, sign language is his mother language and shapes how he communicates, creates, and connects with others.
He holds a degree in Advertising Design and works as an Art Director at an advertising agency, specializing in creative direction, branding, and visual storytelling. His academic journey began in Deaf schools and later continued at university in a hearing environment, where overcoming communication barriers made him aware of the challenges and how to resolve them, strengthening his resilience, adaptability, and commitment to inclusive communication.
Chafic works closely with Lebanese Deaf communities and actively contributes to Deaf empowerment initiatives. He is the assistant theater director and co-creator along with Issam Bou Khaled for the Decibel Team, a professional Deaf theater and production group known for performances that use a visual international language, accessible to both Deaf and hearing audiences.
As co-founder of Sign Language Lab — the first online sign language platform in Lebanon and the Middle East — he supports an empowerment-focused ecosystem offering sign language education, workshops, and communication tools to expand accessibility across the region.
He currently serves as the representative of Deaf individuals in Lebanon at the Ministry of Social Affairs, contributing to creating a national strategic plan for inclusion, accessibility, and equal opportunities for Lebanese Deaf individuals.
Naila Al Hares, a CODA (Child of Deaf Adult) born and raised in Beirut, is an artist, performing storyteller, and sign language interpreter. She studied early childhood education and completed her teaching diploma at LAU in 2015. Having had Deaf parents and Lebanese Sign language as her first mode of communication, she developed early on a skill in interpreting and communicating ideas through different non-spoken mediums. These skills along with her passion for the arts made her take on different professional paths which would always lead to one core aim when working with others; inspiring self-expression and self-development.
She worked as a public speaking coach, theater and film practitioner, community events and advocacy mobilizer, as well as a consultant and trainer for teams in the workplace. She is known for her nationwide work in Sign Language interpretation as she worked with UN agencies, local and international NGOs as well as governmental bodies to make content accessible for the Deaf.
She co-founded Sign Language Lab – the first online sign language platform in Lebanon and the Middle East- where she works as a Deaf accessibility consultant and teaches Lebanese Sign Language. She uses the language’s rationale and concepts for broader educational purposes such as parenting, public speaking and creative expression.
Her heart led her to focus on sharing her stories as a means to touch people’s hearts and lead them to take meaningful action and inspire social change. In 2026, she directed and performed ‘Handed-Down’ the first theater performance in the Arab world about CODAs showcasing the challenges as well as the beauty of being born to Deaf parents.