Ms. Essalmawi, an Egyptian national, is a Principal Attorney (Head of Section), and the Intellectual Property Rights Officer at the Library of Alexandria. She is the Project Lead of the Library’s Access to Knowledge initiative and the editor of its website (www.bibalex.org/a2k). Ms. Essalmawi is also eIFL-IP Country Coordinator as well as the Project Lead for Creative Commons in Egypt and the research coordinator for the International Development Law Organization (IDLO) "Consumer Protection in the Microfinance Industry Research Project”.

She holds a Bachelors of Law and a Masters of Law from the Faculty of Law, Alexandria University, a post-graduate Diploma in International Law and Development, the Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, The Netherlands, and an LL.M in Intellectual Property, Turin University and the WIPO Worldwide Academy.