Born and raised in Casablanca, Morocco, Meryem originally came to France to study Politics. She first attended the University of Bordeaux, where she received a masters’ degree in Arab civilization and Political Sciences, with her thesis subject being “The media coverage of the Iraq war, 2003”. Then, she attended Sciences Po Bordeaux, where she graduated with a master’s degree in International Cooperation and Development, leading her to work for the The Unesco and for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, respectively, as an Education project lead and Communication Officer, in Rabat, Morocco. She would spend the following three years devoted to making education accessible to less privileged communities, and to bringing international culture and art to a wider audience in her native country. She also contributed to a group of Italian and French scholars in the authoring of a book focused on Sub-Saharan migration in Morocco. In 2010, Meryem came to Paris, where she joined AREA 17 in the role of Operations Manager, as well as a Community Manager for Slash.