Esmat Lamei is the founder and Director of the Groupe Scolaire Oasis in Cairo, Egypt. In December 1997, she was awarded the Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Palmes Académiques for services rendered to French culture. The Groupe Scolaire Oasis worked closely with the Egyptian Ministry of National Education to open a pioneering public school in October 2014, offering the International Baccalaureate (IB) program.