Class 28

Oumayma is a human rights leader and researcher with over five years of experience. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in English Studies from the University of Humanities and Social Sciences of Tunis. Oumayma is a research assistant in the Middle East and North Africa Division at Human Rights Watch (HRW). As part of the Tunisian office, she assists with research on human rights abuses for Tunisia and Algeria. Prior to joining HRW, she worked as a journalist for Tunisia Live. She has also worked as a consultant at Menapolis, a research and consultancy company working on political reforms in the MENA region, and as a project coordinator at the Institute for War and Peace Reporting where she was in charge of organizing training workshops for journalists and capacity building activities. Oumayma served as Parliamentary Attaché in the Tunisian Constituent Assembly for the period from July to December 2012. She is fluent in English, French and Arabic. She is excited to share the knowledge and experience she has gained in Tunisia with other global leadership.

Host Organization: Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy (TIMEP)

Role at Host Organization: As the TIMEP-Atlas Corps Bassem Sabry Democracy Fellow, Oumayma will work under the supervision of the Executive Director and senior staff to build individual research, writing for publication, and advocacy skills. In addition to developing her own research project, Oumayma will provide assistance to ongoing research projects, analyze articles, and monitor ongoing issues.

Muhammad has eight years of experience in nonprofit sector in the fields of entrepreneurship, peace building, youth and women empowerment. He earned a certificate in Entrepreneurship from Bunker Hill Community College, Boston and a Bachelor’s of Commerce degree from University of Peshawar. While working as a Program Coordinator with the Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) in Peshawar, Muhammad successfully managed and implemented several advocacy programs to strengthen rule of law, governance, youth and women empowerment, peacebuilding, and social entrepreneurship. Previously, he has worked with BUILD Greater Boston in the US to train dropout students and help them develop business plans, marketing strategies and showcase events to start their own small businesses. He has worked closely with youth groups, civil society, academia, law enforcers, and government agencies to enhance their capacities and mass awareness to prosper peace, strengthening rule of law, governance, democracy, and countering terrorism and extremism in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa(KP) and FATA regions of Pakistan. Muhammad has also voluntarily implemented projects on education, youth and entrepreneur mentoring, social entrepreneurship, and cultural exchange programs. Through these experiences, he has developed strong project management, implementation, strategic planning, report writing, communication and coordination skills, and has the ability to work in a fast moving, multicultural environment. Muhammad enjoys working on social entrepreneurship, positive youth development, and civic participation. He has a strong passion for creating a just society, peacebuilding, and economic uplifting of youth, minorities and women.

Host Organization: Street Sense Media

Role at Host Organization: Muhammad will serve as a Vendor Manager Fellow and will oversee a team of over 100 homeless and formerly homeless vendors who sell Street Sense Media’s print newspaper as a means to generate income and stabilize their lives. He will monitor the organization’s daily sales process while developing creative strategies to increase income for the organization’s hardworking vendors.

Mouna is a social impact enthusiast and catalyst who has spent the past five years developing and implementing strategies that enable a strong ecosystem for social and economic development in Morocco. She earned a Masters Degree in Environment and Water Management Engineering. Mouna has worked at NUMA Casablanca, the first accelerator in Morocco for mission driven startups, as an Acceleration Program Manager. Additionally, she founded and managed Bold Impact, an educational business that helps individuals, teams and organizations to stimulate innovation and improve their creations with Human-Centered Design. She co-founded and was the operations manager of Moroccan CISE, an NGO dedicated to promoting social change through social entrepreneurship. Mouna also worked on social entrepreneurship development with international organisations including Ashoka India, Ashoka Arab World, British Council Morocco, and Adam Smith International. Mouna is a community member of IDEX fellowship, Ashoka Changemakerxchange, JCI, and Global Shapers. Through these experiences, Mouna has developed strong skills in design, management and implementation of programs aiming for social and economic development.

Host Organization: MIT D-Lab

Role at Host Organization: Mouna will serve as a Summit Coordinator Fellow. She will lead the planning and execution of MIT D-Lab’s Practical Impact Alliance (PIA) co-design summit and preceding Creative Capacity Building (CCB) trainings in collaboration with local partners and in accordance with MIT D-Lab methodology and principles.

Marilo Meta has over four years of experience in various social change sectors. He has certificates in Political Leadership and Cognitive Law from the Elita Professional Academy in Albania, as well as a Master of Science in Information Technology and Communications and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Computer Science from the University of Tirana at Albania. Marilo is the President of the Leadership Development Association of Albania, a global and independent nonprofit run by and for young professionals. Prior to that he served as the advertising and public relations marketing manager for the Albanian Police Force, and a computer services department manager for NOA Financing. Marilo served as a marketing coordinator for AEGEEE Tirana, a position in which he advocated for increased solidarity and activism towards gender equality. Marilo is a computer scientist with strong communication and organizational skills, with a keen interest in building a career in the field of international relations for nonprofit organizations, digitalization of communication and marketing of international solidarity and humanism.

Host Organization: Open Government Partnership

Role at Host Organization: Marilo will discover and map Open Government Partnership’s organization-wide and team-specific practices of gathering, managing and sharing information and knowledge. Marilo will also contribute to other IT and data management needs.

Lesego has four years of experience in development banking and nonprofit work. She holds a degree in International Business Management from Asia Pacific University in Malaysia. Lesego worked under Microfinance at the Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency for three years, assisting startups and expanding informal businesses access to funding, financial literacy and business development. Within the same organization, she also worked in Research and Product Development. Lesego is a Global Shaper for Gaborone Hub, an Initiative of the World Economic Forum, having served as the Curator (Chairperson) for the term 2017/2018 and formerly the Head of Communications and PR. Lesego has led and worked on projects focused on leadership and youth development and empowerment with a particular passion for building capacity among nonprofit organizations. Through Global Shapers, she was selected to attend the World Economic Forum on Africa in 2017. Lesego is the founder of Rising Tswana, a nonprofit platform for Christian creatives to share their work. She has a keen interest for shaping the African narrative positively and as such is a contributing writer for She Leads Africa and Pristine Magazine, and has guest written for the World Economic Forum, Khalahari Review, the G-Blog and many others. Lesego is a co-author of a book with three other young African leaders titled Young Conversations, which focuses on the discussions around social interest topics around Africa and youth. The proceeds of the book will be going towards funding nonprofit work which the authors are passionate about.

Host Organization: Youth INC

Role at Host Organization: Lesego will work alongside the development team to create substantive communications output and improve Youth INC’s brand through creative marketing initiatives. She will execute the communications plan and manage its sustainability.

Iman has ten years of professional experience in the nonprofit sector. She completed her Master’s degree in Youth Development Leadership from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities in the U.S, and she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration in English from the Islamic University of Gaza in Palestine. Iman has a profound role in youth development and employment as well as income generating activities. Currently, Iman is a member of the “Youth Council for Development” in Gaza, which helps youth engage in community activities. After she completed her Master’s degree, she addressed unemployment in Gaza by leading her own USAID-funded initiative to help graduates gain Information Technology skills to win jobs online. While working under European Union projects, she helped 160 female-head of families create and develop their own businesses. She worked for Mercy Corps, a global humanitarian organization, as a Program Officer in youth employment, where she managed different youth employment and livelihood programs such as internship programs, micro-grants for entrepreneurs, freelancing job opportunities, and graduate capacity building and training programs. During the last war on Gaza in 2014, Iman helped displaced families source food and non-food items, and she contributed to cash assistance and workforce projects for affected persons. In addition, she was a board member in a community-based organization for environment and community development. Iman has a strong passion for helping those in need, and for economic development activities, especially those related to youth.

Host Organization: Microsoft

Role at Host Organization: Iman will support the Program Management function and the wider Affordable Access Initiatives team to evolve global project engagements, partnerships, processes, tools, research, and thought leadership.

Edward has ten years of professional experience in web development and marketing for nonprofit organizations. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree of Computer Science from Jose Matias Delgado University in 2009, and a second bachelor’s degree in Marketing in 2014. In 2008, he started working for the National Center of Cleaner Production of El Salvador, where he has developed many projects in computer science areas aimed at increasing the efficacy of enterprises and saving natural resources like energy, water and oil. He has extensive experience in different kinds of web technologies, data bases, and marketing strategies. In the last ten years, Edward has developed web applications for the government, banks and for-profit organizations, and nonprofits alike. In addition to his work in renewable energy, recycling, market studies, and green marketing, he has experience in e-commerce working at a startup that sells t-shirts with a social message. In the future, Edward wants to pursue a Master’s degree in web security and continue working in entrepreneurship.

Host Organization: Solstice

Role at Host Organization: Edward will serve as a “design-geneer” to lead UI/UX, front-end design, and contribute to the overall development effort of the organization’s web-based solar marketplace and customer engagement platform.

Celstina has 11 years of experience in the nonprofit sector. She earned a Master of Science in Organizational/School Psychology from the University of Tirana in Albania. While working as psychologist and project coordinator, she actively supports women’s rights through education, counseling and advocacy initiatives. Celstina has experience leading and organizing field projects to promote community engagement and spur concrete actions to elevate the status of women in the family and society. She specializes in the prevention of domestic abuse, gender based-violence and aggressive behavior among youth. Celstina has also served for five years as an Assistant Professor at the University of Shkodra. She has participated in a Community Solution Program, where she gained leadership skills and effective strategies for increasing participation in community development projects. Celstina has received several trainings and certificates abroad. Through these experiences she developed strong interpersonal and communication skills and the ability to work in multicultural environments. She has a strong passion for social justice and enjoys traveling.

Host Organization: Next Door Solution to Domestic Violence

Role at Host Organization: Celstina will provide both individual and group support, peer-counseling, and appropriate learning to children, youth and families that have experienced domestic violence. She will work closely with the Support Group Coordinator to plan, implement, and evaluate programming for children and youth. Additionally, she will work with parents to access resources and services related to children/youth and parenting.