Palestinian Territories

Sharaf Al-Faqawi, a Palestinian humanitarian worker, has fourteen years of experience in the nonprofit sector. Currently serving as the Gaza Area Manager at Humanity & Inclusion (HI), he is responsible for developing and implementing intervention strategies, proposal development, coordination of shared services, and security management. Previously, Sharaf held managerial and technical positions, including as the Inclusive Education Project Manager, where he focused on mainstreaming the educational needs of children with disabilities. He also worked as a Rehabilitation and Occupational Therapy Officer, improving access to rehabilitation services for persons with disabilities and providing technical support to local partners. Throughout his career, Sharaf has been dedicated to addressing the basic and humanitarian needs of people affected by armed conflict in the region.

Khaled Hussein has five years of experience in the non-profit sector and earned a Bachelor of Science in Physiotherapy from the Islamic University of Gaza. While working as Teaching Assistant at Islamic University of Gaza, he participated in the delivery of clinical courses at the university and various hospitals, taught and facilitated the educational process, led the delivery of clinical courses, and conducted many extracurricular activities to improve students’ personal skills such as time management, effective studying, and following evidence-based practice in the field of research. While working as Teaching Assistant, he acquired many skills including networking with professionals. He was a Team Leader and physiotherapist for a year at the National Center for Community Rehabilitation. He led the home care team that visited the disabled people and provided physical rehabilitation services. Previously, Khaled volunteered for four years at the Islamic University Student Council, where he helped solve students’ problems and conducted training courses for students. During his community service, Khaled acquired many skills including: Networking and Problem-Solving. Khaled is interested in musculoskeletal rehabilitation and women’s health.

Sherine Bin Said has ten years of experience in non-profit organizations and earned a Bachelor of Economics and Administrative Sciences from the University of Al-Azhar in the Palestinian Territories. She also earned her Professional Diploma in Management of Civil Society Organizations at Islamic University in Palestine. While working as a project coordinator at Filastiniyat Organization in Fada’ Shababi, she implemented an EU-funded framework project Shabab Live in partnership with DW Akademie, Al Khatt, and Al-Jana, which gave her the opportunity to work closely with youth to provide them with access to conventional media and give them a voice by addressing their concerns and supporting their creative initiatives. Previously, Sherine worked for the Culture and Free Thought Association in the Projects, Fundraising and Advocacy Department, where she handled all documentation and filing for a department. Her work included data entry, translation, and filing hard and soft copies, as well as assisting visitors to the projects and the organization. Additionally, Sherine Bin Said took on the responsibility of facilitating several focus group discussions to support the evaluation process at CFTA. Through these experiences, she developed strong project coordination and implementation skills. Sherine enjoys being involved in youth empowerment.

Maha Saymeh has over seven years of experience in the non-profit sector. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in accounting (in English) at Islamic University in Gaza. While working at United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in Finance Department as Claims Examination Section Head, Maha was recently promoted to Head of Section Team. Previously, Maha also worked at the Treasury Department and headed the Treasury Team at UNRWA Gaza Office. She supported UNRWA programs – Education, Health, Relief, Infrastructure and Camp Improvement – in providing services to 2.1 million refugees living in Gaza Strip. Maha worked at SULAFA, an income generation project for women established by UNRWA, helping to convert from manual to computerized accounting, developing databases for SULAFA, and developing effective reporting techniques to meet management needs. Maha also worked at Oxfam OPT in the finance department, supporting Oxfam programs that contribute to sustainable development, agricultural and economic justice, and food security programs in Palestinian Territories. Maha worked as a teaching assistant at Islamic University in Gaza after graduating at the top of her class. Maha has experience volunteering with local non-profit organizations. Maha has an endless ambition that motivates her to work hard to achieve her goals. Her enthusiasm and good spirit impact the team she works with. Maha enjoys working for a cause that helps the poor and the most vulnerable in society, helping refugees and advocating for humanitarian aid.

Feda’a Sobeh has six years of experience in the non-profit sector and is a PhD student in Curriculum and Teaching Methodology in English at the Institute of Arab Research and Studies, Egypt. She works as a program manager at Al Aqsa Sports Club Association. She is also a member of the National Team on Developing and Adapting Entrepreneurship Curricula in Palestine. She is an Entrepreneurship Trainer and a Business Plan Development Trainer. In addition, Feda’a was a judge at the graduation ceremony of Hult Prize at Al Quds Open University- Gaza. Feda’a is passionate about women’s rights, child protection and community protection and has been part of many projects that promote women and youth capacity building, leadership, non-violence and quality education. She is also a member of a community protection committee. Feda’a believes that her work background allows her to appreciate new perspectives and national differences. She believes in the power of community and the role of women and youth in bringing about positive change.

Bisan Abu Harb completed her Bachelor’s degree in business administration at the Islamic University of Gaza. She completed several short courses for professional development, including leadership, reporting, gender and crisis management. While working as a UDOC assistant at Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) under the Emergency Relief Program, she helped improve living conditions to enable non-refugees internally displaced by the 2014 Gaza conflict to return home. Previously, Bisan worked at MAAN Development Center as a team leader in the UNMAS funded project “Risk Education ERW Awareness”. In addition, she worked as a team leader in the same organization in another project namely “Promoting Conflict Preparedness and Protection in Gaza Strip”. She also worked as a project assistant for the project “Supporting women leadership in Gaza Strip” where her success story started as she got to know well all the non-profit organizations working in this field and contributed significantly in strengthening the human security of women in vulnerable areas. Bisan has volunteered in many programs and organizations as she believes in community participation. During her professional career, she developed strong project management skills, networking and communication skills, and event planning skills. Bisan is interested in focusing on gender issues and has a strong passion for helping IDPs and refugees survive. She is interested in various things such as art, photography, humanitarian work and most importantly making a difference in people’s lives.

Haitham Badarin is a computer engineer and YouTuber, based in Hebron. He grew up in a family of 12, completed secondary school with distinction and went on to study engineering at Palestine Polytechnic University. Upon graduation, Badarin was nominated for the MEPI Student Leader Program and spent 6 weeks developing leadership and communication skills in the United States. Upon returning to Palestinian Territories, he competed in the annual teachers’ employment contest, won first place and was hired as an IT teacher. In his first year of teaching, Badarin volunteered to train fellow teachers at the district on how to use computer software and his contributions were recognized both by the school district and the Ministry of Education. In 2018, Badarin was promoted to a new position as a software engineer, which was created in response to the increasing digitization of education. As it required a well-established expert in this field and someone who has a vision of what e-learning should look like, Badarin was a great fit. There, Badarin supervised the transition of the eSchool website to a national eLearning portal. He modernized and automated huge parts of the district’s tasks and provided in-person training to secretaries and employees in the district, public, and private schools. As remote work and collaboration intensified during the pandemic, Badarin was tasked with proposing and managing a remote learning system, he administered the introduction and deployment of the Office 365 Education package in Hebron schools. Within months, every teacher and student became familiar with MS Teams and through his YouTube channel Badarin provided tutorials on how to use Office 365 apps. His tutorials have registered more than 1.2 million views. Badarin is mostly interested in education and introduction of new technologies in the classroom.

Bashar Timraz has eight years of experience in the nonprofit and government sectors. Bashar earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administrations from Al-Quds Open University in Palestine. Bashar has diverse work experience in administration, coordination, security, reporting, and project management. In his current role as Operations Coordinator in the Field Security and Risk Management at the United Nations for Relief & Work Agency (UNRWA), he provides emergency response to around 13,000 staff members working in 300 UNRWA installations, guarantees a safe work environment for the UNRWA employees, follows up and reports all security incidents as needed, and organizes and maintains security files on all issues related to assessments, security plans, and more. Through his work with UNRWA, Bashar works with staff from different backgrounds, experiences, and working styles. Thus, he has developed strong communication, teamwork, risk-management and problem-solving skills. Previously, Bashar worked at the Ministry of Detainees and Ex-detainees Affairs in the projects and planning department, and was responsible for preparing the Ministry’s projects, operational plans, and reports. Working with the government has enabled him to develop report writing skills, strategic thinking, and communication skills, along with the ability to organize media events. Bashar is particularly looking to challenge himself and learn new things focusing on the topics of humanitarian, operations, and economic development.

Nedaa AlAbadla has two years of experience in the nonprofit sector, and earned a Bachelor’s of English Literature from Al Azhar University in Gaza. While working as an Admission Officer for Doctors Without Borders, Nedaa organized the flow of the trauma and burn patients and supplied equipment in the clinics of the MSF. Previously, Nedaa worked with the humanitarian sector and civil society organizations for about three years to advance community development and promote human rights. Nedaa has volunteered as a peer educator on women’s rights and leadership for several civil society organizations in Gaza. She also volunteered to help elderly people and orphans, as well. Nedaa produces human-interest stories that elucidate humanitarian issues in Gaza. Most recently, she worked for the Mideast Group in Gaza. In this role, she served as a link between the private sector and civil society organizations through the fundraising unit, and was responsible for internal and external communication related to improving community services in Gaza. Nedaa has gained valuable experience in war reporting, digital storytelling, and international relations. She strongly believes in the power of strong communications and storytelling to show the real image in order to support vulnerable communities. Through these experiences, Nedaa developed project coordination and writing skills. She enjoys focusing on the topics of women and gender advocacy, and has a deep passion for women’s empowerment.

Aboud J. Al Ifranji has five years of experience in the nonprofit sector and three years of experience in the UNRWA education sector. A.J. earned a Bachelor’s of Teaching English Language from Al Azhar University in Gaza, Palestine. While working as an English teacher in different UNRWA schools, he helped improve his students’ academic achievement in English in prep schools. While working as a Project Coordinator in Japanese Campaign for the Children of Palestine, he helped improve the quality of education in local government schools across different areas in Gaza, Palestine. Through these experiences, he developed strong project coordination, planning, monitoring, implementation, reporting, and evaluation skills. A.J. also honed his abilities to work with computerized and office programs, use cameras for video recording and editing, and facilitate different types of trainings, workshops, and meetings, especially for teachers and school staff members. A.J. is also deeply skilled in translating oral and written English to Arabic, researching, working under pressure, multitasking, and leading teams. Throughout his career, A.J. has developed a wide variety of communication skills, along with best practices in data collection, validation, summary, and analysis. A.J. enjoys focusing on topics of education development, cultural variety, sports, animation, movies, and music, and has a strong passion for self development and youth empowerment.

Abeer Sheikhasan earned a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics Applied to Economics from Birzeit University in Palestine in 2012. Three years later, Abeer earned a Master’s degree in Statistics Applied to Economics from the same university,. She also had the opportunity to experience teaching in a private basic school for about three months, and research assistance in her university for another three months. Immediately after that, she became a government employee at the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics as a statistician, where she currently works. As a government employee at the National Statistical Office of Palestine, she participated in many international training courses: including in Belgium, Turkey, Lebanon, Kuwait, and Japan. She learned intensively in the field of statistical analysis in support of inclusive development policies and price indices, and moderately in data science and big data techniques for official statistics. During her amazing experience in Japan, she learned R programming as a new tool for data analysis and she conveyed that knowledge by conducting several training courses for her colleagues.

Hana Jasem possesses more than seven years of progressive experience working in universities and with NGOs. Hana’s professional history includes positions such as a Lecturer and Project Coordinator as well as an Undergraduate Students Mentor at University of Bedfordshire. She also worked at Juhoud for community and rural development as Project Coordinator. In this role, she was responsible for coordinating project sponsorship by the U.S. General Consulate. Hana’s professional experience at the university level has developed her skills in planning, training, and mentoring, along with providing workshops, advice, and support to students. In addition, studying at University of Bedfordshire was a remarkable experience to broaden her vision and understanding of project and business management, as well as celebrating diversity by working and teaching students from all over the world. Her supervisor during postgraduate study relied on her research, time management, communication, interpersonal, and organizational skills. Hana has always wanted to be in a place where she can be part of the solution through her innovation and positive impact. She is passionate about developing the leadership expertise that is necessary to make a difference by applying and developing leadership skills.