Fellows

Mahdi has seven years of experience in the nonprofit sector, as a full-time employee at INJAZ El Djazair (JA Algeria) and also as a Fellow/volunteer in numerous local and international organizations across the MENA region, Europe, and the United States. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing from HEC Algiers, and has a first year Master’s degree at ENSM Algiers in Industrial Economics. In his present role at INJAZ El Djazair, Mahdi has contributed to the training of more than 20,000 Algerian youth in business and entrepreneurship. He is also in charge of program implementation, fundraising operations (up de 20 millions dinars per year), and the evaluation and monitoring of the results. He was also able to establish a partnership with the Algerian Ministry of Industry, valued at several million dinars. Additionally, Mahdi is known as an activist in macro-economic/politics topics related to the regional inclusion of the Maghreb countries. He launched an initiative called the Maghreb Souk Of Initiatives in November 2018 to gather influencers and diaspora of the Maghreb countries. On top of his professional experience, Mahdi is also an arts activist, working as a talent manager to help young artists/designers/musicians live their art and creation, through an initiative called The TalentArt. Mahdi is an art lover and he’s passionate about youth development in a global market.

Host Organization: LearnLaunch

Role at LearnLaunch At LearnLaunch, Mahdi will serve as the Program Manager Fellow: supporting the Accelerator staff in creation and delivery of the Bootcamps for international edtech entrepreneurs exploring entry points to US edtech market, and learning all aspects of operating training programs for entrepreneurs.

Mohammed has four years of experience in the nonprofit and business sectors. He earned a Bachelor’s of Business Administration in English from the Islamic University of Gaza. Mohammed worked as a Marketing Team Lead at BrandsLine Company. In this role, he was responsible for increasing the company profit, growing its market share, and increasing brand awareness about its investments in Palestine. Currently, Mohammed works as a freelancer providing marketing and communications solutions for small businesses. Mohammed also works as an Alumni Leader at the U.S. Palestinian Affairs Unit in Jerusalem. He works through the Alumni Advisory Council as a communication channel between the U.S. Palestinian Affairs Unit and alumni from various programs, supporting meaningful youth participation and the network’s engagement. Mohammed promotes business development and social entrepreneurship by sharing his knowledge and expertise from the Global Business Institute Program at Indiana University, which he participated in in 2016. Motivated by driving social development for his community, Mohammed played a significant role in the development of a community-based program called Helping the Neighbors sponsored by the American Friends Service Committee. While he was an undergraduate student, he devoted much time to local volunteer projects, such as Providing a Safe Environment for Youth in the Gaza Strip held by El Wedad Society for Community Rehabilitation. Through these experiences, he developed strong skills in communication and marketing, leadership, and project management. Mohammed deeply cares about business development and youth empowerment.

Host Organization: Cure Violence

Role at Cure Violence At Cure Violence, Mohammed will serve as the Strategic Partnerships Fellow: acting as a Middle East and North Africa Program Officer and being responsible for the creation, oversight, and implementation of programming activities in the Middle East and North Africa.

Radhika Ralhan is a sociologist, a sustainable systems thinking professional, and an impact strategist. As a University Gold Medalist, she enhanced her academic erudition in diverse professional contexts. These contexts include extending strategic advisory at leadership levels, executing critical sustainability programs in diverse themes, such as renewable energy, menstrual hygiene, and health, and devising policy research projects on SDGs. She also spearheaded teams by working primarily on social impact analysis and global and national-level positioning of programs. She has been instrumental in curating innovative partnerships platforms such as CSR Collaboration Hub and SDGs Drivers Forum among private sector, government institutions, and NGOs with set-focused outcomes. She has enhanced her professional dynamism by working with leading multi-faceted organizations, such as IIT Delhi, United Nations Global Compact, Development Alternatives, CAF, and Dr. Reddy’s sustainability unit. At the policy front, in her independent capacity, the Bureau of Indian Standards, Government of India appointed her to formulate the first of its kind CSR Standards as a key drafting expert. She has presented her research work and perspectives at global platforms in Milan, Istanbul, and Copenhagen and has taught at prominent universities such as IHM, Pusa, and Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi. For Radhika, innovation, unconventional thinking, working on unexplored avenues, and leveraging social outcomes are key drivers in the sustainability discourse.

Host Organization: Collaborating for Resilience

Role at Collaborating for ResilienceAt Collaborating for Resilience, Radhika will serve as the Program Management Fellow: promoting citizen engagement in policy reform and implementation, managing partner collaborations, undertaking action research in one or more program areas, and contributing to program development, marketing, and communications initiatives.

Sohaib has four years of experience working in nonprofit organizations. He earned a diploma in Business Administration from the German University in Cairo after earning a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Minufiya University. Currently, Sohaib works mainly as a Business Development Manager for his startup, MD Group. In this role, Sohaib learned to find sponsors through effective networking, closing deals, negotiation, and discovering new leads for partnerships. Sohaib also has four years of experience in entrepreneurship. In addition to his passion for entrepreneurship, Sohaib has a business background. Sohaib has experience in his family’s business, startups, and other professional businesses, which gives him a wider perspective on all aspects of business scales, especially in Egypt. Sohaib is incredibly passionate about providing high-level education for youth in his country and helping charity organizations get funded. In the future, Sohaib intends to be one of the best strategic planners in the government education sector.

Host Organization: Mentor Capital Network

Role at Mentor Capital Network At Mentor Capital Network, Sohaib will serve as the Entrepreneur Fellow: collaborating with for-profit social entrepreneurs around the world, collecting their stories, and helping the Mentor Capital Network connect them to the appropriate peer and mentors.

Wiem Jbeli is a young Tunisian who has over 4 years of experience in the nonprofit sector. She has earned a BA in Business English and an MA in English for Communication. Wiem is currently the Secretary General of the Tunisian American Alumni Network, focusing on reintegrating Tunisian exchange programs alumni upon their return to Tunisia; thus, creating an opportunity for them to come together to bring positive change. Her role with TAAN includes establishing and promoting synergy between exchange program alumni. Wiem started volunteering in the community when she was a student. Her main interests revolve around women, youth empowerment and education. Wiem participated in various local initiatives and projects and succeeded in encouraging youth in her community to be more active. Her experience and her devotion to her community granted her the chance to represent Tunisia in the MEPI Leaders program of 2016, where she took part in a leadership and project management training at Georgetown University and volunteered for DC Central Kitchen. Upon return from the U.S., Wiem invested and transferred the knowledge she gained in her community and worked as a facilitator for the Association for the Promotion of Citizen Education – APEC. In this role, she was part of a program targeting high-school students in marginalized areas. The program included workshops and activities aiming at raising awareness on active citizenship and engaging young students in their communities. All these experiences made Wiem keen to move forward and continue working on making her community and country a better place.

Host Organization: Meridian International Center

Role at Meridian International CenterAt Meridian International Center, Wiem will serve as the Youth Programs Fellow: developing strategic communications plans, managing social media efforts, and preparing graphic materials and mobile apps for GlobalConnect’s international youth programs.

Zoya is a project management and monitoring and evaluation professional with more than five years of work experience in the fields of international security and education. Zoya earned her Bachelor’s in International and Comparative Politics from the American University of Central Asia in Kyrgyzstan and her Joint European Master’s degree in Comparative Local Development from a consortium of four European universities. Prior to joining the Atlas Corps Fellowship, Zoya worked for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) where she supported effective quality assurance of projects within the politico-military and human dimensions of security. Zoya also assisted with managing the OSCE Academy in Bishkek project which offers post-graduate training to young adults from Central Asia, Mongolia and Afghanistan. Zoya possesses more than ten years of international volunteer experience in community building and youth empowerment. She is a member of EvalYouth ECA where she co-chairs a task force in charge of implementing a mentoring program for young and emerging evaluators from Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and South Caucasus. Zoya is an Erasmus Mundus Fellow, Global Shaper, and a Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) alumna. In her free time, Zoya loves exploring new places and figuring out what her three cats are thinking about.

Host Organization: Transparency and Accountability Initiative

Role at Transparency and Accountability Initiative At Transparency & Accountability Initiative, Zoya will serve as the Monitoring, Evaluation, & Learning Fellow: designing, testing, and updating components of TAI’s MEL system and practices to meet their learning needs.