Fellows

Ahmed has seven years experience in the nonprofit sector including two years experience in IT Management and 3 years experience in business administration. He has a mixed educational background as an IT Engineer specialized in software programming and embedded systems from the Higher School of Engineering and Technology in Tunis (ESPRIT), a Bachelor’s Degree in Electronics and Enterprise Telecommunications from the National School of Electronics and Telecommunications in Sfax. He also has a Master’s Degree in Social Entrepreneurship from the Institute of High Business Studies (IHEC Carthage). Ahmed is the CEO and Co-Founder of Secure Drive Company, which was featured in TechCrunch as one of the top three successful businesses in Tunisia developing ways to improve society and fix endemic economic problems through innovation and creativity. Previously, he has worked as a Project Manager of Unleash Tunisia Venture Bus, which funds a project promoting entrepreneurship and social business in Tunisia. He has also been selected several times to represent his country’s ecosystem of entrepreneurship in many countries including Germany, France, Italy, Egypt, and Morocco. Through these varied experiences, he has developed strong skills in leadership, public speaking, project management, business consulting, digital marketing, sales strategy, customer service, community management, technology, youth development, and social entrepreneurship.

Host Organization: SD Mayer & Associates

Role at Host Organization: Ahmed will be responsible for strengthening SD Mayer & Associates’ current position in the non-profit space, while also expanding upon it. He will help with figuring out which services their clients could be using but are not already, and assessing what non-profit organizations need in a general sense. Ahmed will also help market their firm, cultivate new client relationships, and perpetuate current ones. Additionally, Ahmed will create an internal program to expand the community outreach of our employees.

Akriti is a dynamic professional with a passion for building communities and a 6+ years of experience in alumni relations under her belt. She’s the kind of person who knows how to connect people, inspire engagement, and get things done!

Akriti’s career journey has taken her through both for-profit and non-profit sectors and her unique blend of experiences has shaped her into an alumni relations expert. In her most recent role at the prestigious Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Akriti wore many hats as the Alumni Coordinator for the India system. She dived into four main areas: Learning and Development, Events Management, Communications, Alumni Induction and Database Management, to ensure that the alumni network stayed organized and thriving.

Before her BCG adventure, Akriti was managing the Alumni Relations Office of Ashoka University, where she had the unique honor of being a founding member. In this role, she served as the bridge between the university administration and its valued alumni, forging meaningful connections. Akriti also led the university’s alumni fundraising program which contributed towards scholarships for socioeconomically disadvantaged students.

Akriti holds a master’s degree in English Literature from Delhi University, following which she embarked on a transformative path that led her to the esteemed Young India Fellowship at Ashoka University. This postgraduate diploma in Liberal Arts ignited her passion for the intersection of humanities and inclusive leadership. It’s here that she discovered her belief in the driving forces behind growth—innovation and adaptability.

Akriti is a slow solo traveler and a storyteller at heart. She finds solace and inspiration in exploring new places at her own pace. Slow solo traveling allows her to immerse herself in different cultures, savor local flavors, and discover the beauty of the world, one destination at a time.

Host Organization: American Red Cross

Role at Host Organization:As a Learning and Development Fellow, Akriti will be supporting the Learning and Development efforts for the department. She will help facilitate access to, utilization of and learning from existing data, evidence and knowledge generated from past operations both within the American Red Cross and with the RCRC Movement.

Alexandra has 9 years of experience in the nonprofit sector. She received a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico (ITAM) and a Master’s degree in International Cooperation for Development from Ortega y Gasset University Research Institute in Madrid, Spain. She was the Institutional Development Coordinator at Center Prodh – a human rights nonprofit in Mexico – for 8 years. She was also a consultant for AJWS. She has experience in strategic planning, monitoring and evaluation, as well as knowledge on methodologies such as Logical Framework Approach and Theory of Change. She has worked with U.S. private foundations and the EU-Mexico cooperation. Her experiences have provided her with an understanding of the main human rights issues and confirmed her deep commitment with social justice and strengthening of civil society. Alexandra enjoys processes of learning, cultural exchanges, the outside and the arts.

Host Organization: Southwest Economic Solutions

Role at Host Organization: Alexandra will develop, implement, and
evaluate processes that integrate the work of SWES both programmatically and technologically.
Her work will culminate in both the implementation of new programs as well as an actionable
recommendation for integrative practices for the future.

Ana has three years of work experience both in the for-profit and in the nonprofit sector, and earned a Masters Degree in Social Entrepreneurship from Hult International Business School, San Francisco, California. Ana is currently a volunteer at Nexus Global Youth Summit as their public private partnerships coordinator in Washington D.C., United States, and is mainly responsible for the relationships with institutions such as the United Nations and the White House. She joined the team in May 2016. Prior to that, Ana worked for a year at a public relations firm in San Francisco, California. She started as an intern and left as their sustainability manager & account coordinator with responsibilities that ranged from working with clients to managing the junior staff. Before leaving Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to get her Masters Degree in the United States, Ana worked for a year with the Dutch profit-for-non-profit startup and hotel chain Good Hospitality Group, where she started as a volunteer and left as a project coordinator and business developer. She had her first experience with the creation of a social business and the multifaceted environment of a young organization. Ana’s most recent developed skills include team and office management, high-level events planning, partnerships development, marketing and branding, process development, and strategy building. Ana shifted her career path into the nonprofit sector in search for more impactful work experiences. She is particularly interested in impact assessment, risk management, strategies, leadership building, and youth development.

Host Organization: NEXUS Global Youth Summit

Role at Host Organization: Ana will take care of the relationship between Nexus and its major partners, such as the United Nations, and approach potential partners according to the members’ needs. Ana will also manage the establishment of a stronger organizational brand and create and document processes for organizational growth. Ana will be in charge of creating strategies to empower the Nexus brand inside and outside the organization and document and build processes that will allow more efficiency and excellence in all activities.

Anna-Kim has seven years of work experience in the development sector and is passionate about youth leadership and empowerment. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations and Economics and a Master’s Degree in Economic Development Policy. Her experience in the development field started at age 15, when she participated in a U.K.-based global youth-to youth mentorship project. This experience gave her the opportunity to interact with young leaders from the U.K., South Africa, and the U.S., and inspired her to start a youth-to-youth mentorship program in Jamaica. As a young professional, Anna-Kim continued her promotion of youth empowerment as the Project Officer of Sports Development and Youth Leadership at the N.C.B Foundation. There, she assisted with the design and implementation of grassroots initiatives that provided access to basic necessities and encouraged young people to shape their own futures. She also managed the Foundation’s operating expenditure and public relations and advertising budgets. Throughout her career, Anna-Kim has worked in several areas of development, such as education, youth empowerment and development, rural regeneration, health safety and security, social entrepreneurship, and advocacy. Through these experiences, she has developed strong competencies such as grant writing for USAID, UNICEF, and UNDP funding, project coordination and implementation, monitoring and evaluation, budget forecast and tracking, marketing and communications, event coordination, and community mobilization.

Host Organization: Heartland Alliance International

 Role at Host Organization: Anna-Kim will support the operational aspects of HAI, including but not limited to: subaward, human resources, budget, and finance management and provide translation or interpretation as needed. She will provide back-end support to ensure quality operations that are on par or better than international standards and best practices.

Apsara Prabhakar has four years of experience in the social sector, and has earned a Bachelor’s of Arts degree in Psychology, Sociology, English in 2016 from CHRIST (Deemed to be University) in India. Apsara has also completed a Master of Social Work (Clinical and Community Practice) in 2018 from the same University. She was the recipient of the “Best Youth Social Worker” Award by the Institute of Person Centered Approaches in India, 2017. While working as a Senior Program Manager at ShARE, she was involved in implementing and monitoring a leadership program across top universities in Europe, America and Africa. Her role also involved alumni management and communications. Apsara previously worked in Children’s Movement for Civic Awareness as a Program Associate in the Private School Program team. Her responsibilities involved volunteer management, school relationship management, documentation, and being an educator for citizenship values and life skills. Apsara has extensively worked as an intern with Operation Smile (OS) and KAARMIC Education. With OS, she has helped coordinate three medical missions that provided free cleft lip/palate surgeries. She also formed an OS student club at her university in 2017 and was selected to participate in the International Student Leadership Conference in Italy. With KAARMIC, she worked on promotions, recruitment, partnerships and as a trainer imparting learning tools, conversational English and art skills to students. Apsara has also interned and volunteered with various other social sector organizations including United Way, Smileys India, CRY, Make a Wish Foundation, Healing Dove Foundation, NIMHANS, Spastics Society of Karnataka and Centre for Social Action. These experiences have helped Apsara acquire and enhance her program management and implementation skills. She enjoys organizing events and working with youth, and is passionate about leadership and the field of education.

Host Organization: Atlas Corps

Role at Host Organization: At Atlas Corps, Apsara will be serving as the American Express Leadership Fellow. Apsara will support the overall strengthening of leadership development in the nonprofit sector by helping to expand the American Express Leadership Academy franchise. Building on the American Express role in supporting best-in-class leadership practices and capacity building, the anticipation is that Apsara will serve to coordinate and grow the alumni network; manage and coordinate the global Alumni Summit, help develop and improve communication and dissemination of best practice and provide overall project support for the American Express Leadership website.

Arpine has over ten years of experience in the nonprofit sector, and earned a Master’s degree in Policy Analysis and Administration from Duquesne University and a Master’s degree in Social Sciences from Tbilisi State University. Arpine brings a unique combination of experience in research and grassroots development. For over seven years, in affiliation with the Caucasus Research Resource Centers, GeoWel Research, and as an independent consultant, Arpine conducted research in the South Caucasus, Central Asia, Russia and the U.S. for a number of international and local organizations. Research covered a wide range of issues: migration, gender based violence and reproductive health, media, economic development, value chains, and justice. Arpine worked with JumpStart Georgia, where, besides researching and reporting, she trained media and nonprofit organizations in Armenia to use data, technology, and storytelling techniques to better advocate for human rights and civil society issues. She also has over ten years of experience in project design, fundraising and management, and transferred these skills through leading multiple workshops across the South Caucasus. Arpine served as a development expert for Ajakits NGO and Caucasus Research Resource Center-Armenia, and was a trainer and training specialist for the U.S. Peace Corps, among others. Through her nonprofit work experience Arpine acquired a diverse set of skills that include community facilitation using participatory civic engagement tools, and project design. Arpine is interested in asset-based community development models, the role of statistical data in development, and is passionate about women’s empowerment.

Host Organization: Eurasia Foundation

Role at Host Organization: Arpine will facilitate professional collaboration between Russia and the United States in the academic and social spheres. She will be assigned to a portfolio of projects under both the UPP and SEE programs, and will conduct a variety of tasks concerning them, including evaluation and monitoring, communication with implementing partners in both Russian and English, identifying networking and expansion opportunities, and examining possibilities for post-award sustainability. She will also conduct original research and present recommendations to senior staff members, draft a variety of technical documents, and perform other duties as assigned.

Arsalan is a development professional with nine years of experience in the nonprofit sector. He holds a Master’s degree in Statistics from Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan. His core functional and sector expertise include research, evaluations, program coordination and management, proposal writing / resource mobilization, microfinance, enterprise development, and post disaster recovery. He brings hands-on experience of managing donor funded projects for microfinance, enterprise development, livelihood, social mobilization, education, nutrition, and food security. He started his professional career in 2006 with National Rural Support Program (NRSP) when it launched the post earthquake operations in Azad Jammu & Kashmir. In a career spanning over 7 years, Arsalan, established the NRSP Microfinance portfolio and later introduced innovative micro loan products.

In 2009, he visited Thailand & Philippines for an ‘exposure cum learning visit’ to bring back learned lessons and new ideas for USAID/SBI funded Advancing Microfinance for Post-Disaster Economic Reconstruction (AMPER) project. In 2012, he was selected as one of the 15 fellows of the prestigious Emerging Leaders of Pakistan (ELP) program, launched by the South Asia Center of Atlantic Council, USA. The ELP program is aimed at creating an in-person and online networking forum for engagement and collaboration of civil society leaders from Pakistan. In 2013, Arsalan made a career move to development consulting and joined an international development consulting entity, where he lead the projects & partnerships development unit.

Host Organization: Disaster Accountability Project

Role at Host Organization: Arsalan will help DAP build relationships with civil society organizations (CSOs) and NGOs in the U.S. and globally, train representatives of CSOs and NGOs to complete SmartResponse surveys, manage aspects of SmartResponse program and development, and assist with outreach efforts to “disaster donors,” the media, student groups, and diaspora networks.