Fellows

Ali has about five years of experience in the nonprofit sector and earned two Master’s degrees in Business with a focus on management and marketing research from Lebanese University. Ali started his career in human resources, was transferred to the supply chain department and then shifted to the programmatic side of the humanitarian sector. In that project he focused on economic recovery and development, working for two years managing the logistics of the program, all with the International Rescue Committee in Lebanon. Through his rotation, Ali gained genuine problem-solving and interpersonal skills, efficient and effective communication, organization, flexibility, multitasking, time and stress management, as well as negotiation skills by liaising with different departments on one side and the field and the head office on other side. Coming from a business educational background, Ali found his fit in the humanitarian sector due to the absence of profit maximization and competition. For fun, Ali likes yoga, reading, watching documentaries, cooking, traveling, and photography.

Host Organization: Heartland Alliance International

Role at Host Organization: Ali will be responsible for supporting human resources needs throughout the organization. Due to having to coordinate policies and resources across multiple countries, languages, cultures, labor laws, and salary scales, Ali is needed to navigate the many intricacies of this work. Ali will work primarily on compliance with labor laws, employment standards, administration of employee benefits, performance management, orientation, and some aspects of recruitment.

Catherine has over five years of experience in the nonprofit sector and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Law from the University of Nairobi in Kenya. While working as a refugee status determination assistant with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), she determined whether people seeking international protection could be considered refugees under international, regional, or national law. She also worked as a resettlement intern at UNHCR, supporting the transfer of refugees seeking asylum in Kenya to third states willing to admit and ultimately grant them permanent settlement. Previously, she was founder and CEO of the nonprofit Pitch a Dream Organization, where she cultivated a reading culture by running reading and writing workshops in rural, underprivileged schools. Before this, Catherine gained one-and-a-half years of legal working experience for two law firms. In addition, Catherine volunteered for one year with the Arts in Medicine program at Mater Hospital in Nairobi, where she gained experience on using an artistic approach to working with children. She also volunteered for a year with a USAID- and PEPFAR-funded local nonprofit, Lifeskills Promoters, where she trained primary-school students on life skills and educated them on HIV, AIDS, and children’s rights. Catherine has participated in leadership training, including the USAID-funded Young African Leadership Initiative in 2015 to hone her leadership and management skills. Through these experiences, she has developed strong project planning, coordination, implementation, and monitoring skills on the grass-roots and policy levels. Catherine enjoys focusing on the topics of education, development, and international humanitarian affairs, and she has a strong passion for working with vulnerable people.

Host Organization: Northwestern University Buffett Institute for Global Studies

Role at Host Organization: Catherine will manage specific undergraduate initiatives across our global engagement programming, including the Buffett Award for Emerging Global Leaders, the undergraduate Fellows program, and project and research grant opportunities. She will contribute to partnership management, development, assessment work, and student preparation/orientation in the Global Engagement Studies Institute and Community-Based Research programs, especially with sites in East Africa. Catherine also will help to manage the transition of the Books & Breakfast program to new university partner.

Demna has three years of professional working experience in the nonprofit sector and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Jurisprudence from Georgian Technical University and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Ilia State University in Georgia. He was granted a scholarship from the European Commission and studied at Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, as an exchange master student of social sciences. While working as a legal officer under the migration program for the United Nations Association of Georgia, he supported asylum seekers, refugees, and other individuals of concern with administrative and legal issues. Previously, Demna worked with a community-based organization to promote access to education for ethnic minority youths in Georgia. As a civil servant, Demna worked with state agencies for number of years and was closely involved in institutional reforms in Georgia. He also conducted research on civil service and pension reforms in Georgia that attracted a lot of media attention. Through these experiences, he has developed strong analytical, project coordination, and implementation skills. Demna enjoys focusing on the topics of migration, personal data protection, public administration, and youth engagement, and he has a strong passion for analytical work.

Host Organization: National Coalition Supporting Eurasian Jewry

Role at Host Organization: Demna’s responsibilities include monitoring legislation, researching and reporting on regional developments, producing publications, maintaining a web site, attending hearings and briefings, organizing and staffing events, and general administrative duties.

Disha has seven years of experience in the development communication sector and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from Indraprastha University in New Delhi, India. She worked as communication manager with the Vasudha Foundation to promote socially just and sustainable models of energy in India. She also helped to develop the communication strategy for the foundation and its campaigns. She worked on creating the branding guidelines and specific communication material (audio-visual, print, and web-based) to be disseminated through media outlets. Previously, Disha worked on an independent documentary about women’s rights and religion in India. It was a self-initiated project, so she was responsible to do research, shooting, editing, and directing of the documentary. Disha has volunteered as a communications consultant for Outer Shell Africa, a social enterprise to enhance the wellness of Sub-Saharan Africans living with skin conditions. Through these experiences, she has developed strong strategic communication, graphic designing, and filmmaking skills. Being a feminist, Disha enjoys focusing on areas related to gender rights, and she has a strong passion for animal protection.

Host Organization: Atlas Corps

Role at Host Organization: Disha will be engaged in communications, public relations, project management, and partnership building. Disha will strengthen and practice these skills in the implementation, evaluation, and expansion of the Atlas Corps external presence as included in our communications and public relations strategy

Eya has more than two years of experience in the profit and nonprofit sectors in Tunisia and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Finance from Tunis Business School. She is working as an access to finance specialist under a USAID-funded job creation program, the Business Reform and Competitiveness Project. In this capacity, she is integrally involved in a broad range of initiatives designed to increase the accessibility of capital for small and medium enterprises in Tunisia, including promoting investment, capacity building with banks and microfinance institutions, technical assistance to enterprises seeking financing, and the implementation of economic reforms to improve the Tunisian business environment. Before this, Eya worked on the development and implementation of an online platform, Jamaity, serving nonprofit stakeholders and promoting their role in local development outcomes. As donor relations coordinator, she was responsible for grant management and coordination with institutional donors. Eya also is actively involved in diverse social organizations. During her studies, she was member of the International Association of Students in Economic and Commercial Sciences (AIESEC), where she worked on corporate social responsibility advocacy and participated in the organization of seminars and conferences to engage new AIESEC members. She also spent six weeks in Pune, India, teaching English to underprivileged children. She worked in the financial department of a social entrepreneurship organization ENACTUS, managing the budget of a nonprofit aimed at improving life for the disabled. Eya also has participated in several capacity-building programs such as EFE ideation camp, where her team developed a web/mobile application promoting ecotourism in Tunisia. Through these experiences, she has developed strong project management, organizational, reporting, and communication skills. Eya is a Coca-Cola Scholarship alumna, a MENA Leadership Academy fellow, and a World Youth Alliance-certified member. She is particularly interested in economic development, social entrepreneurship, and youth empowerment.

Host Organization: UBM

Role at Host Organization: In line with UBM’s Events First business strategy and globally accessible CE program, Aya will focus on the strategic alignment of event-charity components and partnerships beginning with the Platinum band, approximately 35 top-tier events. The events focus will not limit itself to the events space, so Aya will gain valuable experience and make invaluable contributions regarding the day-to-day operations of the CE program and business as well as the ongoing communities that exist outside of the live event space.

Hasan has five years of experience in the nonprofit sector and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Finance and Banking Science from Philadelphia University of Jordan. For the last three years, Hasan has worked as a protection assistant at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees office in Amman, Jordan. The unit coordinates with inter-agency protection sectors and provides direct support in case management for child protection, sexual- and gender-based violence, legal, detention and diversity/minorities’ caseloads. Hasan is one of the main focal points working on LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex) cases. He was instrumental in implementing the UNHCR Jordan LGBTI protection program, which included the development of training material and the setup of an interagency network. In this role, he has developed the ability to liaise with UN colleagues and external stakeholders on this sensitive topic with professionalism and organizational awareness. Hasan is passionate about working with marginalized groups, particularly within the LGBTI community. Traveling and meeting new people are among his hobbies.

Host Organization: Heartland Alliance International

Role at Host Organization: Hasan will work as the Sudan Taskforce Project Manager and will be responsible for coordinating and overseeing the implementation of a project to support the taskforce. He will ensure that all program activities are implemented in line with the project’s work plan and in accordance with organization and donor requirements. Hasan will be responsible for oversight of all components of the project and for quarterly reporting.

Houssam has three years of experience in the nonprofit sector. He graduated with honors in Finance and Actuarial Science from the High National School of Statistics and Applied Economics in Algeria and has attended training courses relating to leadership, teamwork, and business management in London, Moscow, Dubai, Zagreb, Cairo, and Tunis. Balancing his education and social work, he worked for three years as a volunteer with the International Association of Students in Economic and Commercial Sciences (AIESEC). The experience allowed him to gain not only technical skills related to the nonprofit field such as fundraising, community project management, and financial management, but also valuable soft skills such as teamwork, public speaking, and negotiation. Houssam has five years of experience in management accounting, working as a planning and reporting manager for a multinational company, with his main role involving budgeting and managing the company’s reporting process. Houssam’s biggest achievement with AIESEC was to contribute to the launch of two projects: Hand in Hand, which aims to cheer sick children by bringing fun and enjoyment through activities in hospitals, and Summer Sunshine School, a project that brings teachers from abroad to teach disadvantaged children new languages for free. Through this experience, he has developed strong project-management skills. Houssam has a passion for the education of underprivileged children and helping sick children feel better and forget about their pain.

Host: YLabs

Fellow Role at YLabs:
Houssam will act as the program manager and work closely with the director of programs to support the planning and coordination of projects in Africa and Asia. This role as a member of a small team in a new organization offers an exciting opportunity to gain a variety of skills related to project and organizational management. These include: project planning, financial management, remote support to staff in the field, partner communications, social media communications, dissemination of our research, and coordination of field activities.

Sara Tariq has three years of experience in the nonprofit sector and is passionate about educational empowerment and youth development. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Finance from Lahore School of Economics, and an Masters in Philosophy degree in Education from Beaconhouse National University. While working as an Acting Registrar at Nur International University, a project of Nur Foundation, she worked on developing a long-term strategy for a newly chartered university and led a cross functional team to successfully launch the university’s first undergraduate degree program within a short one month period. Her focus was to introduce programs that would strengthen academic-industrial nexus to harness full potential of the existing demographic youth bulge in Pakistan. While working with Nur Foundation, she also facilitated several other projects initiated by the Foundation including projects with Nur Center for Research and Policy (NCRP) and Nur Student Leadership Program (NSLP). With NCRP, she assisted in implementing the Ilm IDEAS funded School Health survey in Punjab, providing strategic direction for data collection processes geared toward assessing the existing status of public school children’s nutritional status. As a Program Coordinator at NSLP she was responsible for planning and implementing an internship program for young individuals to educate them about poverty issues, marginalization and social exclusion at community level. Sara also worked as Project lead with the Medical Education Department on developing a competency based curriculum for Fatima Memorial College of Medicine and Dentistry and Fatima Memorial Institute of Allied Health Sciences. Previously, Sara worked as an Academic Coordinator for the University of Louisville’s Masters in Public Health program being offered in Lahore in collaboration with Nur Foundation. Throughout her career, Sara has worked in several areas of development, such as education, health policy and advocacy, youth empowerment and community health. Through these experiences, she has developed strong competencies such as project management, project coordination and implementation, monitoring and evaluation, leadership development, policy development and marketing and communications.

Host Organization: Atlas Corps

Role at Host Organization: Sara will be responsible for managing the Atlas Corps Global Leadership Lab (GLL), a training program for rising global nonprofit leaders participating in the Atlas Corps Fellowship. She will also plan and manage this leadership development program to empower Atlas Corps Fellows in their professional journeys.