Fellows

Abenezer is a Human Resource Professional with almost ten years of experience in the nonprofit sector. Abenezer earned a Bachelor of Art in Public Administration and Development Management from Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia. While working as a Senior Human Resource Officer with CARE International in Ethiopia, he helped the organization to recruit, train, and retain a high performing workforce and implemented gender equality program in recruitment to increase female employees in the organization. Previously, Abenezer worked as a HR & Admin Manager with International Rescue Committee Ethiopia program under USAID and other donors funded programs. Through these experiences, he has developed strong people management skills, communication skills, and created welcoming workplaces for employees, where they can strive to do their best. Abenezer enjoys focusing on the topics of economic development, democracy, and human rights and has a strong passion of reading books.

Host Organization: Panorama Global

Role at Host Organization: As a Talent Acquisition Fellow, Abenezer will help Panorama Global source, identify, screen, and hire individuals for a broad range of roles across the organization affiliates. The Fellow’s role includes: inputting the overall hiring strategy of the organization to ensure the teams consist of a diverse set of qualified individuals; ensuring the staffing needs of the company are being met, with a long-term talent strategy in mind; and devising and implementing sourcing strategies to build pipelines of potential applicants, such as employer branding initiatives.

Adriana has eight years of experience working in the for-profit and nonprofit sectors. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Communications and Advertising from the San Martin de Porres University in Peru and a Master’s degree in
International Relations from the University of Barcelona in Spain. While receiving her Master’s, Adriana served at the Public Information Office of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in Thailand. During this training, she created daily content for ESCAP’s digital platforms and social media campaigns and developed a comprehensive marketing and communications strategy to increase regional outreach. Prior to that, Adriana worked at Doctors Without Borders, forming partnerships and raising awareness about the organization. Through AIESEC’s Global Community Development Program, Adriana interned at a nonprofit organization in Brazil, where she supported the implementation of various government programs in HIV prevention, LGBT rights, and social inclusion, and she also coordinated training sessions and conferences for HIV- positive women. Additionally, Adriana has a strong background in the private sector, where she worked for four years in the marketing department in the hotel chain Starwood. There, she was in charge of the annual marketing plan, branding and product development, management of online and offline campaigns, sales initiatives, and the communication plan for the sustainability and corporate social responsibility program. The materials she produced during these years
helped to increase Peru’s national brand visibility. Through these experiences, Adriana developed strong skills in leadership, multicultural teamwork, project and events coordination, and management. She shifted her career path into the nonprofit sector in search for more impactful work experiences. Adriana is passionate about poverty alleviation and women’s empowerment, specifically through the promotion of sustainable tourism practices in developing countries and their consumption patterns, social systems, and revitalization of local economies.

Host Organization: Meridian International Center

Role at Host Organization: Adriana will develop strategic communications plans, manage social media efforts, prepare graphic materials, support the monthly newsletter, manage the database, prepare the app for the Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative (YLAI) opening and summit, and collect program impact stories.

Agha Mohsin Ali has been working in the development sector since 2006 with National & International organizations including NRDP, WWOP, Youth in Action, UNDP, BBSA, CPEA Network and SEHER on different management positions. He earned a Master’s in International Relations from the University of Balochistan, Quetta Pakistan. While working with the National Rural Development Programme (NRDP) Pakistan in Islamabad as Manager, Program Planning and Partnership Development, he led overall fundraising, resource mobilization, program research, planning, and program development processes. During 10 years of experience he implemented, coordinated, and developed partnerships with major donor agencies like USAID, DFID, UK-aid, UNICEF, USAID, CIDA, UNICEF, UNDP, USIP and IOM. Agha has had in-depth experience in child rights, education, and youth empowerment in Pakistan. He worked to protect children from abuse, neglect, and exploitation as well as to provide access to education through establishment of child-friendly spaces and temporary learning centers in flood affected areas. He has provided child protection actors opportunity to interact, share their experiences and avoid any duplication of resources through the CPEA Network and 12 larger projects on education, child rights, democracy and nutrition. Over this period, he has developed skills in monitoring and evaluation, program development, program implementation, proposal writing and resource mobilization. He has also written different articles and blogs on child rights and education in different news sites like ARY Blogs, Hamari Web, Duniya News and The Nations News. Agha also participated in different national and international forums like the World Youth Conference, 2010 in Leon City, Mexico, where he was as a delegate.

Host Organization: Creative Associates International

 Role at Host Organization: Agha will be assisting project staff with the development of an indicator database for a new evaluation project with the ExxonMobil Foundation. This project will be assessing the progress of client grantees in women’s economic empowerment on outcome indicators.

Alaa Saqer is a technology entrepreneur and one of the founding leaders of Gaza’s startup and technology community. An IT graduate from the The Islamic University Of Gaza, Alaa was a winner of Gaza’s first Startup Weekend in 2011 and went on to launch Datrios, a game and social network for sports fans. Datrios was one of the first two startups in Gaza to receive venture capital investment from Oasis500. In 2010, he co-founded Google Developers Group Gaza, a grassroots student organization that trains youth in tech and connects them to Google resources. Alaa previously worked with Nana Direct, a well-known startup company in Saudi Arabia, as their Product Manager and Business Development Manager. Alaa is well-versed in agile product development and has served as a mentor at startup events in Gaza, including the bootcamps at Gaza Sky Geeks. Prior to becoming a tech entrepreneur, he worked for Mercy Corps (the largest humanitarian organization in Gaza after the United Nations) as a program officer, providing psychosocial support to children via sports activities.

Host Organization: Affinis Labs

Role at Host Organization: At Affinis Labs, Alaa will help with the product development lifecycle for various projects at emerging startups and will help Affinis Labs build, cultivate, and strengthen entrepreneurship ecosystems including Minbar.

Amani Osman has over nine years experience in the nonprofit sector. She is a graduate of Criminology and Sociology from Royal Holloway University of London and has spent her life between the UK and Sudan. In her most recent capacity as Communications Officer for International Organization for Migration (IOM), Amani was responsible for all forms of communications for IOM Sudan including but not limited to; media relations, press releases, human interest stories, IOM Sudan website, global campaigns and events, social media accounts, advocacy efforts and local government relations. She designed and developed a monthly interactive newsletter, as well as creating and launching from scratch the new IOM Sudan website. Amani acquired skills in utilizing social media and print media, newsletters, calendars, fact sheets, information briefs and advocacy reports. Project planning, monitoring and evaluation systems, quality assurance, budget management and capacity development among others have all been essential components of her previous job roles. Whilst working as Grants Manager at GOAL Sudan, Amani successfully developed comprehensive multisectoral project proposals gaining the organization over twelve million dollars in funding for projects in health, WASH, protection, nutrition and livelihoods. Through her work with different international organization in both London and Sudan, Amani has gained skills in research, communications, monitoring and reporting, grant and proposal development in numerous fields; including conflict resolution and peace building, human and women’s rights, child protection, and democracy and governance. With a strong passion for and firm belief in human rights, gender equality and protection, Amani is interested in focusing on developing human rights standards and increasing awareness in Sudan on child protection, law enforcement and peace building. She is also committed to capacity development of local organizations, in turn assisting those less fortunate through conceptual understanding of participatory approaches and sustainable development interventions.

Host Organization: American Red Cross

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.

Brenda Hali has five years of experience in the for-profit and non-profit sectors. During these years she has had the opportunity to serve and work in marketing, sales, product development, internal communication, social projects management and the organization of international conferences and summits, all in different countries across Latin America. She earned a Bachelor´s Degree in Business Trades from the National Polytechnic Institute in Mexico. Brenda Hali most recently worked as Chief Marketing Officer in the NGO AIESEC in Panama. With her team, she organized more than three hundred international volunteer and professional experiences, facilitating a network of one hundred youth leaders. She also created and replicated in Panamanian universities a forum called “Youth Competitiveness in a Multicultural Country” to create awareness about the social situation in the country. Through her experiences, Brenda Hali has developed strong multi-cultural teamwork, project management, volunteers management, facilitation, startups development consulting and mentoring skills. Brenda Hali feels ownership over the second big problem in Latin America: Education. She believes that good youth leadership and social entrepreneurship can make a difference in her region.

Host Organization: Meridian International Center

 Role at Host Organization: As a communications coordinator, Brenda Hali will recruit and place Fellows in fellowships. She will coordinate site visits, cultural and volunteer activities, and speaking engagements that will provide opportunities to apply skills. Uniquely positioned at the intersection of the public, private and diplomatic sectors, Meridian’s broad network will support Summit and Fellowship components.

Carlos has eight years of experience in the nonprofit sector in Peru and Haiti. He holds a Bachelor´s degree in Communication for Development from The Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. He focuses on advocating for children’s rights and opportunities for vulnerable populations. While working as a Member of Technical Team of Nutriwawa project for the Peruvian Ministry of Health, he monitored and evaluated communication strategies and activities aimed to reduce early childhood malnutrition. Carlos also worked for Young Lives Peru, an international longitudinal study on childhood poverty. In his position as a Communications Assistant, he advocated children’s rights through branding, planning events, and creating website content. His international experience includes working at Groupe d’Appui aux Rapatriés et Réfugiés (GARR) in Haiti. There he supported the communication office of GARR, and carried out workshops about ICT and photography with four nonprofit organizations. Through these experiences, he learned technical skill such as using HTML language and design programs to redesign websites, create and disseminate content for websites and diversify social networks; he also learned how to plan conferences and workshops for advocacy and developed his public speaking skills. Carlos is passionate about cross-cultural understanding and multi-sectoral collaboration to achieve unity among people. Also, he enjoys travelling, engaging in sports, photography, meditation, and ICT for issues such as development, health, education, environment and cultural issues.

Host Organization: Social Progress Imperative

Role at Host Organization: Carlos will be part of a small team that leads communications for the global Social Progress Imperative effort. He will test social media strategies and forms of micro-content, write and edit blog posts, help report on the effectiveness of communications activities, and manage a website and email newsletter in multiple languages.