Fellows

Ahmed Fadl is a social entrepreneur from Egypt; he has six years of experience with national and international NGOs in Egypt (Life Makers Foundation, Rotaract, Save the Children, Refuge Egypt, etc.). He has been working on economic development and inclusion programs, serving Refugees, migrants, and Egyptians from vulnerable communities. Ahmed also worked on youth development programs targeting students in different Egyptian universities. He founded iLearn, an educational initiative that aims to raise awareness about online education. In 2016, Ahmed cofounded a FinTech startup, ElGameya, a digital peer-to-peer lending solution through mobile application; he was responsible for the business and financial units at the startup. ElGameya has successfully managed to join four of the biggest startup incubation/acceleration programs in the country. Ahmed interned at Village Capital (a DC-based organization supporting impact driven startups) as part of the Professional Fellows program. Ahmed holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Port Said University; in addition, he has completed extensive online studies in the fields of project management, data analysis and visualization, finance, and development studies. He is interested in music, astronomy, sports, and philosophy.

Host Organization: Village Capital

Role at Host Organization: At Village Capital, Ahmed will serve as the Startup Ecosystem Fellow: supporting Village Capital’s relationship with the IBM Hyper Protect Accelerator with an aim of creating fans and advocates of IBM’s technology and approach with the fintech, health tech, insurtech, and regtech startup communities.

Antsa Razafimbelo is a specialist in project management and has worked with national and international organizations and institutions in many sectors. He has managed and carried out several large-scale projects (climate change, agribusiness, environment, renewable energy). He has expertise in financial analysis, budget management, management of agreements and contracts, cash flow, mechanisms and procedures of entities such as private investment funds, government programs, working with private multinationals and international funds such as GCF, GEF, IFAD, Adaptation Fund. He has worked for private companies such as Nordex Group, Quaero Capital, Energie Team, and for international organizations and multilateral banks such as AfDB, ADB, World Bank, UNDP, UNEP, FAO, GCF, GEF, IFAD, IFOAM – Organics International in many countries: Mali, Niger, Vietnam, Somalia and Sudan, Benin, Cameroon, DRC, Chad, Madagascar, Ghana, Togo, Burkina Faso, Sao Tomé & Principe, France, UK, Germany.

Host Organization: Collaborating for Resilience

Role at Host Organization: At Collaborating for Resilience, Antsa will be serving as Program Management Fellow. He will manage partner collaborations and undertake action research in one or more program areas, and contribute to program development, marketing and communications initiatives. He will help build the organization at a critical moment in its growth by: working to solidify partnerships in Asia, Africa and/or Latin America; delivering action research that builds the capacity of civil society partners to drive governance innovations; and expanding the base of support from philanthropic and international development agencies.

Esra has six years of experience in the nonprofit sector, and earned a Master’s degree of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Khartoum in Sudan. She also received a Professional Diploma in Management of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) from the University of Medical Sciences and Technology in Sudan. While working as a Program Associate with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), she coordinated the implementation of the DFID-funded Joint Resilience Project (JRP) in Eastern Sudan. This was to improve targeted communities’ health and nutrition conditions, increasing their livelihoods and building their capacity to absorb shocks. She managed to ensure that communities were satisfied with the package of interventions provided and donor requirements were being met. Previously, Esra worked with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) serving the women in Darfur as a member of the Humanitarian Response unit. She was responsible for managing the yearly work plans and providing regular reports on programmatic financial data. Through these experiences, Esra has developed good project management, monitoring and evaluation, and reporting skills. She appreciates focusing on results-based programs and working on tools that measure the impact of assistance on people’s lives.

Host Organization: Disaster Accountability Project

Role at Host Organization: “Esra will add critical capacity building support as DAP prepares for the launch of SmartResponse, an ambitious effort to improve
effectiveness/transparency/accountability in humanitarian aid donations by collecting and sharing “location-specific” and “pre-disaster” data on the capacity, activities, and history of CSOs, NGOs, and INGOs involved in disaster relief, humanitarian aid, and other human services.
“

Kashmala has twelve years of experience in the nonprofit sector. She is an ACCA Finalist from ACCA, Pakistan. She also earned Masters in International Relations from the University of Peshawar, Pakistan. As Finance & Administration Manager with different organizations including Medecins Du Monde – France, Rural Development Policy Institute, Community World Service Asia, and Oxfam Novib she worked on budgeting, financial management, general accounting, and administrative tasks. During her tenure with Rural Development Policy Institute, she had the opportunity of working as a coordinating partner with Asia Peace Film Festival. Asia Peace Film Festival is a multi-country consortium aimed at promoting peace through cinema by curating film festivals. Two festivals have been organized so far in Pakistan, with more than 70 international delegates invited to participate in the festivals. Kashmala was the focal person for the finances, and the logistics of the event. While working with Medecins Du Monde she worked on a project funded by Operations Smile for acid survivors in Pakistan. During her work experience with different organizations, she worked on projects funded by USAID, ECHO, European Union, Canadian Foodgrains Bank, ACT Alliance, and British High Commission. She has extensive experience in budgeting, financial reporting to donors, and making variances analysis. One of her greatest strengths is her ability to work in accordance with Humanitarian Accountability Partnership (HAP) and Sphere. CWS nominated her to attend the training of financial management for nonprofit organizations organized by a British organization, MANGO. Through these experiences, she developed strong project financial management and implementation skills. Kashmala also enjoys focusing on the financial resource planning for organizations and she has strong passion for youth development.

Host Organization: Feedback Labs

Role at Feedback Labs At Feedback Labs, Kashmala will serve as the Finance & HR Fellow: supporting the growing organization’s management by developing long-term financial systems and processes.

Maysa is a graduate of Computer Man College (CMC) where she obtained Bachelor’s of Information Technology. She also holds a Master’s degree in Project Management from the University of Medical Science and Technology. Maysa has three years’ work experience in nonprofit organizations. Most recently, Maysa was the Programs Coordinator at Organization for Voluntary Humanitarian Assistance Programme at Food Security and Livelihoods (FSL). In thos role, she researched humanitarian needs and vulnerable population context, implementation of food security and livelihood activities and conducted monitoring and evaluation of food security and livelihood projects In November 2016, Maysa participated in a mission to South Sudanese refugee camps to assess the food security situation and livelihoods opportunities reinforcing her resolve to do more to alleviate the sufferings. She is passionate about food security, women empowerment projects, disarmament, topics of poverty alleviation and eradication of hunger and passion for child education and development.

Host Organization: Street Sense

Role at Host Organization: Maysa will oversee the sales department –where vendors purchase newspapers from Street Sense as independent contractors and then sell those newspapers to the public. She will work with both the sales operation directly and supervise a volunteer sales team, focusing on the delivery of case management.

Yousra has more than five years of experience in the nonprofit sector, and earned a Bachelor’s of Accounting from Al Azhar University, Gaza. Upon graduation, she started working at the Youth Empowerment Center (YEC), a local nonprofit that works with international organizations. She worked to develop marginalized communities and empower youth to promote positive change in the society. As a Finance and Administration Manager, Yousra has worked with different international organizations like Oxfam, HelpAge International, and Caritas. Yousra also led strategic efforts and oversaw key operational functions including financial planning, accounts payable, budgeting, payroll, procurement, financial services, treasury, and monitoring the projects and the programs. Yousra has gained hands-on experience in financial management, project management, strategic planning, and capacity building. Yousra believes in the role nonprofits play in addressing the social needs, and she is passionate about the finance and strategic planning in the nonprofit sector.

Host Organization: Enveritas

Role at Host Organization: Yousra will be responsible for ensuring the financial soundness of a social entrepreneurship startup that has been growing rapidly. Reporting directly to the Head of Finance, she will be responsible for bookkeeping, non-profit accounting, contracts and expense management, and accounting systems management.