Fellows

Abdulahi has three years of experience in the nonprofit sector. He graduated with honors in Demography and Social Statistics from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife in Nigeria. He also received certifications in Social Sector Management (sponsored by the Africa-America Institute) and NGO Management & Administration from Enterprise Development Center, Pan-Atlantic University and the Institute for Humanitarian Studies & Social Development, respectively. He volunteered with Living Hope Care under the American Jewish World Service project where he coordinated an empowerment program for the Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (NEPWHAN) Osun State. While working as an Account Officer and Monitoring & Evaluation Officer, he facilitated the training of 403 female sex workers on the consistent use of condoms and trained over 80 traditional birth attendants on universal safety precautions and prevention of HIV transmission from mother to child. He founded the Initiative for Sound Education, Relationship & Health (ISERH) and the Youth Affairs Center. Through these organizations, he has sponsored the Senior School Certificates Examination (SSCE) of 59 high school students, equipped 350 youths with books, awarded 17 vibrant teachers and reached over 15,700 youths in the areas of counseling and psychosocial supports. Under his leadership, ISERH provides oversight functions on the Npower Program of the Federal Republic of Nigeria designed to employ 500,000 unemployed graduates and 25,000 unskilled labors. He is a Fellow of YALI Regional Leadership Center (Cohort 3), Ghana (West Africa) 2016. In June 2016, Abdulahi was selected as a “Top 100 Brightest Young Minds” by BYM South Africa and Barclays Africa. He received ‘The Most Replicable Project Award’ of the Life Changers Foundation, U. K. in 2015. Abdulahi has developed strong leadership, youth education policy, strategy building and management skills. His interested in good governance, civic engagements, youth education, social and health issues.

Host Organization: Points of Light

Role at Host Organization: Abdulahi will support the successful development and execution of the Points of Light’s portfolio of programs focused on meeting both the academic needs and service leadership development of youth through youth and volunteer engagement in generation. He will equip youth and volunteers with the right resources that allow youth, volunteers, parents and teachers to collaborate on academic interventions and service opportunities that support the development of caring, compassionate and capable youth.

Clara has seven years of experience in the nonprofit sector. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Finance, Accounting and Management from the University of Nottingham funded by a scholarship under the Star Education Fund. While working at Generasi Gemilang Foundation (GG), Clara led a team on a collaborative project with the local Corporate Responsibility Department of an international financial institution. She was involved in developing a plan to provide access to basic financial protection for the urban poor. Clara also trained children and youth to manage their finances wisely through financial education programs run in schools and communities across Malaysia. As part of the deployment of this project, she worked closely with relevant government departments, regulators, and nonprofit organizations to maximize results. Prior to that, Clara managed GG’s volunteer group, built the volunteering structure and mobilized hundreds of volunteers to serve the community. Through these experiences, she developed strong project management and implementation, leadership and presentation skills. Clara is passionate about increasing the financial inclusion of the poor and in partnering with companies to meet the needs of underprivileged communities through their corporate responsibility initiatives.

Host Organization: Center for Asia Leadership Initiatives – Atlas Corps Malaysia

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.

Lourdes has over three years of experience in the nonprofit sector, and she recently graduated with honors from Universidad Centroamericana (UCA) in Nicaragua where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, during which she was an exchange student at Murray State University in the U.S. for one year as part of the Global UGRAD Exchange Program. While working as an Operations Coordinator at the Organization of American States (OAS), she helped coordinating logistics and administrative operations for the Inter-American Program of Judicial Facilitators (IPJF). Previously, she worked with the community-based organization Foundation for the Development of Cuapa (FUNDED CUAPA), where she assessed the impact of several poverty reduction projects. Recognized as a young leader by the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and Junior Chamber International (JCI), Lourdes has also volunteered extensively in international organizations, first in the world’s largest youth-led nonprofit AIESEC, and then as a Community Development Consultant in Brazil where she successfully developed strategies to address community needs and issues. As a fellow of the USAID funded Talent Cloud Fellowship Program, Lourdes has also conducted a research on volunteer experiences for the development of soft skills and their impact on youth employability in Nicaragua. Through these experiences she has developed skills in project management, impact assessment, research, and leadership. Furthermore, Lourdes has a strong passion for youth employment, social justice and women’s empowerment.

Host Organization: Heartland Human Care Services (HHCS)

Role at Host Organization: Lourdes will join a management team of three leaders with many years of experience to handle several major projects, including helping the Operations team at HHCS to grow toward a more strategic, coordinated approach by streamlining the infrastructure and customer service.

Marlene has more than five years of experience in the nonprofit sector, and earned a Bachelor of Accountancy honors degree from Bindura University of Science Education in Bindura, Zimbabwe. While working as the Finance and Administration Officer for Footballers Union of Zimbabwe (FUZ) for the last three years, she implemented finance and administration systems and has coordinated the organization’s projects and activities. She has acquired strong management and interpersonal skills, and has learned how creating new partnerships can improve organizations, with special mention to partnership with the U.S. Embassy Harare. Previously, Marlene worked with the National Movement of Catholic Students as Finance Officer and prior to that she was with the Students Solidarity Trust as Assistant Accountant. Marlene was elected as the first female Vice President of Bindura University of Science Education for the period 2007-2008. She was also elected into the Zimbabwe National Students Union executive as the first female Secretary for International Relations for the period 2008-2010. In 2010, she received worldwide votes to represent Africa in the World Youth Movement for Democracy through 2013. She enjoys project planning and coordination and implementation, particularly the fundraising aspect. She has a strong passion for leadership, youth empowerment, and human rights.

Host Organization: U.S. Global Leadership Coalition (USGLC)

Precious Chinanga has more than nine years of experience working with students, youth and young women in Zimbabwe and helps them address their evolving financial and socio-economic needs. She is a transformational leader and social change agent who believes in turning her vision into reality through strategic alliances and coordinated action. Precious earned a master’s degree in business leadership from Bindura University of Science Education and a Bachelor of Commerce Honours Degree in Finance from the National University of Science & Technology. As the Finance & Administration Officer for eight years and Acting National Coordinator at the Student Christian Movement of Zimbabwe, she has helped to mentor more than 3 000 high school and tertiary students over the years with the majority of them taking up leadership positions at tertiary institutions and in society at large. Precious has also worked closely with local authorities, students and youths in communities and tertiary institutions to promote inclusivity and helps strengthen the transparency and openness of public budgets, thereby helping promote social accountability and restore the public’s confidence in public service. Through her work both within and outside her formal organization, she has honed invaluable skills in financial and grant management, leadership growth and development, capacity building and youth development.

Host Organization: Atlas Corps

Role at Host Organization: Precious will be a key member of the Atlas Corps finance team. She will have the opportunity to learn about and have an impact all the major accounting and finance functions including accounts payable, accounts receivable, cash management, general ledger, and reporting.

“Sheila has three years of experience in the nonprofit sector, and earned a Professional diploma in Procurement and Supply from the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS UK); and a Bachelor’s of Commerce degree majoring in Finance from Makerere University in Uganda. While working as a Project Coordinator for the USAID Spring Accelerator Program at Ensibuuko Technologies, she helped improve access to financial services through technology and mobile banking to youth, particularly girls in rural areas of northern and western Uganda, and also carried out capacity building and training of trainers programs to rural Savings Cooperatives’ staff in areas of financial technology and mobile banking. Previously, Sheila worked in the operations department of Citibank Uganda for four years, providing cash management services and incorruptible vault practices. Through these experiences, she has developed strong project coordination and implementation skills, capacity building, and event management skills. She has been a volunteer with Uganda Rural Fund and African Empowerment Hub for three years; mentoring and empowering youth, and also providing business and entrepreneurial training to rural women entrepreneurs in central Uganda.
Sheila enjoys focusing on topics of microfinance and poverty alleviation, and has a strong passion for women’s and youth empowerment.”

Host Organization: Financial Services Roundtable

Role at Host Organization: Sheila will focus on the FinTech Ideas Festival (FIF), Technology Collaborators Program. She will assist with the full conference -working with sponsors, managing timelines, and securing speakers and small group facilitators.

Tigist has eight years of experience in the nonprofit sector. She earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Business Education majoring information Technology from Addis Ababa University, and a Diploma in Accounting from Addis Ababa Commercial College of Commerce. She has previously worked as the Senior Grants Compliance Officer with WaterAid Ethiopia which is an international nonprofit organization concerned with the WASH crisis: water, sanitation and hygiene. Previously, Tigist worked for Pact, ICAP Columbia University and Health Poverty Action as Grant Officer and Finance Administration Officer. Her partnership experience provided a great deal of experience in bringing together institutional capabilities and human resources to tackle common problems that are often beyond the capacity of a single organization or groups. Tigist has developed strong skill in project coordination, reporting, budget preparation, grant proposal writing, fundraising techniques and grant management, for USAID, CDC, EU, and DFID donor grants. Tigist volunteers with Rotary International, and has a strong passion for education, social entrepreneurship, and gender and youth empowerment.

Host Organization: CARE USA

Role at Host Organization: Tigist will be responsible for assisting with the financial management of advocacy department of CARE USA. In addition, she will assist with monitoring and reporting of international advocacy grants, and she will have the opportunity to learn about how CARE utilizes advocacy to help achieve its mission. Tigist will also support the women and girls lead global international advocacy program—an advocacy initiative that receives quarterly reports from offices in five countries.