Fellows

Alecia has over five years of experience in the nonprofit sector, and is currently completing her Master of Science degree in Human Rights at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), under the British Chevening Scholarship. Alecia served as a Regional Programme Officer at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Jamaica from 2013-2014. While at UWI, Alecia coordinated the regional youth platform, University of the West Indies Student Today Alumni Tomorrow (UWISTAT). In this position, she gained experience in project management, programme development and youth training. Prior to this, Alecia served as an Assistant Language Teacher for the Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme and was based in Shizuoka, Japan, for three and a half years. In this position, she was responsible for curriculum design, capacity building and education. Alecia previously worked as a Public (Consumer) Relations Officer which, coupled with her current responsibility as a Chevening Scholar Social Media Ambassador, has honed her communication, public speaking and outreach skills. Alecia has been actively involved in youth leadership both in her community and at the national and international level. She participated in the Jamaican national consultation process for the Post -2015 as a youth advocate, and she has represented her country at several international fora. Alecia also volunteered in Ishinomaki, Japan, after the Great Tohoku Earthquake and she was an international volunteer on the Peace Boat’s 78th global voyage. With the knowledge gained from her professional, volunteer and multicultural experiences, Alecia intends to pursue a career in human rights policy-making and corporate social responsibility.

Host Organization: ChildFund International

Role at Host Organization: Alecia Maragh will provide major support in conducting research on education, protection and economic strengthening. She will also be providing operational support, strict analysis and support to the National Offices and Lifestage team.

Alier has seven years of experience in the nonprofit sector and obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with Accounting and Finance from Cavendish University Uganda. Alier also holds a Diploma in Social Work and Social Administration from Makerere Institute of Professionals in Kampala, Uganda. While working as a Senior Human Rights Officer (Team Leader) at the South Sudan Human Rights Commission office in Jonglei State, Alier managed to successfully monitor, inspect, advocate for, facilitate, administer and investigate in the field of South Sudanese human rights, with the South Sudan Human Rights Commission for a period of seven years. Alier is the Head of the Commission Office of the Jonglei state. In this position, Alier’s main responsibilities are identifying financial resources, maintaining the commission’s state budget, writing correspondences on behalf of the commission, and representing the commission in various meetings and fora at the state level. Alier is interested in human rights standards training, transitional justice, legal aid, security management, security sector reform, economics and human rights, law enforcement and human rights, and peace-building and prevention work. He is also committed to developing and applying effective early warning, prevention and peace consolidation systems and interventions for local, national, regional and international actors. He is also interested in project management training among the related thematic trainings and Gender mainstreaming. Alier’s motivation is to have the in-depth knowledge and skills to work for more efficient and effective performance in South Sudan.

Host Organization: Community Options, Inc.

Role at Host Organization: In collaboration with the Executive Director and the national office, Alier will identify funding resources and develop relationships with foundations at the local, state and federal levels with the ultimate goal of developing program and employment opportunities.

Ana Paula has over nine years of experience working for the nonprofit sector, private sector and international organizations. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from the Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil. While working as a coordinator for a youth project in the Jardim Angela/Capao Redondo neighborhood, (the neighborhood was considered by United Nations the most dangerous place on the planet in 1996), she developed several partnerships with other nonprofit organizations, universities, international organizations and government entities to offer poor adolescents opportunities to change their lives through access to formal education. Previously, Ana worked for UNICEF to advance child and adolescent rights in Brazil’s public agenda, especially for those who live in poor and rural areas of the country. During her work as an assistant of the UN Resident Coordinator’s office, she focused on topics of race, gender, access to education, violence and youth empowerment. She volunteered as a popular educator for over ten years, promoting human rights, gender, race and peace in Brazil.

Host Organization: International Planned Parenthood Federation

Role at Host Organization: Ana will assist staff by managing the portfolio of sexual and reproductive health programs related to youth, gender-based violence, and HIV/STIs. She will implement programmatic strategies in sex education, access to quality health services, prevention of gender-based violence and sexual rights, amongst other programs

Farhad has more than 5 years of experience in the nonprofit sector, and earned a Master’s degree in Mass Communication from National University of Modern Languages, Islamabad, Pakistan. He founded a social media and public relations consultancy firm in April, 2015 named The Social Media Consultants. Previously, Farhad has worked as Communication Manager with UNDP’s project Strengthening Democracy through Parliamentary Development. He has also worked with the National Commission for Human Development, as well as Capital TV as Producer of a current affairs show, and Pakistan Peoples’ Party as central social media coordinator. He has played a pivotal role by teaming up with civil society to run campaigns for the cause of human rights. He also organized the regional South Asian Youth Conference in 2012. Through these experiences, he developed strong communication and public relations skills. He has also managed to build close contacts in civil society, political parties, and media. He loves writing and has a deep interest in new media technologies, human rights activism, politics, and international relations.

Host Organization: Creative Science Labs

Role at Host Organization: Farhad will lead market research and competitive analysis efforts, help develop and execute marketing plans, and be primarily responsible for the social media presence of Creative Science Labs.

Maya Guevska has more than three years of experience in the social sector. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work and a Master’s degree in European Projects from Sofia University, Sofia, Bulgaria. She has studied in Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic under the Erasmus program, in the field of special pedagogy and work with people with disabilities. Maya has unique experiences in both the public and nonprofit sectors. She has worked in the Sofia Municipality, Bulgaria, as a senior expert since April 2013 on international and national projects which benefit the local community. Most of her projects are transnational partnership projects related to improvement of the territorial, economic and social integration process in Sofia in various fields (including social entrepreneurship, energy efficiency, sustainable urban development). Maya is also the founder of a nonprofit organization called People Help, which aims to facilitate the process of providing social services to disadvantaged people in Bulgaria. Through this work she is able to work with children and people with disabilities, and with volunteers conducting charity campaigns. In 2010 and 2011, she worked with elder people on a university project for psychosocial support and wrote a publication for the university yearbook. Thus during the last couple of years she gained experience and developed strong skills in team management and leadership, financial management, and comprehensive analysis of documents. Maya is interested in planning, coordination and management of projects and campaigns in the social field, charity and volunteer work. She works for accomplishing her goals through uniting people in a common cause.

Host Organization: Community Options, Inc.

Role at Host Organization: Maya will work with colleagues to roll out the implementation of several systems including web based client record keeping and a financial management. She will ensure compliance with auditing of records through sample reviews, and will work with the Regional Vice President on development needs as well as identifying potential funding and grant opportunities.

With seven years of experience in leading and managing youth-led voluntary organizations, Mizan has been working for youth with disabilities through diversified activities since 2008. He earned a Master’s degree in Arts from the Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka, Bangladesh. To promote inclusive leadership and empower youth with disabilities, Mizan and his team officially launched the Physically-challenged Development Foundation-PDF in 2008. PDF is the largest organization in Bangladesh working to empower the youth and youth with disabilities. As of late, Mizan has been leading research on these issues and publishing reports. In 2014, The Daily Star publication recognized him as a Young Achiever of Bangladesh. Besides his non-profit works, Mizan worked professionally with Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralyzed (CRP) as a disability rights activist. Mizan worked closely with its founder, Ms. Valerie Ann Taylor, and gained experience fundraising and grant writing for national and international donors. In his most recent role, Mizan has worked with one of the world’s largest organizations, Bangladesh Rehabilitation Assistance Committee (BRAC), as a policy advocacy specialist for road safety issues. He is also experienced in facilitating the leadership training sessions at BRAC and National Youth Center, Bangladesh. These excellent experiences promoted his skills to liaise with government officials, and network with INGOs and NGOs. He has honed his problem identification and leadership, advocacy and communication, staff management and event management, facilitation and training intervention skills as well. Mizan enjoys focusing on the topics of youth empowerment and community mobilization, and has a strong passion to protect and empower youth with disabilities.

Host Organization: Community Options, Inc.

Role at Host Organization: As the Training and Grants Fellow, Mizan will assist with the design and delivery of management related training and the roll-out of a day program curriculum. In addition he will assist writers in writing federal, state, local and foundation grant proposals to enhance housing development and employment for persons with developmental disabilities.

Hamza has five years of experience in the development sector of Pakistan, and has a strong academic background in Development Economics with a Postgraduate Degree (MSc.) in Economics from Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan. Hamza’s thematic areas of expertise are regional connectivity and trade, development economics, democracy and social accountability, quantitative analysis, gender development, social budgeting, and child rights governance in Pakistan. He has gained experience progressively working for global, regional and national organizations on forwarding human rights of children, youth, women, and the most vulnerable populations in Pakistan. He was associated with the Economic Growth Unit at Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), a premier think tank in Pakistan, in the capacity of Project Associate. Hamza also has experience working with various international non-profit organizations such as the International Rescue Committee (IRC), Save the Children, Actionaid International, The Asia Foundation and national non-profit organizations like Social Innovations, Pakistan Microfinance Network, Bedari, and Youth Parliament of Pakistan. He has shown resilience and commitment to working in sensitive areas of Pakistan for Afghan refugees and Internally Displaced People from the conflict area of Swat, in Khyber PakhtunKhwa and the Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA). Hamza’s core competencies include a drive for results, working with people, communication, formulating strategies and concepts, analyzing and interpreting, networking, and strategic thinking.

Host Organization: International Center for Research on Women

Role at Host Organization: Hamza will be a Research Fellow specializing in quantitative data analysis and program monitoring and evaluation. This research will help to support ongoing projects by providing input into the design of new studies in various gender related initiatives.

Niza has three years of experience in the nonprofit sector. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Law from the Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon (UANL), in Mexico, and a Master’s degree in Human Rights and Humanitarian Law from Pantheon-Assas University in France. While working for the International Forum of National NGO Platforms (IFP), based in France, she provided legal advice on the legal incorporation of the IFP and helped promote an enabling environment for nonprofit organizations. Previously, she undertook an internship at the OHCHR in Switzerland, where she reviewed and analyzed National Human Rights Institutions independence, legal mandates, and cooperation with nonprofit organizations. In Mexico, she worked at the Human Rights Commission of Nuevo Leon, where she handled and processed complaints for human rights violations. Niza has also worked as a professor for the Mexican Ministry of Public Education and the UANL for 2 years. Throughout her career, she has volunteered in two projects, nationally and internationally: at Peace Brigades International France, for protecting Latin-American human rights defenders, and at the Penitentiary Institution for Minors of Nuevo Leon, for teaching computer and English courses. As a result of these experiences, she developed strong skills on project coordination, monitoring and implementation, as well as analytical reasoning and legal research. Niza is fluent in written and spoken Spanish, English and French. She enjoys focusing on the topics of human rights, education and social development.

Host Organization: AYUDA

Role at Host Organization: Niza will conduct interviews with clients and draft client statements. She will prepare applications, petitions and forms collecting documentary evidence. She will perform statutory, case law, public records and country conditions research, and she will also prepare certified translations of legal documents.