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.

Angelica has five years experience in the nonprofit sector. She earned her Bachelor’s in Marketing and International Business from UNITEC. Her academic connection enabled her to have a job at the same institution for over four years where she gained responsibilities and skills through her hard work. She has served as the president and founder of Club Amor, an organization that helps children fighting against cancer through a public hospital in Honduras. Recognized as a young leader by Rotary Honduras, Angelica has been awarded by the International Youth Foundation and Youth Action Net as a social entrepreneur and winner of the gold medal for Exemplary Citizenship. Angelica has volunteered in many nonprofit institutions such as Operation Smile, Hands in Christ, Fundacion para el Niño con Cancer, Club Rotario and Isaia 61. Angelica is very passionate towards helping others

Host Organization: Laureate

Role at Host Organization: Angelica will join Laureate’s Global Communications, Public Affairs and Social Impact team. She will focus on supporting network awards and scholarships, YouthActionNet, Here for Good activities, internal and external events, and B Corp network integration.

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.
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Gentian has 14 years of experience in Media, and earned a Bachelor’s of Journalism from the University of Tirana in Albania. While he worked in different printed and electronic Media, he developed strong communication skills. Though his work at its early stage focused on show business, lifestyle and entertainment, he showed a strong passion and interest toward social issues, using entertainment industry and its popularity to give voice to vulnerable social categories. Not many Media expert have been using entertainment industry for social and human rights purposes. Previously Gentian has worked with UN Albania and UNDP Albania in a fancy project, focused on deaf pupils abilities and talents, under the slogan “People with limited abilities but with unlimited talents.” He has leveraged entertainment, show business and lifestyle media to give voice to social and human rights causes and campaigns.

Host Organization: Voice of America

Role at Host Organization: Gentian will identify and research news and feature stories about American life, thought and institutions that are of interest to the Albanian target audience in the Balkans, and will be called upon to conduct interviews. He will expand his skills in journalism and storytelling and produce TV reports for international broadcast and/or digital content for the Albanian Service website and work at its social media outreach.

Itena holds a Bachelor degree in Philosophy-Sociology from the Social Sciences Faculty of Tirana University, Albania. Currently she is a PhD candidate in Sociology at the same University. Itena has eight years of work experience in the nonprofit sector. While working as a project officer at “Children Are the Future” organization in Albania, Itena has coordinated several projects aiming at the improvement of education quality and empowerment of children and youth in disadvantaged areas. She has worked closely with schools through awareness-raising and consultation meetings, capacity building trainings, and workshops with students, teachers, and parents. Her studies and work experience have helped her gain a deep understanding of various issues concerning youth and education in Albania and she is highly committed to the development of a socially just society, where children and youth have equal chances to develop and realize their full potential. Itena likes focusing on topics of education, capacity building, youth and human rights at national and international level.

Host Organization : Making Cents International

Role at Host Organization : Itena will support the YouthPower.org learning hub and YouthPower Learning webinar series, which provides a learning platform that strengthens the positive youth development field across all sectors (Health, Education. She will also participate in the planning of the annual YP meeting and contribute to social media outreach.

“Maxsalia has six years experience in the nonprofit sector, particularly engaged in activities related to youth development, gender equality, and sexual and reproductive health and rights. She completed her second Master’s degree in International Development at the University of Birmingham in England and also holds a Masters in Clinical Psychology, as well as a Bachelors degree in Psychology and from The University of the West Indies. Maxsalia was most recently employed as a Foreign Service Officer at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade in Jamaica, where her duties included liaising with multiple state and non-state stakeholders, coordinating meetings, preparing reports, briefs, statements and position papers on a wide variety of development issues. Furthermore, Maxsalia is passionate about youth and women’s empowerment and has extensive advocacy experience as part of local, regional and international nonprofit networks such as the International Women’s Health Coalition (IWHC), Advocates for Youth (AFY), and Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN). Through these experiences, Maxsalia has developed strong coordination, interpersonal, research, and communication skills.”

Host Organization: Council on Foundations

Role at Host Organization: Maxsalia will work closely with the Council’s Global Philanthropy Director in growing a portfolio of internationally focused programming for the Council on Foundations, including supporting ongoing resource development for expanded global activities. She will also help research and write about trends in international philanthropy and develop marketing and communications strategies and support the Council’s advocacy activities on global regulation of cross-border grantmaking.

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.

Mazhun has six years experience in professional content production and translation for nonprofits. He has a Bachelor’s in Economic Science from Ahmadu Bello University, proficiency certificates in Hausa and Arabic languages. He also possesses MOOC certificates in “Building State Capability” from Harvard Center for International Development and “Creativity Innovation & Change” from Pennsylvania State University. Mazhun is a professional web search analyst, open-source data miner and volunteer linguist. Mazhun has delivered volunteer localization works for Breast Cancer Self Awareness messages under Project PINK BLUE-Health & Psychological Trust Centre. In June 2016 in Kano, Mazhun organized a one-day regional training workshop on sustainable control of Tuta Absoluta tomato pest, sponsored by Russell IPM, London, for northern Nigerian farmers. Five years ago, Mazhun was the acting editor of Al-Ikhtiyar, a monthly Islamic social reform magazine. In his previous employment with a media communication firm, Mazhun acquired content production skills as a guest interviewer, scriptwriter, subtitle supervisor, and cultural adaptation specialist for various TV programs. Mazhun has authored two books, two academic papers, and a number of poems in literary magazines, along with many features in Leadership, The Nation, Daily Trust and News of Nigeria newspapers.

Host Organization: Center for Islam and Religious Freedom (CIRF)

Role at Host Organization: Mazhun will assist with research, education, media production, and advocacy working in partnership with Muslims who support religious freedom. He will take part in educational programs about religious freedom, provide advice about work in Nigeria and other areas, and assist with grant applications.