Fellows

Apsara Prabhakar has four years of experience in the social sector, and has earned a Bachelor’s of Arts degree in Psychology, Sociology, English in 2016 from CHRIST (Deemed to be University) in India. Apsara has also completed a Master of Social Work (Clinical and Community Practice) in 2018 from the same University. She was the recipient of the “Best Youth Social Worker” Award by the Institute of Person Centered Approaches in India, 2017. While working as a Senior Program Manager at ShARE, she was involved in implementing and monitoring a leadership program across top universities in Europe, America and Africa. Her role also involved alumni management and communications. Apsara previously worked in Children’s Movement for Civic Awareness as a Program Associate in the Private School Program team. Her responsibilities involved volunteer management, school relationship management, documentation, and being an educator for citizenship values and life skills. Apsara has extensively worked as an intern with Operation Smile (OS) and KAARMIC Education. With OS, she has helped coordinate three medical missions that provided free cleft lip/palate surgeries. She also formed an OS student club at her university in 2017 and was selected to participate in the International Student Leadership Conference in Italy. With KAARMIC, she worked on promotions, recruitment, partnerships and as a trainer imparting learning tools, conversational English and art skills to students. Apsara has also interned and volunteered with various other social sector organizations including United Way, Smileys India, CRY, Make a Wish Foundation, Healing Dove Foundation, NIMHANS, Spastics Society of Karnataka and Centre for Social Action. These experiences have helped Apsara acquire and enhance her program management and implementation skills. She enjoys organizing events and working with youth, and is passionate about leadership and the field of education.

Host Organization: Atlas Corps

Role at Host Organization: At Atlas Corps, Apsara will be serving as the American Express Leadership Fellow. Apsara will support the overall strengthening of leadership development in the nonprofit sector by helping to expand the American Express Leadership Academy franchise. Building on the American Express role in supporting best-in-class leadership practices and capacity building, the anticipation is that Apsara will serve to coordinate and grow the alumni network; manage and coordinate the global Alumni Summit, help develop and improve communication and dissemination of best practice and provide overall project support for the American Express Leadership website.

Daliya Manuel has been working as a Brand Manager at Vyakta, a workplace learning company based in India, for over four years. Daliya has been instrumental in managing Vyakta’s branding and marketing communication activities. Her learnings from the PG Certification program in Digital Marketing with a specialization in Branding and Communication at MICA has given a deeper understanding of the nuances of the digital media space. She traces her alma mater to the Asian School of Business, where she successfully pursued a Postgraduate Diploma in Management, with a specialization in Human Resource Management and Marketing. Daliya, being a people person, has donned the role of English Teacher at Nirmala School, bringing about a drastic change in the students’ spoken language capabilities. She constantly endeavors towards making the world a better place in her own small way. In pursuit of this goal, she worked on an app that integrates farmers, under the mentorship of Ranveer Chandra, Chief Scientist, Azure Global at Microsoft. She is extremely passionate about people development and mental health. She considers emotional first aid as a vital, yet highly underutilized tool in addressing mental health wellbeing.

Host Organization: SAP

Role at Host Organization: At SAP, Daliya will serve as CSR Communications and Marketing Fellow: Daliya will lead marketing and communication efforts for the three strategic CSR pillars (building digital skills, accelerating best-run non-profits and social enterprises, and connecting employees with purpose) and for strategic partnerships as needed. She will also act as the brand ambassador for the SAP CSR team and represent CSR as an extended member of the sustainability efforts at SAP.

Douglas is a communications and development professional with two years of experience in the nonprofit sector. He has a Master’s degree in International Law and Diplomacy from the University of Lagos and a Bachelor’s in English Language from Lagos State University. Douglas also has journalism certifications from Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, NORAD/Thomson Reuters, Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa and the School of Media and Communications, Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos, Nigeria. While working with Mara Foundation’s youth development and entrepreneurship focused program, Mara Mentor, Douglas was at the forefront of stakeholder engagement. He leveraged support from public, private and nonprofit decision-makers to influence policy to focus on capacity development for young Nigerians as a tool to mitigate unemployment, stimulate job creation, and spark development in local communities. In his role as Communications Manager, Douglas sourced and managed partnerships with stakeholders in the public, private and non-profit sectors. He also oversaw media relations and the communications needs of the program. Douglas worked closely with the Country Manager in developing relationships with decision makers in government and provided communications support for the organisation’s development strategy, while working with business leaders and top professionals to mentor young, aspiring entrepreneurs in their local communities. Through his experience in the non-profit sector, Douglas has developed strong government relations, policy, and advocacy skills. He has also consolidated his capacity to manage development communication. Douglas is particularly passionate about youth empowerment and education. He has also worked as a Global Youth Ambassador for Education in Nigeria with A World at School, and is a strong advocate of using the media to drive social change projects.

Host Organization:  Restless Development

 Role at Host Organization: Douglas will add capacity to continue leading the strategic growth of the US hub, which launched 4 years ago in New York, including helping to deliver on existing new projects and helping branch out in new areas. Specific areas Douglas will work on include: communications for general and targeted audiences, project management of a new corporate pro bono partnership, and research and coordination for expanding work on girls empowerment and gender equality.

Giovana is originally from São José dos Campos, Brazil. Giovana earned a Bachelor’s degree in Translation from Sao Paulo State University – UNESP in 2014. Five years later, she earned a Master’s degree in International Marketing from the Brazilian Association of Consultancy and Advisory in Foreign Trade. In 2023, she earned a postgraduate degree in Sustainability and Environmental Studies from Getulio Vargas Foundation – FGV. Now, Giovana has accumulated extensive experience in operations and content creation. For two years, she worked at BOOMI, an online marketplace for eco-friendly brands supporting daily operations, developing new sustainable products, and creating some of the digital marketing strategies. Previously, Giovana worked for three years at AliExpress, an international B2C e-commerce platform, developing the content strategy and content localization for the Brazilian market as well as leading a team of 9 international writers. She also had the chance to develop customer-oriented skills during her one-year experience as a Customer Service Specialist at a 5-star hotel working with different departments to anticipate the needs of VIP customers. Giovana also learned about different subjects and fields while working for around nine years as a freelancer Portuguese, English, and French translator. Giovana is interested in sustainability, climate change and social impact; she is committed to regenerative development, social responsibility, and advocates for climate action. She has been an active member of the Climate Fresk Organization, facilitating workshops for the local community. Giovana was also a member of CISV (Children International Summer Village) for many years.

Host Organization: Generation

Role at Host Organization: As a Global Learner Engagement (LE) Programs Fellow, Giovana will support the operations of Generation’s newly launching GYE Direct (fully remote) programs in Ghana, Colombia and 1-2 additional countries by 2024. Giovana will work alongside dedicated project teams and Global LE team members to design offerings, develop supporting tools, support the hiring and training of operations staff, support program launches and monitor / troubleshoot outcomes for learner mobilization, onboarding and mentorship support. The Fellow will also manage global alumni engagement (for GYE Direct alumni) and serve as the primary point of contact for learner engagement topics for GYE Direct Programs.

Born in a middle-class family in Karachi, Pakistan, Hira used to envy the life of bankers. The lavish branches chilled with ACs, shiny cars and home loans just for using computers all day. Wow! After completing the Intermediate, she got all excited to study chartered accountancy. Unfortunately, life had other plans and her family couldn’t arrange the fee. She got the talent farming scholarship, completed her business administration degree and won Gold. That’s where she found her Entrepreneurship gut. She was 18 when she started a business of organizing training on career-counseling. It failed and she entered into the corporate world (unwillingly). Writing has always been her passion, be it a personal diary, or an exam. The words flow as she takes out the pen. As her first internship, she stepped into the world of digital and started making social media strategies for them and her unique selling proposition was still her ‘words’. Tech industry embraced her talent like no other thing and she got recognized by many local and international companies because of her exceptional work. Fast forward to 5 years, she is currently a Tech Journalist writing for multiple top-tier tech publications including VentureBeat, TheNextWeb and Entrepreneur.com. She also heads blog and media for Coinschedule.com, a leading ICO listing the company in the UK. She is also the facilitator of Startup Weekend Karachi. In local sphere, Hira is famous has a tech evangelist and a public speaker involved in digital skills penetration and bringing inclusivity in the tech industry. She founded of a copywriting agency, Digital Doers and a closed community, Tech Geeks Pakistan where tech enthusiasts share their love for technology on one platform. She is also a certified Editor from IBA. Her website is www.hirasaeed.com

Host Organization: Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship

Role at Host Organization: Hira will work as a GSBI Women’s Economic Empowerment Fellow to implement new research, initiatives, and/or projects to help her host organizations advancement of women’s economic empowerment through GSBI programs and resources.

Humayun Nosheerwan is an international development professional, social entrepreneur, marketing and PR professional, social media activist, freelance photographer and artist. He has more than 8 years of dynamic work experience of handling different aspects related to nonprofit organizations and corporate sector. He holds a Master of Philosophy degree in International Development Studies from IQRA University, Islamabad and a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with specialization in Marketing from International Islamic University, Islamabad.​ After graduating with a university degree in Business Management, Humayun co-founded and launched 4 business start-ups, in addition to several small-scale social entrepreneurship projects. Since early 2016, he has played a leadership role in Javan Jazba Foundation (JJF), a youth-led and youth-focused community based organization dedicated to creating a fairer and more empowered society. Javan Jazba, translated to”Passion of the Youth”, currently has more than 100 trained volunteers working with donors, partners, and elders of the local community to promote micro social entrepreneurship initiatives for youth empowerment. Apart from that, Humayun has multiple years of experience of working directly and raising awareness about some of the most critical and important issues facing Pakistan today, such as youth development, education, environment/ecology, economic development, and the role of art/music in promoting peace and understanding. Humayun is passionate to use his academic knowledge and work experience of business enterprise and nonprofit sector to promote social entrepreneurship in Pakistan and help bring a radical change in the country.

Host Organization: LearnLaunch

Role at Host Organization: Humayun will work in the growing sector of the education technology ecosystem, combining support for the accelerator program activities and development of a knowledge database that would enable scalable programing and resource deployment.

Imran has about five years of professional experience in the nonprofit sector, and earned the “Cambridge International Diploma for Teachers and Trainers” from Cambridge University, United Kingdom and a “Bachelor of Science in Electronics and Communication Engineering” from BRAC University, Bangladesh. While working for different philanthropic organizations including BRAC (the world’s largest nonprofit), he imparted education to underprivileged children, trained teachers, and facilitated international exchange and volunteer development programs. These activities addressed issues like the social and leadership development of young people, many of which were supported by the U.S. Embassy of Dhaka. Simultaneously, he was teaching the “Cambridge International Diploma for Teachers and Trainers” to educators of various schools for about two years. Based on his understanding of young people’s needs of leadership development, Imran started his own initiative, “Mind Mechanics,” at the beginning of 2014. There, he designs and facilitates programs for various target groups representing different socio-economic, political and faith-based communities such as human rights activists, young political leaders, and students of ‘Madrasas’ (religious educational institutions). He does these to equip them with soft skills that promote employability, tolerance, co-existence, transformational leadership and democracy. Through these experiences Imran has developed strong leadership qualities, design thinking and facilitation skills for empowering youths of different age groups, and socioeconomic and educational backgrounds. He has a strong passion for holistic youth empowerment through youth leadership development.

Host Organization: Compass Partners

Role at Host Organization: Imran will be supporting the Executive Director through strengthening the program across 16 university campuses. He will play a pivotal role in revamping the curriculum, creating new hard-copy and online communications materials, enhancing regional and national communication/connectivity and improving upon campus-specific issues.

Jenny has four years of experience in the nonprofit sector and earned her Bachelor’s of Arts in Communications from Trinity Western University in Canada. As a legal coordinator of the refugee organization’s International Asylum Refugee Protection team, she tackles important issues with children’s rights, women’s issues, domestic violence and legal difficulties. Jenny has experience working with other major stakeholders, such as the United Nations Refugee Agency and Save the Children, to cooperate for refugees’ rights. Since refugees are the most marginalized people in Korea, resources are limited and helping them is a big challenge. However, Jenny has discovered many solutions on how to provide for the refugees’ needs. By connecting with other networks in the area where many refugees reside, she was able to provide them with proper support and assistance. She is passionate about raising awareness of the presence of refugees in Korea and has appeared on the news channel SBS, a major broadcasting in Korea, to inform how poorly refugee children are being treated under Korea’s limited social welfare systems. Moreover, Jenny’s proposal for a program wherein refugee women instruct culinary classes, teaching their own recipes to Korean citizens, was accepted and implemented by the Korea Women’s Foundation. Not only did the program provide a sustainable option for refugee women to generate their own income, but it also allowed the many Korean citizens who participated to learn about African culture and interact with the refugees as neighbors. Jenny is a very energetic, courageous and enthusiastic person, with a strong desire to put her experience to use working in the humanitarian field.

Host Organization: Meridian International Center