Scholars

Alexandria Sasek has a B.A. in Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies from the University of Oregon and an M.Sc. in Urban Strategy from Drexel University. Ms. Sasek has over a decade of experience with nonprofits and community development, from activism to academia. She currently leads an internship program connecting youth and local social-impact businesses and nonprofits with paid internships and a professional development workshop series. As a volunteer girls’ softball coach and co-founder of a womxn-run farming collective, Alexandria strives to facilitate safe, creative spaces for youth to experientially learn and imagine their futures. Her experience with community development spans from historical societies to food banks, including leading visioning exercises and a political campaign. Alexandria is passionate about environmental justice, youth empowerment, mutual aid, community engagement, and facilitating spaces for groups to imagine and plan for a shared future on an environmentally precarious planet. She wishes to see more equitable and accessible spaces for truly community-centric plans and public engagement.

Amanda Creary completed her graduate studies at Mercer University, gaining her Master of Public Health degree. She has been working for Training Programs in Epidemiology and Public Health Interventions Network (TEPHINET), a program at The Task Force for Global Health, a non-profit subsidiary of Emory University. She previously worked for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention supporting grants, proposals, contracts, and the Office of Budget Services. At TEPHINET, Amanda provides project management, logistical and programmatic support for multiple projects and special initiatives. Most recently, she has worked with Polio Eradication efforts in Pakistan and supports the in-country Field Epidemiology Laboratory Training Program. She has a passion for healthcare, humanitarianism, and servitude and excitement to use knowledge, skills, and mentorship to continue a career in global health. During Amanda’s free time, she volunteers as a patient advocate, helping low-income families and individuals with medical debt forgiveness, which has also influenced her career in the public health sector.

Anya has 5+ years of experience working with small companies and non-profits, and earned a Bachelors of Arts in Religion and Philosophy from Smith College. She currently serves as Corporate Communications Project Manager at MAPS Public Benefit Corporation, an organization focused on addressing unmet needs in the mental health field through the development psychedelic-assisted therapies, where she supports the leadership team with communications and company culture. Prior to her current role, Anya worked as a project manager, marketing research assistant, and ‘chief of staff’ in a variety of industries including: environmental advocacy and wildlife rehabilitation, cybersecurity, entertainment, wellness, and career coaching. Anya also spent a year serving the homeless population through a volunteer program, where she gained a greater understanding of the complexity of addressing poverty and public health, at scale for those who need it most. Throughout these experiences, she developed a greater understanding of the many systemic issues that get in the way of social innovation and development.

Ahmidu Barrie has over ten years of experience in non-profit administration, logistics, and management. Ahmidu earned his first degree in Peace and Conflict Studies at Fourah Bay College in Sierra Leone in 2010 and later pursued his post-graduate degree in public administration at the Institute of Public Administration and Management (IPAM). His drive to help his country comes from seeing his parents work very hard to take care of their family, as well as his experience of being abducted and forced to be a child soldier during his country’s civil war. After working with Wellbody Alliance, a local NGO that helped care for amputees and others with war wounds, he knew his life’s work was to help the poorest of the poor. He established the Community Health Worker Program, which brought care to the doorsteps of people living with HIV and TB across Kono District. When Ebola came to Sierra Leone in 2014, Partners In Health began working with Wellbody, and they eventually merged. During this time, as lead Logistician, Ahmidu was tasked with creating Ebola care and treatment centers across two districts. Currently, as Chief Operating Officer for Partners In Health Sierra Leone, Ahmidu is helping shepherd the development of the Maternal Center of Excellence, which aims to improve health outcomes for women in a country with one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in the world. Ahmidu is eager to learn from the experiences of his colleagues and hopes that sharing his experience in health systems strengthening in low-resource settings will be of use to others. The skills and training that he hopes to acquire will enable him to improve his capacities as a leader and be an even stronger advocate of social justice, health equity, and education.

Keelia Sulak is a data analyst who is passionate about improving the world through data. Originally from Chicago, Illinois and now in Portland, Oregon, Keelia has a unique background that has brought her from boardrooms in New York City to organic farm fields in rural North America. After graduating school early with distinction she worked with ProWorld Volunteers in Belize, where she lived in a Mayan village and worked with community businesses. Once returning home, her business background led her to a position as a data analyst. There she had the rare opportunity to work alongside the Director of North American Analytics, which allowed her to gain a vast amount of knowledge and experience. She later transitioned to a position in project management working with schools and food pantries across the Midwest. For many years she worked with locations such as The Greater Chicago Food Depository and Chicago Public Schools with a mission to not only provide food for kids, but work toward equal access to organic and nutritious food for all. Keelia now works at Heifer International where she has found a home and is able to merge two of her greatest passions, data analysis and nonprofit work. Since joining the organization, she has helped expand the team’s analytics offerings and develop efficient methods of monitoring campaigns to help ensure fundraising goals are met. She looks forward to working with the team at Heifer International for many years to come.

Maegan Clark has 10 years of experience in Digital Media, Marketing, and Advertising. Clark earned a Bachelor of Communication degree with an emphasis in Public Relations from Arkansas State University and a Masters of Public Administration (MPA) from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. For the last 10 years, she has worked at Heifer International growing her position from an Internet Marketing Specialist to now the Director of Digital Media. She is passionate about using her education and experience to bring awareness to the mass marketing consumer about how they can live a sustainable life while helping to end hunger. While working full-time for Heifer International, Clark also volunteers with her local Junior League of Little Rock promoting volunteerism and community-focused campaigns.

Rachel McMonagle has over eight years of experience advancing climate resilience efforts with a social justice focus through nonprofit and U.S. government initiatives. As the Climate Change and Land Tenure Specialist at Landesa, Rachel promotes secure land tenure as a driver for poverty reduction and climate mitigation and adaptation. She advances land tenure as climate mitigation and adaptation strategy through advocacy work on global UN frameworks, policy reform at the national level, and local interventions coordinated with Landesa colleagues in China, India, Liberia, Myanmar, and Tanzania. Prior to Landesa, she developed the strategic vision and inaugural objectives of the Center for Climate, Health, and Equity at the American Public Health Association. She has also advanced climate resilience and participatory science efforts at a variety of NGOs and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Thanks to a Fulbright grant and other research opportunities, Rachel has professional experience working on climate-smart agriculture and sustainable land management efforts in Costa Rica, Italy, Ukraine, and Zambia. She holds a Master’s degree in environmental management from the Yale School of the Environment and a B.A. in environmental studies from Oberlin College. Rachel lives in Seattle, Washington in the United States.

Rachel Wallace is the Director of Outreach & Engagement at the humanitarian aid agency, IsraAID. To engage U.S. audiences in IsraAID’s global work, she has overseen and facilitated interactive programming for over 25,000 individuals per year, including refugee programming, disaster response simulations, and self-care sessions. Rachel is a consummate public speaker, representing IsraAID to many audiences, including faith-based, government, diplomatic, and university audiences. She also directed IsraAID’s university Humanitarian Fellowship. In her previous role, Rachel directed the American Jewish Committee LA’s young professional leadership, empowering young leaders to foster relations with LA’s diplomatic corps, diverse faith and ethnic communities, and elected officials. She spearheaded advocacy programs with General Consuls from Europe, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. In preparation for these programs, she held trainings for young leaders on diplomatic etiquette, advocacy, and on various nations’ politics and foreign policy. Rachel significantly expanded the young professional leadership network and led the formation of a new board. Prior to AJC, she was a Staff Leader on an academic gap-year program, helping to lead her students to 12 countries exploring interfaith relations, politics, and culture. Outside her professional role, Rachel chairs a Women, Peace & Security Channel to elevate women’s involvement, expertise, and leadership in diplomacy and peace building. Moreover, she is active in interfaith relations, primarily Muslim-Jewish, both on local and global levels. She has presented to several audiences the importance of young professional involvement in interfaith relations, including IVLP State Department delegates. She is a UCSC Phi Beta Kappa graduate and studied both Law and Psychology.