Scholars

Abubakar Kagermanov has six years of experience in the nonprofit sector and two years of work in university. Abubakar graduated from Grozny State Oil Technical University in Russia. During his second year of studies, he realized his goal of working to solve social problems in the local community. He couldn’t leave the university, as his parents were paying tuition fees and they had their own expectations. But it didn’t stop him from volunteering at local NGOs and creating his own social projects focused around conflict management, peacebuilding, communication, and human rights. After graduating from university, he started to work as an Assistant Director of the local NGO “Youth the Future.” In 2017 Abubakar received a scholarship for his Master of Arts on Theory and Technology of Social Work at Chechen State University.To this day, he is continuing his research on the topic: Socialization of Children with Disabilities in the Chechen Republic. He also created a project on socialization of children with disabilities and is still engaged in the project as a volunteer. For the last five years, the project helped more than 220 children and involved more than 150 volunteers. Since 2013, Abubakar participated in different long term programs and has won grants to support his local activities and projects. For the last two years, he has worked at the Chechen State University. Thanks to this job, he was able to attract young people’s attention to certain social problems, create new workshops, and facilitate sessions for the students to improve their soft skills and find creative solutions for complex social issues.

Current Organization: CEO at Ardom.lab

Alexey Korf graduated from Vladivostok State University of Economics and Service (VSUES) with honors and earned the scholarship of the Governor of Primorskii Krai. Alexey also obtained his Master’s degree in Trade in Vladivostok City. Alexey founded Trust Logistic LLC in 2019 and has been working in the logistic sphere for international and domestic shipping containers since 2011. He has also served as a member of the State Examination Board and a lecturer in the field of study logistics and commercial activities at Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU) and VSUES. Alexey hosted a competition at VSUES to support a student in opening their own business, joined the Business Russia union for entrepreneurs, and published two scientific articles in the Journal of Economy and Entrepreneurship in Moscow. Through his work as a specialist in logistics and the field of business organization, Alexey hopes to share his expertise and structure his knowledge to share with other business representatives and support business development.

Current Organization: CEO & Owner at Trust Logistic LLC

Amina Abdulazeez is an International Development Researcher and Program Manager with over six years’ experience cutting across the public, private, and non-governmental sectors. Amina is skilled in the areas of communications for development, project implementation, and research. Amina holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Political Science from Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto in Nigeria. While working as Researcher with Pan African Development Education & Advocacy Programme (PADEAP)/UK Open University, she helped conduct research at the intersection of gender, peace and conflict, and education. Her research was an exploratory study as it utilized participatory and arts methodologies to learn from community-based peace practices. As an Assessor with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), she led an assessment team to different northern states in Nigeria in order to assess vaccines and immunization supply chain in the states. Under the MacArthur Foundation funded Democracy Stability and Media Accountability project, she initiated an online campaign against hate speech in Nigeria. Amina has volunteered with several groups to teach girls photography and website design, including during the International Photography Festival and World Skills Day funded by UNESCO. She also volunteered as Peer Educator and Facilitator for organizations including British Council, Management Sciences for Health, and Moses Lake Medical Team.

Current Organization: Researcher Assistant at Pan African Development Education & Advocacy Programme

Amira Saber is Partner and CMO at Achimar Consulting. Amira is a Professional Certified Trainer from the American University in Cairo. She received her MBA in Marketing from ESLSCA Business School and was a regional marketer at Medtronic, the largest manufacturing company of medical devices worldwide. Her endless passion towards developing people led her to cooperate with different entities and multinationals like UNICEF, Samsung, CEDO, Ain Shams University, and Cairo University to provide training to more than 4,000 students, recent graduates, and professionals. Amira an American Express Leadership Academy Fellow. She has in depth experience in policy making, analysis, and communication. Amira delivers marketing for start-ups and social entrepreneurship trainings in different European countries through Erasmus Mundus programs and is currently responsible for the marketing and communications strategy for one of the largest local NGOs in the field of child and maternal health. She recently graduated from Ashoka’s Visionary program, which enables social entrepreneurs to gain the skills needed to master both entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial challenges and to generate social impact. She is a member of the Coordination Committee of Party’s Youth Leaders and Politicians, a leading political entity that empowers youth from different political streams and backgrounds to be part of political decision making process in Egypt.

Current Organization: Partner and CMO at Achimar Consulting

Benjamin Shako has over three years of experience in the social change sector and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Sciences from the University of Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. While working as the Communications Chair for the Union for Democracy and Social Progress/Youth League in Congo, Benjamin helped establish and maintain the strategic direction of the organization, develop communication plans and messages for various youth league activities, and raise awareness about the league platform as a networking hub for youths. Benjamin is also a Thought For Food (TFF) Ambassador, where he raises the reputation of the food and agriculture industry to create a sustainable food system nationally and globally. Previously, Benjamin worked with a community-based organization, where he conducted an awareness campaign on Ebola prevention and ending child marriage in Congo. Benjamin has volunteered for several nonprofits, including the YALI Regional Leadership Center East Africa, the Center to Support Marginalized and Exploited Youth, International Youth Fellowship, and AIESEC in support of Sustainable Development Goals 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 13, and 16. Through these experiences, he developed strong communication, planning, volunteer management, and advocacy skills. Benjamin deeply values empathy, team work, and global collaboration. In the future, Benjamin plans to serve in an elected position to effectively promote solutions to address the social issues facing his country. He enjoys focusing on the topics of leadership, marketing, governance, and agriculture, and has a strong passion for youth and community development.

Current Organization: Communications Chair at Union for Democracy and Social Progress/Youth League

Debra Nhokwara is a media professional with a strong background in communication and social strategy development. Debra holds a Bachelor of Science in Journalism and Media Studies from the National University of Science and Technology (ZW). Recently, she was awarded a Chevening Scholarship and she is currently studying Gender and Media MA at the University of Sussex. She is an experienced Public Relations Officer with a demonstrated history of working in the media production industry. Debra is skilled in crisis management, search engine optimization (SEO), news writing, and advertising. As an experienced media consultant, Debra conducts digital marketing, social strategy development, and integration using data-based analytics tools. She offers particular expertise in designing marketing material, newsletters and social media content. Debra is proud to have worked with Transparency International Zimbabwe (Bulawayo Region) and Nhimbe Trust in their many advocacy programmes in Matabeleland. She is passionate about issues affecting women. She is involved in a program that visits different communities holding women’s empowerment circles so as to capacitate women on their rights and to address the challenges they face, especially gendered corruption. She is part of Lady Rose Reusable Pads, an organization that manufactures reusable pads for disadvantaged women.

Current Organization: Student at the University of Sussex

Dorice Damian is a committed, results-oriented, and enthusiastic young professional with three years of experience in the community integrated initiatives through the youth-led organization, Sustainable Health Initiative (SHI). Dorice has a degree in Environmental Health Sciences with IT from Ruaha Catholic University in Iringa, Tanzania. As SHI’s Executive Director, since 2019 she has been designing and organizing interventions intended to develop community capacity in Nutrition, WASH, and Sexual and Reproductive Health by using locally available resources. Prior to the foundation of this initiative, as a passionate professional aspiring to make an impact in her community, she volunteered through a collaborative project between the Tanzanian government and NAFAKA. In this role, she served as a nutrition champion by leading radio sessions advocating for the use of fortified food for the reduction of malnutrition rates. She also volunteered for community-based organization Afya Plus Tanzania for two years to improve the menstrual health of young adolescents through hygiene education delivery and provision of sanitary pads. She excels in organizational, coordination, and communication skills, while centering her core principles of accountability in every decision she undertakes. Her compassion for underserved communities is attested by the efforts she has taken to build resilient communities that own their health by utilizing their surrounding local available resources. Dorice is a Mandela Washington Fellow for 2021.

Current Organization: Environmental Health Officer at the Sustainable Health Initiative

Duncan Chando is a motivated professional with six years of experience in project and program management in international and local settings. Over the years he has worked with CSOs and UN agencies implementing media and advocacy, refugee and migration, peace and reconciliation, sponsorship, and educational projects from a right-based approach at all levels. He currently works as a Consultant on South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTC) for the International Labour Organization and a Program Assistant (M&E) at UNDP in Nairobi. Duncan is a seasoned development practitioner with in-depth experience in integrated programs and understanding of project management, lobbying and advocacy, monitoring and evaluation, partnership development, capacity building, and community development. Duncan holds a Master’s degree in Development Policy from KDI School of Public Policy and Management (South Korea), an Erasmus Mundus Master of Arts in Advanced Development in Social Work from the University of Lincoln (United Kingdom), a Bachelor of Arts in Social Work from the University of Nairobi (Kenya), and a Postgraduate Diploma in Project Management from the Kenya Institute of Management.

Current Organization: Consultant at International Labour Organization