Scholars

Abdalrahim Abuwarda earned a Bachelor’s of Arts in English Literature and focused his studies on literary works and translation. Abdalrahim found links between the literary works, development, management, and leadership. Then, to empower the Palestine’s youth, he led a project with Pal-Think, a non-profit organization, that aimed to raise awareness among youth on democracy and entrepreneurship. The project included conducting lectures, launching art exhibitions, and carrying out workshops. Abdalrahim facilitated 25 events and each event targeted 25 Palestinians from different backgrounds. Abdalrahim used his experience at Pal-Think to engage in one of his proudest endeavors, co-founding Al-Frarabi for Multilingual Services. As the co-founder and co-director of Al-Farabi, he translated, edited, and proofread many English-to-Arabic texts. He contributed to the translation of two books in human development: Read Artists Do Not Starve and Steal Like an Artist. Mr. Abuwarda managed interns, new employees, and college students. Moreover, he moved to occupying a position as a social worker at Almajd Association for Development. He was responsible for 350 cases including orphans, people with special needs, and needy families. He wrote up assessments, which met specified standards and timescales. He made decisions about the best course of action for the beneficiaries. Most recently, Abdalrahim managed to work as a Social Media (Freelancing) Mentor at Gaza Sky Geeks (Mercy Corps). He managed to train four cohorts on how to use social media platforms to get job opportunities. The results of the 240 participants were promising as over 54% of them managed to obtain paid opportunities, both short and long term.

Abeer Sheikhasan earned a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics Applied to Economics from Birzeit University in Palestine in 2012. Three years later, Abeer earned a Master’s degree in Statistics Applied to Economics from the same university,. She also had the opportunity to experience teaching in a private basic school for about three months, and research assistance in her university for another three months. Immediately after that, she became a government employee at the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics as a statistician, where she currently works. As a government employee at the National Statistical Office of Palestine, she participated in many international training courses: including in Belgium, Turkey, Lebanon, Kuwait, and Japan. She learned intensively in the field of statistical analysis in support of inclusive development policies and price indices, and moderately in data science and big data techniques for official statistics. During her amazing experience in Japan, she learned R programming as a new tool for data analysis and she conveyed that knowledge by conducting several training courses for her colleagues.

Abraham Atteh has over five years’ experience in Management Consulting, Digital Process Transformation, Public Sector Reforms and Project Management. Abraham earned a Bachelors of Engineering degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the University of Ilorin in Nigeria. He is passionate about raising ethical leaders to drive innovation, entrepreneurship, and development in rural and urban communities. Currently, Abraham plays a key role in helping the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) to leverage machine learning and artificial intelligence tools to drive inclusive policy and revenue generation. In October, 2016. Abraham launched a social enterprise initiative ‘Rural-Urban Business Support Scheme (RUBSS) in a bid to champion a model to address the high percentage of small businesses failures in Nigeria, enlightening young entrepreneurs about the conceptual skills needed to make informed decisions necessary to sustain and grow in a world where consumers needs are changing at a stunning pace. Abraham chose this work because it aligns with his interest, skills, experiences, and vision to nurture, empower, and supply Nigeria with 100,000 SMEs who are prepared to compete favourably in the 4th industrial revolution and operate profitably by 2030. Abraham Atteh has over five years’ experience in Management Consulting, Digital Process Transformation, Public Sector Reforms and Project Management. Abraham earned a Bachelors of Engineering degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the University of Ilorin in Nigeria. He is passionate about raising ethical leaders to drive innovation, entrepreneurship, and development in rural and urban communities. Currently, Abraham plays a key role in helping the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) to leverage machine learning and artificial intelligence tools to drive inclusive policy and revenue generation. In October 2016. Abraham launched a social enterprise initiative ‘Rural-Urban Business Support Scheme (RUBSS) in a bid to champion a model to address the high percentage of small businesses failures in Nigeria, enlightening young entrepreneurs about the conceptual skills needed to make informed decisions necessary to sustain and grow in a world where consumers needs are changing at a stunning pace. Abraham chose this work because it aligns with his interest, skills, experiences, and vision to nurture, empower, and supply Nigeria with 100,000 SMEs who are prepared to compete favourably in the 4th industrial revolution and operate profitably by 2030.

Ainemagara Isa is from Kampala, Uganda. He is a graduate of Agriculture from Makerere University and pursuing a Master’s degree in Agribusiness. He has 10 years of experience in local economic development. Ainemagara currently works with Heifer International where he provides leadership to a consortium project titled “Learn for Agribusiness Project” implemented in partnership with Edukans. Under this project, he has established farmer institutions that enable 3,200 farmers and 7200 secondary beneficiaries to receive critical services and inputs for sustainable development. He previously worked with Edukans where he led the agri-skills program, bridging employment opportunities for out-of-school youth through designing curricula and training programs. He worked with Alliance One Uganda as an Extension Technician where he led the company’s technical skilling program. Isa built the capacity of 800 farmers enabling the company to achieve its business targets. He worked with World Vision Uganda as a Market Facilitator where through his engagement skills, 4000 smallholder farmers accessed markets with Aponye (U) Ltd among other services. He worked with Excel Hort Consult as a Value Chain Specialist where he helped the organization invest in relevant value chains through conducting informative analyses and capacity building of its staff and partners in Uganda and East Africa. Ainemagara is passionate about sustainable environmental development and youth business inclusion. He is a member of several platforms such as Agri-Pro Focus, Youth and Agro-Ecology Business and Learning Track in Africa, as well as Markets in Crises under the SEEP network.

Alena Kondiurina has more than seven years of professional experience in the field of business and financial analysis. Alena holds a Master’s degree in World Economy and a Bachelor’s degree in Financial Management from the Higher School of Economics. Currently, she works as a manager at the international consulting and audit company KPMG AO and focuses on financial analysis of various businesses. She has volunteered with multiple NGOs around the world such as microfinance companies in India and community organizations in Kenya, Uganda, and Cambodia. The core focus of Alena’s volunteer work is women empowerment and helping them improve their financial literacy and entrepreneurship skills. She organized financial literacy courses in several communities in Kenya and worked alongside NGOs in entrepreneurship projects for women in India, Uganda, and Greece. In 2020, she completed a fundraising strategy development project for Russian NGOs. Through her volunteer work and primary job she acquired skills such as management and coordination skills and financial acumen which are all essential for any organization. Through her participation in the Virtual Leadership Institute, Alena wants to develop a plan to bring forward financial literacy initiatives in rural and urban areas in Russia.

Ali Zafar is a program management professional with six years of experience in the nonprofit sector and he earned two Master’s degrees in Applied and Development Economics from Pakistan and Germany, respectively. He has worked with federal and provincial Governments in Pakistan, UN agencies and international development organizations. The focus of his work is establishing partnerships with stakeholders in government and non-government sectors, formulation of policies and programs, and developing knowledge and learning pathways for existing and future projects for portfolio development, specifically on areas of gender, innovation management, and sustainable development. Ali is currently working as a Planning and Coordination Analyst at UN Women Myanmar, where he supports the formulation of program strategies and implementation of action plans through the integration of systems and design thinking program management approaches. Prior to this assignment, Ali was working as a Social Policy Analyst with UNDP on design, localization, and implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Pakistan. During this time, he led and prepared SDGs’ Implementation Framework for Punjab, conceptualized and steered District Localization Plan for SDGs, wrote reports on data gaps and interlinkages, and built institutional structures with a diverse level of stakeholders. In recognition of his research work, Ali was selected to represent Pakistan as a Young Economist at the fifth Lindau Nobel Laureates Meeting on Economic Sciences in 2014. For his achievements as a professional, he was selected by the U.S. Department of State to represent Pakistan as a Governance and Society Professional Fellow in 2018.

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.

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.