Scholars

Aishani Jaiswal is a New Delhi based research analyst. Having graduated from the University of Delhi with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science, her areas of interest lie in gender, minority rights, and public health. She has previously worked in research and media spaces focusing on South Asian issues and tackling online hate speech. In addition to her professional goals, she is also passionate about mental health issues.

Allison Coady is a Senior Development Officer at Partners In Health Canada. Allison served as the Interim Director of Major Gifts at Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières-USA (MSF-USA). She joined MSF-USA as the Development Officer for Foundations, responsible for managing strategic relationships with US-based foundation donors. She has extensive international experience working on the ground in 13 African countries in the field of human rights. Prior to working at Doctors Without Borders, Allison was based in South Africa representing Canada’s International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development (Rights & Democracy) and served as Programs Manager for the Denis Hurley Peace Institute (DHPI) in Pretoria. During her time with Rights & Democracy, Allison implemented projects aimed at strengthening the capacity of civil society organizations in their efforts to document human rights violations and protect the rights of Zimbabwean asylum seekers. At DHPI, Allison coordinated conflict management, good governance, and constitution-making training programs for local leaders in Ethiopia, South Sudan, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe. Allison is a member of the associate board of ALIMA (the Alliance for International Medical Action). She holds a Master’s degree in Political Science from the University of Pretoria and a Bachelor of Arts from Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada.

Amana Parveen has developed extensive industry knowledge and academic experience in the social impact sector through her involvement over the last three years. She is a Political Science honors graduate from the University of Delhi, India. Along with her Bachelor’s degree, she completed a diploma in Women Empowerment and Development. She also holds certifications in Human Rights and Legal Literacy. She has worked in a diverse range of impact environments, including education, livelihoods, fundraising, relief, communications, corporate engagement, and advocacy. As part of her currently Fellowship with the American India Foundation, she is developing a communications and branding strategy along with other deliverables for a European Union funded project on the revival of livelihoods for the indigenous and marginalized women artisans across India with Fair Trade Forum – India. Previously, she has worked on a project named “Let’s Reach Out Kerala,” which aimed to offer psychosocial support to guest workers stranded in and outside the state of Kerala, India, during the first phase of the pandemic. After that, she went on to work on a vaccination project to provide Covid-19 vaccines to 200 guest worker families in Delhi-NCR, India. Through her various experiences, Amana acquired considerable skills, such as project management, communications, graphic designing, development of concept notes, collaboration, and research. Amana is a self-motivated and passionate individual who envisions an empathy-driven world.

Angela Umoru has three years of experience in the nonprofit and media sectors. Angela earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Mass Communication from Ahmadu Bello University in Nigeria. She is a 2020 World Literacy Foundation Ambassador and has utilized the opportunity to maximize and strengthen her fundraising, leadership, and advocacy skills. As a literacy advocate, she raised awareness on how illiteracy affects daily life by curating and sharing 112 “literacy stories” on social media. Previously, she worked as a Media and Communications Officer at Skills Outside School Foundation (SOSF), focusing on publicity for the Foundation’s work in life skill education for disadvantaged youth while securing relevant partnerships through digital media and production of media materials. In the time she worked with SOSF, she raised the organization’s profile by increasing social media followership by over 80% and spear-headed partnership discussions with various organizations. Currently, she is the Chief Operating Officer at Jela’s Development Initiatives (JDI), where she leads the teams in providing access to water, mental healthcare, and blood donors and promoting youth empowerment through volunteering. Through these experiences, she developed strong advocacy and collaboration skills. Angela is most interested in good governance and improving inclusion in education and mental health advocacy.

Anna Goltermann has two years of experience in the non-profit, government, and legal sectors. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University. Currently, Anna works for the Center for International Private Enterprise as a Program Associate for Europe and Eurasia. Anna’s work focuses on facilitating cohesion in a rapidly growing department, supporting projects in Europe and Eurasia that promote healthy economic environments, and assisting the Regional Director with a wide-range of programmatic responsibilities on a global scale. Anna’s interests involve promoting women’s economic empowerment, advancing human rights and civil liberties in Europe and Eurasia, and conducting research on regional political trends. Prior to her experience at CIPE, Anna received a Fulbright-Hays Scholarship to study in an intensive language immersion program in Moscow, Russia where she gained proficiency in Russian and participated in cross-cultural exchanges with Russian university students. During her time at George Washington University, Anna interned at Capitol Hill with Congress-member Karen Bass and worked for the Institute of European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies. With these experiences, Anna cultivated a strong skill set in research, project management, and interpersonal communication.

Anna Rountree brings over a decade of experience in international affairs, women’s and children’s rights, and mental health. Anna’s expertise lies in developing large-scale programs and campaigns that create opportunities for underrepresented populations. As Director of Communications at Clubhouse International, Anna plays a crucial role in amplifying the organization’s impact on individuals living with mental illness and driving engagement by developing and overseeing campaign strategy and tactics. In her prior Development roles at Clubhouse International, Anna used her interpersonal and writing skills to develop initiatives that grew constituency, helped meet financial goals, and influenced stakeholders. Anna’s focus on a rights-based approach has been instrumental in strengthening the impact of the Clubhouse network. On the Advisory Board of ECHO, Anna helps to build global capacity for emergency medicine, and on the Clubhouse Racial Justice Committee, Anna addresses inequities experienced by people of color living with mental illness. Anna edited the Governance and Rights Framework for the International Rescue Committee; prepared analytical reports for the General Assembly and Security Council, helping to secure passage of resolutions; and scrutinized policing of poorer communities as Associate Producer at CBS. Anna earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, double minoring in French and International Affairs from Binghamton University, and a Master of Arts in International Affairs from The New School. Anna’s practicum, Bridging the Gaps: Implementation of Comprehensive Abortion Care in Ethiopia, inspired much of her subsequent focus on the voiceless. Anna loves to travel, read, and meet people. She is committed to promoting the voice of underrepresented populations.

Berta Soley has worked in the fields of international development, human rights, social work, and education for more than six years and has a profound interest in gender and social innovation. Berta strongly believes that education is the key to social change. She currently works as a Knowledge Development and Editorial Associate at the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims. In her role, she embraces the potential that collaborative development, knowledge sharing, and dissemination have to advance and strengthen a global movement working toward a common purpose. She enjoys collaborating with member centers from around the world and the cultural awareness it brings. Berta holds a bachelor’s degree in Social Work from the Faculty Pere Tarrés in Spain and a master’s degree in Development and International Studies from Aalborg University in Denmark. After that, she had the opportunity to gain experience in project management at UNDP Samoa, the Danish Institute for Human Rights and other non-governmental organizations. She has also worked in international relations, research and quality control at two universities in Barcelona. Berta believes that engaged, well-motivated, and healthy teams can contribute significantly to positive social change. It is important to her to see the positive results and impact of her work towards a more just and egalitarian world.

Chris Julias has three years of experience in the non-profit sector and earned a Master of Engineering degree in Electronic and Computerized Systems from the University of Antananarivo as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Anglophone Studies. Currently, working as a data science content engineer at SmartPredict, she has been entrusted the mission of creating the landing page content and webinars for SmartPredict Version 1.0 – the eponymous automated AI platform. Apart from that, she contributed to the launching of SmartPredict Beta that reached fifty permanent users. As the role is by nature multidisciplinary, she frequents different stakeholders on a daily basis which enables strong communication skills as one of her main assets. This strength has been inherited from her previous experience as a business analyst and machine learning engineer at the Strategy and Innovation Pole of the eTech Research Lab, during which she developed the architecture of an ontological chatbot with a team of DSML engineers. Chris has always been entrusted with leadership roles in which she has demonstrated a unique systemic empathic approach with transversal management and succeeded to federate her team to achieve their business goals. Being in charge of designing tech-commercial video tutorials as well as blogs about data science, she is proficient with Balsamiq, Adobe Audition, Active Presenter and PicsArt. Her interests include Artificial Intelligence in all its aspects and how it could benefit human beings. One value dear to her heart is also the promotion of girls’ inclusion in the field of technology conveyed through her integration of Ikala STEM.