Scholars

Ako Eyo Oku is a young leader with extensive experience in broadcast media and public service. Ako has worked for the Nigerian Television Authority for nine years, where she has served three different regions and over 200 Nigerian communities with enlightening, educational, and entertaining TV programs. Ako is committed to community development and advocacy for social change. She has been an active leader in several organizations, including the Child Rights Club, Rotaract Club, MDGs/SDGs Mass Awareness Group, Strategy and Innovation for Development Initiative, and the Young African Leadership Initiative. She founded the Global Learning Community Program, a community of practice that encourages worldwide learning at the local level via MOOCs and GLAMs. In 2019, Ako participated in the US government-sponsored Mandela Washington Fellowship, where she received training on Leadership in Public Management at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Ako is a Commonwealth+ Open Source Leader, a World Pulse Ambassador, and an African Changemaker. Ako belongs to Chatham House, TED, Creative Commons, and Wikimedia communities.

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.

Bashar Timraz has eight years of experience in the nonprofit and government sectors. Bashar earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administrations from Al-Quds Open University in Palestine. Bashar has diverse work experience in administration, coordination, security, reporting, and project management. In his current role as Operations Coordinator in the Field Security and Risk Management at the United Nations for Relief & Work Agency (UNRWA), he provides emergency response to around 13,000 staff members working in 300 UNRWA installations, guarantees a safe work environment for the UNRWA employees, follows up and reports all security incidents as needed, and organizes and maintains security files on all issues related to assessments, security plans, and more. Through his work with UNRWA, Bashar works with staff from different backgrounds, experiences, and working styles. Thus, he has developed strong communication, teamwork, risk-management and problem-solving skills. Previously, Bashar worked at the Ministry of Detainees and Ex-detainees Affairs in the projects and planning department, and was responsible for preparing the Ministry’s projects, operational plans, and reports. Working with the government has enabled him to develop report writing skills, strategic thinking, and communication skills, along with the ability to organize media events. Bashar is particularly looking to challenge himself and learn new things focusing on the topics of humanitarian, operations, and economic development.

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.

Irina Mkrtchyan holds a Master’s degree in Marketing, PR, and Advertising from the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom. Irina also holds a second Master’s degree in Agribusiness and a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing and Agribusiness from Armenian National Agrarian University in Armenia. She is the co-founder and development lead of “ISSD” Innovative Solutions for Sustainable Development of Communities” NGO (founded in 2017), where she is leading various environmental and rural development projects, supported by organizations like UNDP, Norwegian Retailers Fund, and others. Through this initiative, Irina has raised over $350,000 in grants and donations within the last 2 years. She has 13+ years of experience in marketing, consulting, public relations/outreach, and solid waste management. Irina is also highly skilled in environmental protection, green communication, strategic planning and development, project/grant management, startup management. Irina has strong knowledge and international experience in various industries including Fortune 500 companies, the World Bank, UNDP, GEF, and World Resources Institute. In 2018, she was awarded Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship during which she studied at the University of California, focusing on environment and rural development, after which she served as Marketing and Strategic Development Fellow at World Resources Institute (Water Team) in Washington DC.

Lishu Gang has four years of professional experience at the intersection of technology, media, and politics. Currently, Lishu is a project manager at a data science startup working on products that help liberal-progressive political parties and organizations better control their media narratives. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences from Minerva Schools at KGI in a six-country global rotation program. Most recently, she completed a Master’s degree in Nationalism Studies from Central European University in Austria and Hungary, with a focus on migration and refugee studies and the Israel-Palestine conflict. While volunteering for the Alumni Relations Office and the Student Recruitment Office at CEU, Lishu contributed to various projects in event planning and operations, media production, and marketing and communications. Previously, she worked at an NGO to promote effective implementation of youth social change programs in Kenya, during which she researched the informal sector innovation gap and helped design a curriculum on systems-thinking. She also led several marketing projects and website development for two ed-tech startups in Berlin and San Francisco. Additionally, Lishu volunteered as a community-building assistant on diversity and inclusion at her undergraduate university. Through these experiences, she developed a diverse skill set of research and policy analysis, project coordination, and media production. She enjoys exploring innovative solutions to address complex political, social, and cultural problems.

Muhammad Ibrahim has five years of experience in the fields of media reporting and social issue documentaries. While recently working with BBC World Service, Muhhammad reported on difficulties faced by people with disabilities in Pakistan, including government and relevant stakeholders’ perspectives on limits to creating one sign language in Pakistan and access to basic facilities for persons with disabilities. He also reported on Hindu Minority community religious places in Sialkot, where a 1,000 year-old temple has been opened after almost 72 years. The report was shared by the Prime Minister of Pakistan on his official social media pages. Muhammad started working for BBC Pakistan in 2019, and in this short time, he was awarded the Agahi Award Journalist of The Year 2019 in the “Global Dignity” category and “Agahi Award Journalist of The Year 2020” in the “Inclusiveness” category for his work at BBC Pakistan.

Rachit Sharma has 10 years of diverse experiences in live events and campaigns for the nonprofit sector. Rachit is a Hotel Management graduate and holds a Master’s degree in Business Management with a specialty in Marketing. He is currently a Campaign Manager with Save the Children and has delivered successful campaigns with a focus on gender and children’s rights that have mobilized over four million people online and offline. He has led, overseen, and delivered the prestigious Centenary campaign for Save the Children with a focus on early childhood care and development. In 2015, as the National Consultant for Action/2015, a global platform of 4,000 organizations from 170 countries, Rachit delivered on the organizational ambition of spreading grassroots level awareness of the Sustainable Development Goals within India and globally. His introduction to the nonprofit sector was as a consultant with the Nobel Peace Prize-winning organization Doctors Without Borders, where he guided their strategy and delivered their communication and fundraising-focused campaign activities in India. His professional experience started while working on delivering international sports events like the Commonwealth Games, Arab Games, and Hockey India League. Through his diverse experience in managing projects ranging from large-scale sporting festivals to cause-based marketing campaigns, he has developed a keen ability to analyze a situation from all angles, foresee challenges, and build appropriate solutions. Rachit is a storyteller who enjoys strategizing on communication and mobilization initiatives and loves to cook in his free time.