Scholars

Abenezer is a Human Resource Professional with almost ten years of experience in the nonprofit sector. Abenezer earned a Bachelor of Art in Public Administration and Development Management from Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia. While working as a Senior Human Resource Officer with CARE International in Ethiopia, he helped the organization to recruit, train, and retain a high performing workforce and implemented gender equality program in recruitment to increase female employees in the organization. Previously, Abenezer worked as a HR & Admin Manager with International Rescue Committee Ethiopia program under USAID and other donors funded programs. Through these experiences, he has developed strong people management skills, communication skills, and created welcoming workplaces for employees, where they can strive to do their best. Abenezer enjoys focusing on the topics of economic development, democracy, and human rights and has a strong passion of reading books.

Host Organization: Panorama Global

Role at Host Organization: As a Talent Acquisition Fellow, Abenezer will help Panorama Global source, identify, screen, and hire individuals for a broad range of roles across the organization affiliates. The Fellow’s role includes: inputting the overall hiring strategy of the organization to ensure the teams consist of a diverse set of qualified individuals; ensuring the staffing needs of the company are being met, with a long-term talent strategy in mind; and devising and implementing sourcing strategies to build pipelines of potential applicants, such as employer branding initiatives.

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.

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.

Bisan Abu Harb completed her Bachelor’s degree in business administration at the Islamic University of Gaza. She completed several short courses for professional development, including leadership, reporting, gender and crisis management. While working as a UDOC assistant at Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) under the Emergency Relief Program, she helped improve living conditions to enable non-refugees internally displaced by the 2014 Gaza conflict to return home. Previously, Bisan worked at MAAN Development Center as a team leader in the UNMAS funded project “Risk Education ERW Awareness”. In addition, she worked as a team leader in the same organization in another project namely “Promoting Conflict Preparedness and Protection in Gaza Strip”. She also worked as a project assistant for the project “Supporting women leadership in Gaza Strip” where her success story started as she got to know well all the non-profit organizations working in this field and contributed significantly in strengthening the human security of women in vulnerable areas. Bisan has volunteered in many programs and organizations as she believes in community participation. During her professional career, she developed strong project management skills, networking and communication skills, and event planning skills. Bisan is interested in focusing on gender issues and has a strong passion for helping IDPs and refugees survive. She is interested in various things such as art, photography, humanitarian work and most importantly making a difference in people’s lives.

Ekene Ibekwe has four years of experience in the non-profit sector. He completed a Non-profit Leadership and Management program and earned a Bachelor of Science in Food Science and Technology from Imo State University in Nigeria. While working as a Team Head at Best Nurture Academy in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, he led the team to provide quality education for over 350 children in rural communities at little or no cost. He inspired his team to develop learning curricula and community engagement strategies that encouraged young people to seek education and stay away from the vices that consumed the community. Ekene has collaborated with non-profits to provide educational services to the underprivileged children in neglected rural communities. This was to make education accessible to rural community children and give them hope for a better and brighter tomorrow. Ekene promotes moral and literacy awareness through his programs. As a peer health educator, Ekene has trained teenagers on HIV/AIDS and adolescent reproductive health. He has empowered young people through peer education programs to become peer educators, thereby multiplying the effect of knowledge transferred. Through these experiences, Ekene has developed strong project management, curriculum development, stakeholder and community engagement, communication, and leadership development skills.

Inaê Brandão is a communicator and journalist born and educated in the Brazilian Amazon. She has been working in the field since she began her studies in Social Communication at the Federal University of Roraima, where she also earned a Bachelor’s degree in Law. Currently, she works as a communications coordinator at Conservation International (CI), where she uses her skills to strengthen actions and policies for nature conservation and the empowerment of indigenous and traditional Brazilian communities. At CI, she executes communications work on several fronts: forest restoration, strengthening of indigenous communities, sustainable production, tourism, and fishing, among others. Previously, she worked as a communicator for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on the Venezuelan migration crisis. She worked producing content on children and adolescents’ rights, strengthening local organizations and partners and helping to spread vital information to the migrant and refugee community. Inaê began her career in communications working for four years at the G1 news portal, one of the largest in the country, producing news from the region for a national audience. She has ten years of experience as a volunteer teaching children and teenagers. With these years of experience, Inaê has developed strong communication skills and interpersonal relationships, as well the ability to work in adverse situations and the will to use her abilities to make a difference in people’s lives. Inaê is interested in human rights and considers the climate crisis one of the most urgent threats to their proper fulfillment.

Júlia Regina Gabriel has six years of experience in the nonprofit sector and seven years of experience in business consultancy. Júlia has a Bachelor’s degree from the State University of Amazonas. She is determined to fight for social causes such as economic empowerment, women entrepreneurship, and education assessment. While working and studying, Julia volunteered at the Tchibum Institute. She led several groups of volunteers, organized events to raise funds to needy institutions of various causes, and negotiated with companies to get free services and donations to volunteer activities. Later, Julia joined the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers Community, aiming to motivate Amazonas teenagers and young adults to engage in volunteer activities. She left her job at Tchibum Institute as Vice-President to start Urban Hero, her social startup to unite donors and institutions in need. As a result of working with NGOs and small social projects, Julia realized volunteers needed background in management to evolve their projects, so she started the School of Heroes, free workshops for social entrepreneurs and volunteers to learn how to improve their projects. Presently, she is Director at CDL Jovem, an association whose principal goal is Economic Empowerment. In her current role, Julia has created the Pink Wave, a group that focuses on uniting, developing, and empowering female entrepreneurs. She plans to evaluate her work with women’s entrepreneurship and economic empowerment in CDL Jovem and improve Urban Hero as a disruptive social project.

Juliana Franca Celestino is an experienced Marketing & Communications Strategist that is passionate about social impact and currently leading as Brand and Integrated Communications Manager at Women for Women International. Juliana’s career trajectory is a testament to her innovative spirit and unwavering commitment to fostering societal change. With a foundation in qualitative research and social trend analysis, she has developed forward-thinking strategies for renowned clients such as GM and Nike. Her expertise further extends to her role as a brand strategist, where she has crafted impactful narratives for global entities, including UNICEF, MasterCard, Nestlé, and Kimberly Clark, throughout Latin America. Her exceptional work has placed her on the Cannes Lions Shortlist and earned her prestigious accolades, such as the Gold Effie LATAM and Silver Effie Brazil. In a significant career pivot in 2020, Juliana embraced the nonprofit world, channeling her vast experience and insights into strategic communication plans aimed at effecting tangible social change. Her journey reflects a profound dedication to leveraging marketing and communication as powerful tools for good, positioning her as an influential leader in the social impact sector.