Scholars

Ahmidu Barrie has over ten years of experience in non-profit administration, logistics, and management. Ahmidu earned his first degree in Peace and Conflict Studies at Fourah Bay College in Sierra Leone in 2010 and later pursued his post-graduate degree in public administration at the Institute of Public Administration and Management (IPAM). His drive to help his country comes from seeing his parents work very hard to take care of their family, as well as his experience of being abducted and forced to be a child soldier during his country’s civil war. After working with Wellbody Alliance, a local NGO that helped care for amputees and others with war wounds, he knew his life’s work was to help the poorest of the poor. He established the Community Health Worker Program, which brought care to the doorsteps of people living with HIV and TB across Kono District. When Ebola came to Sierra Leone in 2014, Partners In Health began working with Wellbody, and they eventually merged. During this time, as lead Logistician, Ahmidu was tasked with creating Ebola care and treatment centers across two districts. Currently, as Chief Operating Officer for Partners In Health Sierra Leone, Ahmidu is helping shepherd the development of the Maternal Center of Excellence, which aims to improve health outcomes for women in a country with one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in the world. Ahmidu is eager to learn from the experiences of his colleagues and hopes that sharing his experience in health systems strengthening in low-resource settings will be of use to others. The skills and training that he hopes to acquire will enable him to improve his capacities as a leader and be an even stronger advocate of social justice, health equity, and education.

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.

Ambreen Kokab Shah is a technology and transformation consultant, futurist, and professional advisor. Ambreen brings 11 years of diversified corporate experience from across the telecom industry. After completing her Bachelor’s degree in Telecommunications from NED University of Engineering and Technology, she joined satellite company SUPARCO as an Assistant Manager in the Systems Engineering Department. In 2011, Ambreen entered the corporate world by joining Ericsson Pakistan, where she consulted local and international telecommunications giants in the design and optimization of wireless networks, deployment and performance management, presales, and service delivery. Her combined exposure to technical and management issues enabled her to build customer and inter-departmental relationships and develop conflict resolution skills. While earning her Executive MBA from the Institute of Business Administration in Karachi in 2017, she became passionate about social entrepreneurship, especially in the field of education and training. She volunteered as a Baghban Ambassador to transform underprivileged communities with the Citizen Foundation, judged tech projects at universities, mentored Smart City ideation at a hackathon competition, and served as an Innovation Mentor at the 2018 Ericsson Innovation Awards. Ambreen is also a Global Ambassador at WomenTech Network and Circle Chair of Lean In Pakistan Tech. She started her own consulting firm AKS Consulting Space in 2020, which aspires to transform youth, women and organizations through an emphasis on the Sustainable Development Goals. A gold medalist and NLP certified, Ambreen loves to travel and has explored 8 countries.

Ana Cláudia Costa was raised in Belém, State of Pará. She has always been outraged by the unequal opportunities present in Brazil’s large centers and interior. Seeing herself as a bridge between these two worlds, she has been working for over five years on impact projects in public administration and the third sector to promote sustainable economic development and reduce poverty, especially in the North and Northeast regions of Brazil. This desire to contribute to poverty reduction, in addition to her early contact with politics, motivated her to focus on the area of public law and infrastructure, having worked in reference office and several governmental and non-governmental agencies. Being an agent of transformation everywhere she went, she started working in law firms. When she realized she could do more for society, she joined the Secretariat of Economic Development, Mining and Energy of the State of Pará through Vetor Brasil. Subsequently, she was invited to be Assistant Secretary of Social Assistance. In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, Ana Cláudia coordinated support projects for four states in the Planning and Health Secretariats to optimize decision-making from data analysis. Ana Cláudia is currently a candidate of the Master in Public Policy program at Insper and a J.D. Bachelor of Law from Fundação Getulio Vargas – FGV Direito Rio. She is a Vetor Brasil alumna and World Bank Youth Summit delegate.

Anjanoro Rabarijaona has four years of experience in the non-profit sector and earned a Master’s degree in Law from the University of Antananarivo in Madagascar. While working in Madagascar as a Recruitment and Procedures Supervisor with Population Services International, she helped improve the public health of vulnerable populations through a malaria control program and a reproductive, maternal, and neonatal HIV health program. Previously, Anjanoro worked as Human Resources Assistant for five years in an establishment in the health sector, where she participated in ensuring company employees and their families had access to basic care. Through these experiences, she developed interpersonal communication and talent management skills. Anjanoro enjoys focusing on the topic of public health.

Aristide Ramarolahy holds a degree in Communications from the University of Antananarivo and a Master’s degree in Business Intelligence Management from the University of Fianarantsoa. While working as a Communication Assistant at the NGO Ny Tanintsika in Fianarantsoa, he helped improve the lives of the people and the grassroots organizations bordering the rainforest in southeast Madagascar. This improved the lives of vulnerable households by facilitating access to safe drinking water, education, health, and environmental protection. Aristide also worked as a volunteer with SKIP Southampton for the promotion of hygiene, adolescent reproductive health, and English language extension. Through these experiences, Aristide gained the necessary skills for effective communication for behavior change and sustainable development. These skills have helped him to desire to always help others, by working for the good of all.

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.

Basimenye Nhlema is the Chief Operating Officer at Partners In Health, Malawi. In this capacity, she leads the operations department and heads seven sections including Supply Chain, Procurement, Distribution, Transport, IT, Infrastructure, Human Resources, and Administration. Prior to moving to Operations, Basimenye served as the Community Health Director for Partners In Health Malawi for four years. In that role, she managed the Community Health Worker (CHW) program, the Community Programs team, and the Program on Social and Economic Rights (POSER), interdisciplinary teams focusing on community health in a rural and impoverished population. The CHW program had 1200+ CHWs who focused on education and health screening at the household level; the Community Programs team runs an innovative integrated screening program for sexual and reproductive health and chronic conditions among adolescents, women of childbearing age, and the general population in remote areas; and the POSER team provided support to patients’ basic social and economic needs. Basimenye was also part of a team that worked on transitioning CHWs in two pilot sites of Neno district from a paper-based system to a digital platform called Medic Mobile. Basimenye holds a Bachelor of Arts-Humanities degree in Drama and Public Administration from the University of Malawi and a Master’s of Arts degree in Dramatic Arts from Witwatersrand University, South Africa.