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.

Aikande Robert Nkya has seven years of experience in non-governmental organizations focusing on empowering Tanzanian youth, particularly women and girls. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Community Economic Development from Moshi Cooperative University. Her current role is as the Kisa Program Manager for AfricAid, which was transformed into Girls Livelihood and Mentorship Initiatives. GLAMI provided leadership and life skills classes to 6,000 secondary school girls in Arusha and Kilimanjaro in 2020. She has extensive experience with fundraising and event planning and recently started an NGO, Nguzo Women and Youth Foundation, where she is the Associate Executive Director. The NGO imparts knowledge, specifically on reproductive health, counseling sessions, and entrepreneurial information, to boys and girls who are both in school and out of school. The goal is to improve primary school performance and access to economic opportunities. Her other non-profit experience includes serving as a Board Member for multiple NGOs in Kilimanjaro, working for Time to Empower Africa’s Children (now called Anza), and holding a role in program coordination at Training for Life, where she oversaw the residential program for youths. She is a Mama Hope International Organization East Africa Global Advocate Alumna, where she presented at its Alumni Conference in San Francisco, CA.

Almamoon Almashaqba has seven years of experience in the nonprofit sector and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Management Information Systems from Al Albyt University in Jordan. Almamoon worked as a Technical Youth Assistant with a youth capacity building project for community engagement in Jordan under the Norwegian Refugee Council program. In this role, he helped increase the accessibility of the labor market for youth by building their capacity and mitigating local market employment challenges. He provided a set of systematic training for Jordanian and Syrian youth aged between 16 and 26 years old, including: positive thinking, employment skills, and communication skills. Previously, Almamoon worked as a Protection Case Manager with the International Catholic Migration Commission to assist the most vulnerable people in the community. Through these experiences, he developed solid knowledge and experience in project life cycle management, program development planning, setting indicators, implementing, and monitoring and evaluation. Almamoon worked with the International Rescue Committee in the Child Protection Program based in refugee camps in Jordan as a Child Protection Case Worker in unaccompanied and separated children to provide protection and make reunification with their families. Almamoon enjoys focusing on the topics of protection and livelihoods. Almamoon has a strong passion for youth empowerment.

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.

Anastasiia Beltiukova has four years of experience in the non-profit sector and earned a Master of Law degree at Voronežskij Gosudarstvennyj Universitet. With diverse experience in program and event management, strategic marketing communication, and fundraising, Anastasiia works as a Program Manager directing a team of 20 people across Europe and Asia Pacific. She leads economical and cultural projects in partnership with UN Women, OHCHR, EU international missions, Misereor Foundation, Chanel Foundation, Mercedes, Sephora, DBS, and Virgin, among others. Anastasiia’s coordinator role in such a dynamic field, as humanitarian initiatives in the Asia-Pacific region, involves providing support to four project managers and coordinates an average of 10 concurrent public events dealing with humanitarian topics each month. She planned and monitored project schedules, budgets, selection process, partnership, content planning, data analytics, resources, and communication, as well as drafting external materials and reports. She specialized in maintaining detailed project documentation, which ensures all project stakeholders were informed of scope, milestones, and deliverables. Thanks to her intercultural experience, Anastasiia has the communication skills needed to work with the teams involved in order to help them develop plans to complete projects on time and build relationships with internal stakeholders. Anastasiia is particularly interested in human rights, especially gender equality and human rights education and advocacy, community development, and fundraising.

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.