Scholars

Aboud J. Al Ifranji has five years of experience in the nonprofit sector and three years of experience in the UNRWA education sector. A.J. earned a Bachelor’s of Teaching English Language from Al Azhar University in Gaza, Palestine. While working as an English teacher in different UNRWA schools, he helped improve his students’ academic achievement in English in prep schools. While working as a Project Coordinator in Japanese Campaign for the Children of Palestine, he helped improve the quality of education in local government schools across different areas in Gaza, Palestine. Through these experiences, he developed strong project coordination, planning, monitoring, implementation, reporting, and evaluation skills. A.J. also honed his abilities to work with computerized and office programs, use cameras for video recording and editing, and facilitate different types of trainings, workshops, and meetings, especially for teachers and school staff members. A.J. is also deeply skilled in translating oral and written English to Arabic, researching, working under pressure, multitasking, and leading teams. Throughout his career, A.J. has developed a wide variety of communication skills, along with best practices in data collection, validation, summary, and analysis. A.J. enjoys focusing on topics of education development, cultural variety, sports, animation, movies, and music, and has a strong passion for self development and youth empowerment.

Abubakar Kagermanov has six years of experience in the nonprofit sector and two years of work in university. Abubakar graduated from Grozny State Oil Technical University in Russia. During his second year of studies, he realized his goal of working to solve social problems in the local community. He couldn’t leave the university, as his parents were paying tuition fees and they had their own expectations. But it didn’t stop him from volunteering at local NGOs and creating his own social projects focused around conflict management, peacebuilding, communication, and human rights. After graduating from university, he started to work as an Assistant Director of the local NGO “Youth the Future.” In 2017 Abubakar received a scholarship for his Master of Arts on Theory and Technology of Social Work at Chechen State University.To this day, he is continuing his research on the topic: Socialization of Children with Disabilities in the Chechen Republic. He also created a project on socialization of children with disabilities and is still engaged in the project as a volunteer. For the last five years, the project helped more than 220 children and involved more than 150 volunteers. Since 2013, Abubakar participated in different long term programs and has won grants to support his local activities and projects. For the last two years, he has worked at the Chechen State University. Thanks to this job, he was able to attract young people’s attention to certain social problems, create new workshops, and facilitate sessions for the students to improve their soft skills and find creative solutions for complex social issues.

Aleksandra Sergeeva earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Hospitality Management from International Management Institute in Switzerland, and a professional degree in Nutrition from National Institute of Professional Education in Russia. She is interested in public health, especially in the area of foods and nutrition. Aleksandra has worked in a company which produces and sells peptide products for more than one year. Her main duties are providing the actual information about the achievements in the area of health promotion and illnesses prevention. She creates articles and provides consultations. Aleksandra’s working experience is related to the hospitality industry, where she had a chance to observe current trends of customer demand from service, food, and beverage sides. Aleksandra took her career pathway from hospitality management and found her passion in being a nutritionist. She would like to start a non-profit educational organization as she sees the importance of improvement in public nutrition. She believes that healthy nutrition and professionally balanced diets are important for everyone. The major skills she acquired through recent experience are social media marketing management, copywriting, and public speaking. Aleksandra’s main interests are educating people about healthy lifestyle, writing articles, and creating recipes.

Ankita Saha is a Development Professional with over four years of experience in the non-profit sector, specifically in the field of Education. She earned a Master’s degree in English Literature from Visva Bharati University in India. She is a passionate advocate of every child’s fundamental Right to Education. To help the primary grade students continue their learning process during the Covid-19 pandemic, Ankita developed a digital learning curriculum of Environmental Science while working as a Curriculum Developer in an EdTech organization. Previously, Ankita worked with Kaivalya Education Foundation as a Program Leader in Delhi for two years. There, as an Instructional Design Specialist, she developed numerous pedagogy-based learning modules for students; and facilitated multiple andragogy-based Capacity Building workshops for teachers to improve students’ foundational literacy and numeracy skills with the integration of 21st-century skills. She was closely associated with NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog’s ‘Transformation of Aspirational Districts’ program. There, she was responsible to lead the ‘Accelerated Learning Program’ in the underdeveloped districts of Uttar Pradesh, India by developing and implementing activity-based learning modules to enhance students’ foundational literacy and numeracy skills. Ankita additionally pursued the Gandhi Fellowship program and spent two intensive years in rural Rajasthan to spread awareness on different social issues. She immersed herself with the village community to understand and empathize with the rural problems and identify solutions through a participatory approach. She worked closely with the education system of Rajasthan to bring a sustainable impact on the school learning environment and the learning outcomes of students. Through these experiences, she developed meaningful communication, design thinking, technology, documentation, data analysis, and facilitation skills. She aims to continue her work as a Catalyst for Social Change for underprivileged children, by developing and implementing impactful Learning Experiences.

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.

Astari Raihanah currently lives in Sarmi Regency, Papua Province, Indonesia. She earned her Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Economics of Statistics from the Institute of Statistics (Sekolah Tinggi Ilmu Statistik Jakarta). Since then, she works as a Statistician for the Indonesian Government in the Statistics of Sarmi Regency Office, where she is actively involved in the economics and trade-related surveys and censuses conducted by the Indonesian Government. She also has experience in statistics-related conferences in Malaysia and Thailand. During her experiences in these conferences, she learned Bayesian Data Analysis and R programming as a new tool for data analysis in official statistics. In her meantime, she also volunteered for local communities by teaching basic skills such as reading, writing, and basic math for underprivileged young children from remote areas in Papua.

Bayu Ramadhan Putra has years of experience in both the private sector and government, which all of which are related to finance, economics, and education. After graduating, Bayu gained experience in marketing and sales at Prime Blue International, LLC then Corporate Banking at KEB Hana Bank, specializing in analysis and feasibility on Indonesian corporate accounts. With the knowledge and experience, he decided to serve in the government where he is currently posted at the Ministry of Trade of The Republic of Indonesia. Bayu’s previous proved to be influential in government work, utilizing it in helping to formulate regulations, increase Indonesia’s trade balance, enhance international trade cooperation, maintain stability in the domestic market especially on basic goods, and elevate local small to medium enterprises to be financially feasible and export worthy. For over the last two years, Bayu has seen first-hand the importance of how information on trade regulation and the economy is evenly spread in the country, also how education plays a huge part in shaping the economy. From previously working with multi-national companies to serving in the interests of the economy of all classes, it was obvious that the level of education and access to information influenced people’s ethics, determination, and mindset. This experience, together with organizational and social activities throughout high school and university, developed Bayu’s passion for fair trade, education, and the development of society, determined to continue working and studying in order to best serve the economy.

Bikash has 20 years of experience in the humanitarian and development sector with significant achievements in leading large scale multi-country humanitarian response programs, developing/institutionalizing humanitarian policies and strategies, leading organizational and community-centered Emergency Preparedness Plans, mainstreaming DRR, climate resilience, Comprehensive Safe School programs, and linking relief, rehabilitation and development (LRRD). He has led and supported more than 70 emergencies in several countries across the globe with Action Aid, LWS, CARE, ADRA, Tdh, and HelpAge International, as a humanitarian focal person and commendable technical experience in cash-based programs, nutrition, protection, education, WASH in emergencies, and food security & livelihoods in emergencies. Bikash has facilitated more than 100 training on various areas. He is a seasoned professional with expertise in PCM such as needs assessment, proposal development, log frame & budget preparation, monitoring and evaluation. Bikash currently working with HelpAge International as Emergency Response Manager. The key responsibilities are coordinating and managing the Global Emergency Fund (GEF) and supporting country offices, partners, and network members for humanitarian crisis response. Bikash received a Bachelor’s degree in Law from Utkal University in Odisha, a Master’s degree in History, and a Master’s degree in Social Work from the Utkal University of Culture in Odisha.