Scholars

Abdalrahim Abuwarda earned a Bachelor’s of Arts in English Literature and focused his studies on literary works and translation. Abdalrahim found links between the literary works, development, management, and leadership. Then, to empower the Palestine’s youth, he led a project with Pal-Think, a non-profit organization, that aimed to raise awareness among youth on democracy and entrepreneurship. The project included conducting lectures, launching art exhibitions, and carrying out workshops. Abdalrahim facilitated 25 events and each event targeted 25 Palestinians from different backgrounds. Abdalrahim used his experience at Pal-Think to engage in one of his proudest endeavors, co-founding Al-Frarabi for Multilingual Services. As the co-founder and co-director of Al-Farabi, he translated, edited, and proofread many English-to-Arabic texts. He contributed to the translation of two books in human development: Read Artists Do Not Starve and Steal Like an Artist. Mr. Abuwarda managed interns, new employees, and college students. Moreover, he moved to occupying a position as a social worker at Almajd Association for Development. He was responsible for 350 cases including orphans, people with special needs, and needy families. He wrote up assessments, which met specified standards and timescales. He made decisions about the best course of action for the beneficiaries. Most recently, Abdalrahim managed to work as a Social Media (Freelancing) Mentor at Gaza Sky Geeks (Mercy Corps). He managed to train four cohorts on how to use social media platforms to get job opportunities. The results of the 240 participants were promising as over 54% of them managed to obtain paid opportunities, both short and long term.

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.

Abraham Atteh has over five years’ experience in Management Consulting, Digital Process Transformation, Public Sector Reforms and Project Management. Abraham earned a Bachelors of Engineering degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the University of Ilorin in Nigeria. He is passionate about raising ethical leaders to drive innovation, entrepreneurship, and development in rural and urban communities. Currently, Abraham plays a key role in helping the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) to leverage machine learning and artificial intelligence tools to drive inclusive policy and revenue generation. In October, 2016. Abraham launched a social enterprise initiative ‘Rural-Urban Business Support Scheme (RUBSS) in a bid to champion a model to address the high percentage of small businesses failures in Nigeria, enlightening young entrepreneurs about the conceptual skills needed to make informed decisions necessary to sustain and grow in a world where consumers needs are changing at a stunning pace. Abraham chose this work because it aligns with his interest, skills, experiences, and vision to nurture, empower, and supply Nigeria with 100,000 SMEs who are prepared to compete favourably in the 4th industrial revolution and operate profitably by 2030. Abraham Atteh has over five years’ experience in Management Consulting, Digital Process Transformation, Public Sector Reforms and Project Management. Abraham earned a Bachelors of Engineering degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the University of Ilorin in Nigeria. He is passionate about raising ethical leaders to drive innovation, entrepreneurship, and development in rural and urban communities. Currently, Abraham plays a key role in helping the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) to leverage machine learning and artificial intelligence tools to drive inclusive policy and revenue generation. In October 2016. Abraham launched a social enterprise initiative ‘Rural-Urban Business Support Scheme (RUBSS) in a bid to champion a model to address the high percentage of small businesses failures in Nigeria, enlightening young entrepreneurs about the conceptual skills needed to make informed decisions necessary to sustain and grow in a world where consumers needs are changing at a stunning pace. Abraham chose this work because it aligns with his interest, skills, experiences, and vision to nurture, empower, and supply Nigeria with 100,000 SMEs who are prepared to compete favourably in the 4th industrial revolution and operate profitably by 2030.

Agha-Nwi Fru is a communication and program management professional currently serving as Communications Expert for the United Nations Populations Fund in the conflict stricken North West and South West Regions of Cameroon. She is a founder of the non-profit organization Association Sembe which highlights community stories from Cameroon’s conflict stricken regions, especially the Boko Haram crisis in the Far North Region of the country. Prior to this, she worked as a Database and Reporting Officer on a USAID-funded program implemented by Creative Associates International to support stabilization efforts in remote communities along the Cameroon-Nigeria border which were destabilized by the Boko Haram insurgency. Before, Agha-Nwi worked on another USAID-funded program dubbed the Cameroon Peace Promotion Program implemented by Equal Access International in the North and Far North Regions of Cameroon. Here, she was the lead Producer on a team that produced radio broadcasts about peace and social cohesion. Before working on peace building projects, Agha-Nwi worked as a journalist for seven years. She holds a Master’s degree in Project Management from the Social Change School in Madrid, Spain, and another Master’s degree in Organizational Communication from the University of Douala, Cameroon. Agha-Nwi enjoys engaging in peace and resilience building activities at the root level and is highly passionate about women and youth empowerment. Her goal is to help people, especially vulnerable groups like women and youth in conflict-stricken communities, to tell the stories that are important to them, and she hopes to achieve this through the Sembe project. She currently resides in Buea, Cameroon and loves to share a good laugh with her entourage.

Agnija Kazuša has seven years of experience in the nonprofit sector, and earned a Master’s of Science in Communication from the University of Latvia. While working as a referee at Riga Social Service, Agnija helped more than 150 foreign residents in Latvia prepare documents for receiving crisis benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic. Previously, Agnija worked as a content creator and editor for the World Peace Initiative Foundation and Peace Revolution project for three years to help raise awareness of mental health, mindfulness, and meditation. In this role, Agnija managed the Peace Blog and edited more than 500 articles; helped to create video stories; conducted Facebook Live interviews with peacebuilders from all over the world; organized more than 200 mindfulness activities in Europe, Asia and the Pacific; and provided coaching to 183 individuals on Peace Revolution’s online self-development platform. Agnija has volunteered as a facilitator and project coordinator with several youth organizations, including Lielvarde Youth Organization, European Students’ Forum AEGEE, AIESEC, Make Room, and FEJS (Forum for European Journalism Students) Latvia, which she co-founded. Through these experiences, she developed content creation, project coordination, and implementation skills. Agnija enjoys focusing on the topics of mental health and education and has a strong passion for social inclusion.Agnija Kazuša has seven years of experience in the nonprofit sector, and earned a Master’s of Science in Communication from the University of Latvia. While working as a referee at Riga Social Service, Agnija helped more than 150 foreign residents in Latvia prepare documents for receiving crisis benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic. Previously, Agnija worked as a content creator and editor for the World Peace Initiative Foundation and Peace Revolution project for three years to help raise awareness of mental health, mindfulness, and meditation. In this role, Agnija managed the Peace Blog and edited more than 500 articles; helped to create video stories; conducted Facebook Live interviews with peacebuilders from all over the world; organized more than 200 mindfulness activities in Europe, Asia and the Pacific; and provided coaching to 183 individuals on Peace Revolution’s online self-development platform. Agnija has volunteered as a facilitator and project coordinator with several youth organizations, including Lielvarde Youth Organization, European Students’ Forum AEGEE, AIESEC, Make Room, and FEJS (Forum for European Journalism Students) Latvia, which she co-founded. Through these experiences, she developed content creation, project coordination, and implementation skills. Agnija enjoys focusing on the topics of mental health and education and has a strong passion for social inclusion.

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.

Alexander Gunkel is a serial entrepreneur using space technology for social and environmental good. Alexander’s company Space4Good leverages satellite earth observation, geographic information systems, and artificial intelligence to provide geospatial analytics to global impact initiatives for data-driven decision making and increased transparency. The company is active in nature conservation, agriculture, smart cities, disaster relief, and peace and justice. Space4Good provides its insights to clients such as The Red Cross, The World Bank Group, The Carter Center, and The European Commission. Additionally, Alexander co-founded Skytree, which invented a CO2 recycling process to reduce global CO2 emissions, as well as RoadEO which is developing a global road quality monitoring and prediction platform to improve road safety and comfort. He is actively mentoring “Tech4Good” entrepreneurs in university-related incubators as well as accelerators, including in Startupbootcamp and Google LaunchPad. Before starting his entrepreneurial career, Alexander studied mechanical engineering and business administration and worked as a Project Manager at the European Space Agency. He is a Young Transatlantic Innovation Leaders Initiative Fellow of the German Marshall Fund and believes in the power of social entrepreneurship to drive positive societal and economic change.

Alexandra Vislyaeva earned her Bachelor’s degree in Journalism from a university in London. As a student, she tried different fields of the profession, such as broadcasting, interviewing, writing articles, and editing. Her best broadcasts were about social issues, such as food waste in England, and her articles were about people whose stories needed to be heard. After university, Alexandra returned to Moscow and helped a children’s hospice, House with Lighthouse, online with translating medical leaflets about palliative care. Currently, Alexandra works as a Project and SMM Manager at a charity foundation, Childhood River, which helps children from orphanages find families. Before that, and to find out how the social sector functions in Russia, she interned with Into the Future Fund. She helped to organize an animal rescue month with online and offline events (both fundraising and educational), cooperated with the fund’s partners, and made sure the donated money was delivered to animal shelters. Alexandra plans on using her professional journalistic and organizational skills to expand the sector of cancer care for adult patients in Russia, as she considers it overwhelmingly underestimated and abandoned. She is particularly interested in the age group 14-35 because it is hard for these patients to share experiences and communicate, as they are not frequent visitors to the hospitals. Alexandra aims at making it easier for these people to find each other and share their experiences.