Scholars

Abeer Sheikhasan earned a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics Applied to Economics from Birzeit University in Palestine in 2012. Three years later, Abeer earned a Master’s degree in Statistics Applied to Economics from the same university,. She also had the opportunity to experience teaching in a private basic school for about three months, and research assistance in her university for another three months. Immediately after that, she became a government employee at the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics as a statistician, where she currently works. As a government employee at the National Statistical Office of Palestine, she participated in many international training courses: including in Belgium, Turkey, Lebanon, Kuwait, and Japan. She learned intensively in the field of statistical analysis in support of inclusive development policies and price indices, and moderately in data science and big data techniques for official statistics. During her amazing experience in Japan, she learned R programming as a new tool for data analysis and she conveyed that knowledge by conducting several training courses for her colleagues.

Angela Umoru has three years of experience in the nonprofit and media sectors. Angela earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Mass Communication from Ahmadu Bello University in Nigeria. She is a 2020 World Literacy Foundation Ambassador and has utilized the opportunity to maximize and strengthen her fundraising, leadership, and advocacy skills. As a literacy advocate, she raised awareness on how illiteracy affects daily life by curating and sharing 112 “literacy stories” on social media. Previously, she worked as a Media and Communications Officer at Skills Outside School Foundation (SOSF), focusing on publicity for the Foundation’s work in life skill education for disadvantaged youth while securing relevant partnerships through digital media and production of media materials. In the time she worked with SOSF, she raised the organization’s profile by increasing social media followership by over 80% and spear-headed partnership discussions with various organizations. Currently, she is the Chief Operating Officer at Jela’s Development Initiatives (JDI), where she leads the teams in providing access to water, mental healthcare, and blood donors and promoting youth empowerment through volunteering. Through these experiences, she developed strong advocacy and collaboration skills. Angela is most interested in good governance and improving inclusion in education and mental health advocacy.

Hira Jamshed has more than seven years of work experience in the tech industry. Hira earned a Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design from Punjab University, in addition to completing five weeks of Entrepreneur Training Session at Draper University in San Mateo. Hira joined the tech industry in 2013 and is currently leading the Art and Design Teams at Tintash. Throughout her journey, she’s been part of famous IP projects like the BeatBugs Sing-Along App, Care Bears Care Karts, Stick Cricket, and Room Builder, among others. One of the projects she worked on, BeatBugs Sing-Along App, was selected for the “Made with Unity” showcase booth at Unite LA 2018, where she was invited to speak on panels such as “Developing Games Based on a TV Show” and “Unite Creator Career.” She volunteered with Girls Make Games, a nonprofit organization, and mentored 8 to 12 year-old girls in game creation. In March 2018, Girls Make Games invited her to attend the “Games Developers Conference.” Hira has been collaborating with local and international organizations to help young girls become part of the growing tech industry.

Lina Valencia has four years of experience working to empower young leaders and advance the rights and living conditions of vulnerable communities. Currently, Lina works for the International Center for Tropical Agriculture, one of the leading international organizations in climate change adaptation and mitigation practices, on initiatives to promote the scaling of climate-smart agriculture alternatives. Her work helps developing countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America improve food security and the implementation of sustainable practices. Previously, through her work at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA), Lina helped to facilitate the coordination between other UN agencies and local organizations to deliver humanitarian aid to vulnerable populations. As a young leader committed to social change, she co-founded a microcredit training program to improve low-income population access to basic goods and services in rural areas of Colombia. The program provided financial management training to communities impacted by high levels of violence and forced displacement. Lina has also volunteered with international nonprofits, such as AISEC and America Solidaria, to empower young leaders and promote meaningful social change in Latin America. Lina holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with a major in International Relations, from the ICESI University in Cali in Colombia. Through her studies and experience, she has acquired in-depth knowledge of the different social, political, economic, and cultural dynamics of several countries, particularly in Latin American and the Caribbean.

Mbivnjo Etheldreda Leinyuy has four years of experience in the nonprofit sector. Mbivnjo earned a Master of Science in Public Health and Health Promotion from Bangor University in the United Kingdom, as well as a Master of Science in Nursing Education and a Bachelor of Nursing Science from the University of Buea in Cameroon. Mbivnjo currently serves as the Development and Fundraising Officer for the Association for Community Awareness, where she raises funds through farm projects and manages online volunteers for website content and grant proposal writing. As a World Literacy Foundation Ambassador, she explored the global illiteracy problem and gained skills on how to advocate and fundraise for literacy-promoting initiatives. Through the Young African Leaders Initiative, she gained insight into Africa’s development challenges and led a project on improving the use of emails for education and business. Mbivnjo volunteers at the Health Research Foundation Buea as the project manager for a pilot birth defect registry in the Southwest Region of Cameroon. She is also designing parts of a sexual and reproductive health manual for a nonprofit called Teams4U. Previously, Mbivnjo supported disadvantaged people from Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) backgrounds with employment as a Volunteer Mentor for the nonprofit Change Grow Live, supported by the European Fund through the Welsh Government. Mbivnjo has excellent volunteer management, teaching, and research skills and is interested in human resource management, volunteerism, project management, fundraising initiatives, disease prevention, and health promotion.

Muhammad Ibrahim has five years of experience in the fields of media reporting and social issue documentaries. While recently working with BBC World Service, Muhhammad reported on difficulties faced by people with disabilities in Pakistan, including government and relevant stakeholders’ perspectives on limits to creating one sign language in Pakistan and access to basic facilities for persons with disabilities. He also reported on Hindu Minority community religious places in Sialkot, where a 1,000 year-old temple has been opened after almost 72 years. The report was shared by the Prime Minister of Pakistan on his official social media pages. Muhammad started working for BBC Pakistan in 2019, and in this short time, he was awarded the Agahi Award Journalist of The Year 2019 in the “Global Dignity” category and “Agahi Award Journalist of The Year 2020” in the “Inclusiveness” category for his work at BBC Pakistan.

Musah Mohammed Amin is a development practitioner with over 10 years of experience who promotes socio-economic development among impoverished communities in Ghana. Musah currently coordinates Nolbed Foundation’s pre-college gap-year program to bridge the gap between exceptional students and quality higher education. Since 2016, he has led the charge in identifying, recruiting, training, and guiding over 30 students from poor households in Ghana to secure placements and full-ride scholarships into globally renowned universities in the US, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Musah also helped over 100 pupils from basic public schools secure placement into Class-A high schools through Nolbed’s ancillary program. He volunteers business development support services to over 10 groups of small and medium-sized enterprises and community-based organizations in Ghana. Musah successfully completed his Master of Philosophy and conducted research on local-level social and economic development planning. Musah served as an Assistant District Development Planning Officer during his National Service at Atwima-Kwanwoma District Assembly in Ashanti, Ghana, where he helped prepare an Analytical Development Profile report for the District. Musah is passionate about promoting research-based youth development relative to human capital development initiatives.

Rhotkinen Parradang has four years of experience in the nonprofit sector and has earned a Bachelors of Science in Marketing and Management from Manhattan College in New York. She works with Ventures Platform in Nigeria, where she designs and implements entrepreneurship support programs for young African innovators. While working as the Partnership Analyst at Ventures Platform, she wrote proposals and grants that funded several organizational programs and startup endeavors. Previously, she worked as a Special Programs Assistant on the Integrated Humanitarian Assistance in Northeast Nigeria (IHANN) program, a USAID-funded program. Through this program, Rhotkinen had the unique opportunity to provide health, nutrition, and gender-based violence support to victims of the Boko Haram crisis. This program empowered beneficiaries to find alternative sources of income and become entrepreneurs. The youth-focused businesses she has supported have allowed young Nigerians to take control of their economic and social circumstances. They have also allowed beneficiaries to become employers of labor. Through these experiences, she developed strong leadership, grant writing, critical thinking, and project implementation skills. Rhotkinen is passionate about youth development and supporting the growth of youth-led businesses.