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.

Ali Zafar is a program management professional with six years of experience in the nonprofit sector and he earned two Master’s degrees in Applied and Development Economics from Pakistan and Germany, respectively. He has worked with federal and provincial Governments in Pakistan, UN agencies and international development organizations. The focus of his work is establishing partnerships with stakeholders in government and non-government sectors, formulation of policies and programs, and developing knowledge and learning pathways for existing and future projects for portfolio development, specifically on areas of gender, innovation management, and sustainable development. Ali is currently working as a Planning and Coordination Analyst at UN Women Myanmar, where he supports the formulation of program strategies and implementation of action plans through the integration of systems and design thinking program management approaches. Prior to this assignment, Ali was working as a Social Policy Analyst with UNDP on design, localization, and implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Pakistan. During this time, he led and prepared SDGs’ Implementation Framework for Punjab, conceptualized and steered District Localization Plan for SDGs, wrote reports on data gaps and interlinkages, and built institutional structures with a diverse level of stakeholders. In recognition of his research work, Ali was selected to represent Pakistan as a Young Economist at the fifth Lindau Nobel Laureates Meeting on Economic Sciences in 2014. For his achievements as a professional, he was selected by the U.S. Department of State to represent Pakistan as a Governance and Society Professional Fellow in 2018.

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.

Benedicta Dawson-Amoah is a monitoring and evaluation professional with five years of experience in youth advocacy, gender, and rural development in the nonprofit sector. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Statistics from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana. While working as the Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Coordinator at Plan International Ghana, she led in tracking project outcomes and conducting surveys for evidence-based advocacy on the She Leads Project. Over the past three years, Benedicta has advocated for the meaningful engagement of young people in leadership and decision-making by supporting Restless Development Uganda and the Mastercard Foundation to deliver compelling research on Young People’s priorities under the Youth Think Tank project. Benedicta has contributed to the academic research paper “Making a Living: A Young Employment Agenda” by Murray Edwards College, University of Cambridge, and she continues to volunteer as a youth researcher for civil society organizations, including Restless Development USA, Mastercard Foundation, and the ILO. Through these experiences, Benedicta has developed strong skills in youth leadership, data analysis, and communication skills for project management. Benedicta envisions a world where data can be used to make better decisions, improve lives, and make lasting impact for development.

Cyndi Natalia has over 10 years of experience as a Legal Analyst for the Ministry of Finance in Indonesia. Upon receiving the Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP), she pursued a Master of law (LLM) degree from the Pennsylvania University in the USA. Cyndi’s primary duty as a civil servant in the Ministry of Finance of Indonesia is to enforce bureaucracy reformation and finance professional development through her expertise in drafting national laws. Cyndi has contributed to many legal drafting of the statute. Her recent work is drafting the omnibus law for the Financial Reporting Law of Indonesia, which will reform all the governmental organizations of submitting a financial report to establish a uniform and transparent report with the support of digital technologies. Cyndi has been involved in many international affairs diplomacy and agreements to develop regulations and programs for accountant professionals in Indonesia. Specifically, during the ASEAN Economic Community, to ensure the free trade and services in the ASEAN region fairly implemented for all member states. She was appointed by the Minister of Finance of Indonesia to hold a position as the Head of ACPACC Secretariat. With this position, she is trusted to liaise and coordinate with relevant authorities and or parties regarding accountant professionals within ASEAN member states and facilitate mobility of accountancy services professionals across ASEAN.

Dinah Yunitawati has been working in the fields of marine policy and management, environmental sustainability, and community development for over 10 years. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning from Bandung Institute of Technology and a Master of Environmental Science from the University of Western Australia. She is working for the Indonesian Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, particularly on marine spatial planning that is utilized as a policy instrument to achieve sustainable ocean development in Indonesia. She works closely with various government agencies at both national and local levels, international organizations, NGOs, academia, and community groups. Dinah has actively participated in the Women Leaders Forum of Coral Triangle Initiative for Coral Reef, Food, and Fisheries (CTI-CFF) that aims to promote women’s roles in marine conservation and management. She also manages an initiative called “Banda Aware,” which aims to reduce corals and beach sand mining in Banda Islands, through community-based approaches. For her contribution to marine conservation, she was awarded the Ocean Legacy Awards. Recently she was featured at the Southeast Asia Women platform that allows leading women in Southeast Asia to be discovered and connected to the public for collaboration. In her free time, she is engaged in mentoring programs to prepare youth to successfully begin work life. She will start her doctoral program at the University of Western Australia, focusing on marine policy and sustainable development in the near future.

​Divya Chhabra is an AIF Fellow working with SAFA India, based in Hyderabad, Telangana. She is focused on developing local employment opportunities by incubating micro-entrepreneurs and creating an ecosystem for micro startups. She holds an integrated degree in BCom LLB from Tamil Nadu National Law University, Tiruchirappalli. During her academic pursuits, Divya gained valuable experience interning with various organizations, including the People’s Union of Civil Liberties in Jaipur, Majlis Legal Centre in Mumbai, and Jagori Rural Charitable Trust in Dharamshala. Through these internships, she gained knowledge about litigation and violence investigation while developing her passion for the development sector. Divya believes in effective communication with communities to understand their needs and bring positive change. She is determined to use her Fellowship as a stepping stone toward starting her own social enterprise or NGO. When she is not working, Divya enjoys reading and traveling.

Elisabeth Medina is a public official who works for the Corruption Eradication Commission of the Republic of Indonesia. She graduated from the Department of Physics, Bandung Institute of Technology. She is currently assigned to the Development Team of JAGA, a platform initiated by the Corruption Eradication Commission that aims to encourage transparency and good governance practice in public services. During her assignment, together with the team, she managed to develop two main menus that enable the citizen to file complaints, which are JAGA Bansos (social aid) and JAGA Penanganan COVID-19 (COVID-19 handling). Previously, she was a policy analyst in Research and Development Directorate, focusing on the energy and natural resources sector. As a policy analyst, she conducted desk-based research and field observation to perform regulatory and corruption risk analysis and then provide recommendations to the related key stakeholders. She is interested in governance and transparency issues, two main problems that still exist in Indonesia. She hopes her work in policy research could prevent state-capture corruption thus improving the governance, and her work in the JAGA platform could promote government’s transparency thus empowering citizens to monitor the government. During her free time, she is active in the Aparatur Muda community and loves to do occasional running or mountain hiking.