Ankur
India (American India Foundation Scholar)Ankur has an entrepreneurial mindset with a blend of corporate culture (Processes) and startup experience (Result-oriented). He is passionate about analytics and creativity, with an expertise in understanding and managing the integration of marketing, sales, operations, customer service and analytics in order to create effective, meaningful and result-oriented business strategies. As a communications specialist, Ankur takes utmost care in the finer points of both oral and written communication. He finds it incredibly fulfilling to build excellent, high performing teams–individually, we can’t always be at our best but when camaraderie persists, a team can go far. Good teamwork makes every journey better. Ankur also loves to pursue innovation. And while he enjoys connecting the dots across seemingly unrelated information, his MBA has also refined his pragmatic business knowledge to implement explorative growth ideas.
Host Organization: American India Foundation
Role at Host Organization: At American India Foundation, Ankur will be serving as the Executive Assistant Fellow to Chief Executive Officer. In this role, he will act as a key partner to the Chief Executive Officer, helping to brainstorm and identify solutions to challenges faced by the organization. He will develop relationship building skills while managing interactions with external volunteer bodies and board members, and also manage a variety of program design, resource mobilization, marketing, and communication projects across the US and India.
Catherine Menéndez
El Salvador (Host: Glasswing International USA)Catherine Menéndez is a passionate communications specialist who seeks to create a positive impact in the world through her work in media. With over 10 years of experience in the fields of marketing, communications and media, Catherine graduated in Journalism and Communications in 2014. She had the opportunity to coordinate and lead volunteers for FUNTER, a non-profit organization in El Salvador, that provides therapy for people with health conditions or impairments. Previously, she was the spokesperson for APROASA, the local dog shelter in her hometown. One of her most notable achievements was developing The Anual Fundraiser in 2010, which continues on to this day. Since then, she has had the opportunity to work with several organizations in the non-profit sector. Catherine has gained skills in marketing, advertising, public relations, creative writing, social media, storytelling and human resources through her years of work within the private sector. At the moment, Catherine remains committed to providing proper education and resources for the youth in El Salvador and supporting the efforts of local and international initiatives by assisting with strategies, communication plans, and creating compelling campaigns to raise awareness on how education is the key to enhance the quality of life for all human beings, especially the ones below the poverty line in El Salvador, where she grew up. At the same time, she supports the collaboration of local entrepreneurs and companies from her country in the development of social corporate programs, creating better opportunities for people and encouraging leadership in them and in their communities.
Host Organization: Glasswing International USA
Role at Host Organization: At Glasswing International USA, Catherine will be serving as the Partnerships & Marketing Fellow. She will work side-by-side with senior staff to gain practical experience in business development, client relations, and marketing by using customer questionnaires and focus groups to support Glasswing’s customer database, collaborating closely with the US Communications team and Strategic Partnerships team, and helping to develop and execute marketing strategies with target audiences. Catherine will play an important role in further developing relationships with key stakeholders at Glasswing, including partners and current/potential clients.
Patrick Rumanyika
Rwanda (Host: CorpsAfrica)Patrick Rumanyika is a community development practitioner from Rwanda with three years of experience working in the nonprofit sector. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Development Economics from the University of Rwanda and a master’s degree in International Development with a specialization in Community Development from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. He utilizes his skills and knowledge in the areas of project management, economic development, youth empowerment, and capacity building. He is particularly interested in empowering rural youth and bridging the linkages between community development and agriculture. Previously, Patrick worked with PPIZ in Tanzania as a project leader. In this position, he played a key role in project designing, planning, and documentation processes, as well as developing all essential project documents.
Host Organization: CorpsAfrica
Role at Host Organization: At CorpsAfrica, Patrick will be serving as the Alumni Association Fellow where he will work to build a system that supports former CorpsAfrica Volunteers in their personal lives and professional careers. Patrick will develop a solid framework of communication for CorpsAfrica Volunteer alumni, create opportunities for alumni to stay involved with CorpsAfrica and provide professional support services to alumni, including hiring events and professional development opportunities.
Chimezie Anueyiagu
Nigeria (Host: American Red Cross)Chimezie Anueyiagu has five years experience in the public health sector. While working as a health education/risk communication officer with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), He led the development of risk communications strategies/plans, messages; engagement of key stakeholders and communities; and supporting research around social and behavioural change communication. He played a key role in Nigeria’s COVID-19 response by coordinating public communications throughout the pandemic. He has played a similar role for Lassa fever response, working across the 36 States in Nigeria. Chimezie holds a degree in Education Economics and is a member of the West Africa Social Science Epidemic Response Network (WASSERN). He is also a fellow of the Social Science in Humanitarian Action Platform, and a member of the Institute for Humanitarian Studies and Social Development (IHSD). Chimezie has attended Public Health conferences and professional courses across Africa and Europe.
Host Organization: American Red Cross
Role at Host Organization: At American Red Cross, Chimezie will be serving as the Knowledge Management & Learning Fellow. Chimezie will be sitting with the Quality, Data and Learning team at ISD/ARC Headquarters and will be responsible for supporting the Knowledge Management and Learning efforts of the department. He will help facilitate access to, utilization of, and learning from existing data, evidence, and knowledge generated from past operations both within the American Red Cross and with the RCRC Movement Partners
Naura Nabila Haryanto
Indonesia (Host: Advocates for Youth)Naura Nabila Haryanto is an early-professional development practitioner, young advocate, and facilitator passionate about issues of equal and inclusive access to education, gender justice, and meaningful youth participation. After earning a Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations, she continued to empower young people to tackle harmful gender norms in Rutgers Indonesia by leading a gender-mainstreamed education program for high schoolers in 7 Indonesian provinces. Naura believes that young people should be meaningfully and inclusively involved in planning, implementing, and evaluating. As a young advocate, she used her first-hand experiences to develop a national module of gender-mainstreamed education for in and out-of-school and special-needs students with the Ministry of Education & Culture and Ministry of Health. Recognizing the need to expand the network among legislative policy-makers, she is now involved in the advocacy work of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) Indonesia Office. She coordinates with the Committee of Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation under House of Representative of Indonesia to support Indonesia’s diplomatic parliaments in maximizing Indonesia’s parliamentary diplomatic effort in advocating for humanitarian crisis response in Myanmar. Her work earned recognition from UNESCO as the Young Sexual & Reproductive Health & Rights (SRHR) Advocates Team to reflect on the comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) Global Status Report. She was also granted with ARROW-RHRN Changemakers Seed, where she initiated a 2-months peer-mentorship program to train 11 sex education teachers as mentors to utilize digital platforms in responding to traditional learning disruption. Lastly, she also shared her policy initiative towards gender-mainstreamed education in Indonesia’s national curricula as the Favourite Finalist for Future Leaders Connect by British Council.
Host Organization: Advocates for Youth
Role at Host Organization: At Advocates for Youth, Naura will be serving as the AMAZE Global Partnerships Fellow. She will be assisting in efforts to support partnerships in Southeast Asia and facilitate youth engagement associated with Advocates’ AMAZE International work in the region. Throughout her fellowship, Naura will assist partners with the adaptation and dissemination of 9 AMAZE sexuality education videos and accompanying video discussion guides to meaningfully engage adolescents in Southeast Asia. She will also help with the documentation and monitoring of partnerships in the region through regular communication and collaboration with the AMAZE team.
Boluwatife Michael-Biyi
Nigeria (Host: Steelcase Inc.)Boluwatife Michael-Biyi is an International Development Professional with over 7 years of experience working with nonprofits, local and international organizations such as the African Union, identifying and leveraging partnerships and contract opportunities, delivering sustained results, and managing projects from idea to impact. Bolu’ specializes in social innovation, a passion that is driven by his belief that business should be used as a force for good. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Covenant University, Nigeria where he also served as the President of the Student’ Union, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Law from Swansea University in the United Kingdom. Bolu’ is passionate about Impact and Learning, he thrives on initiating conversations that change mindsets and open up new possibilities. He also enjoys focusing on the thematic areas of civic engagement, education, and public health.
Host Organization: Steelcase Inc.
Role at Host Organization: At Steelcase Inc, Bolu’ will be serving as the Steelcase Social Innovation Fellow with a focus on Global Learning Community management. He will accomplish several strategic outcomes, including: fast-tracking the process of uncovering previously hidden opportunities for the adoption of new practices across the community, increasing the number of total connections between previously disconnected partners, and strengthening the adaptive capacity of participating individuals and organizations to accelerate their personal and professional growth.
Sana Salah
India (Host: American Red Cross)Sana is a Water and Sanitation Expert and has 5 years of experience in the implementation of sanitation projects and programs. She has earned a Bachelor of Science in Zoology from the University of Calcutta in India and a Master’s degree in Environmental Studies from Nalanda International University, India. While working with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs in the Government of India as a WASH ( Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) and Knowledge Management Specialist for Swachh Bharat Mission(Urban), Clean India Mission, she helped draft national-level policies and guidelines, and aided capacity building of government officials in order to improve solid waste management and sanitation practices in 4200+ urban local bodies of India. In her previous assignment, Sana worked with Tata Trusts to advance the sanitation practices of the rural community in Bihar and promote the use of toilets along with the help of other development partners like UNICEF and the World Bank. Sana has also worked as a climate change volunteer on the issue of displacement of migrants due to climate change. Through these experiences, she developed excellent leadership qualities, strategic thinking skills, program management experience, stakeholder management, and implementation skills. Sana enjoys focusing on the topics of water, sanitation, hygiene, and solid waste management and has a passion for gender mainstreaming.
Host Organization: American Red Cross
Role at Host Organization: At American Red Cross, Sana will be serving as the Knowledge Management & Learning Fellow. Sana will be sitting with the Quality, Data and Learning team at ISD/ARC Headquarters and will be responsible for supporting the Knowledge Management and Learning efforts of the department. She will help facilitate access to, utilization of, and learning from existing data, evidence, and knowledge generated from past operations both within the American Red Cross and with the RCRC Movement Partners