Class 7

Isabel has six years of experience in the nonprofit sector. She holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts in Statecraft and International Affairs. She worked for a national nonprofit and played a key role in the strategic planning through her role as liaison to the Board. Later, she gained experience in communications through work with the executive, communications, and research grants departments. She also worked as the Development Officer producing the best results in her performance. Her passion is to help people who are less fortunate than her. His dream is to give the poverty stricken the voice, the strength, and resources to improve their lives.

Host Organization: Fundación Niños de los Andes

Elisa has four years of experience in the nonprofit sector with a student-run organization called Pemon Health. She started as a participant then transitioned to Program Coordinator and is now Director. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Education with a minor in Latin American studies from Swarthmore College. Elisa helped promote preventative health initiatives in rural Venezuela. Her work with Pemon Health has been enriched through the use of critical perspectives related to social action endeavors. Elisa wrote her senior thesis on the complexities that college groups attempting such an endeavor face. She proudly embraces her Mexican and Colombian heritage and her hometown of Jackson Heights, NY.

Host Organization: Fundación Alejandrito Corazón

Benjamin has more than two years of experience in the nonprofit sector. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Public Relations from Boston University’s College of Communications and a Masters in International Affairs from the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University. He participated in the civil society development process as an intern for the Council for a Community of Democracies, applying his skills in written and oral communication. Later, he interned for the German Marshall Fund of the United States. This experience allowed him to engage with civil society leaders, understand current events, and their impact on government and civil society, and analyze and disseminate information effectively and concisely.

Host Organization: Fundación Capital

Renata has five years of experience in the nonprofit sector, with a particular focus on entrepreneurship development. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Law from the University of São Paulo and in Business Administration from Fundação Getulio Vargas in Brazil. Renata has always been involved in social change organizations and has spent the past three years at Endeavor, where she has developed a new social business for entrepreneurship education and supported small and medium-sized entrepreneurial initiatives to grow sustainably. Previously she worked for international NGOs including CEJIL, an international human rights law organization, and AIESEC, an international youth leadership development organization. Through these experiences, she developed strong entrepreneurial, interpersonal, and project coordination skills. Renata is very passionate about education, entrepreneurship, and economic development and seeks to advance those areas in order to promote positive change in the world.

Host Organization: AshokaU

Patrick has six years of experience in the nonprofit sector. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in History from the Mindanao State University in 2004. Patrick participated in the VSO and British Council’s Global Xchange Program in 2006 for a year of cultural exchange and volunteering in Mindanao and the United Kingdom under the theme “Peace and Development.” Together with other youth volunteers of the team, he was awarded the “Millennium Volunteer Award of Excellence” by the UK Secretary of State for Education and Skills. Prior to this experience, Patrick was an Oxfam International Youth Partnerships Action Partner from 2004-2007, where he received capacity-building training, online peer mentoring, and support for his community project. In 2003, he received the national “13 UNEP-Bayer Young Environmental Envoy Award” for his community project on reforestation. Currently, he is the Provincial Education Officer in Mindanao for World Vision Philippines’ Child Labor Education Project, an initiative that uses education and policy advocacy to strengthen social structures and alternative livelihood as a means to combat child labor in the Philippines. He also volunteers as coordinator for the Mindanao Young Leaders Parliament, a network of youth social activists from Mindanao, and as an “Oxfam Youth Mentor and Motivator” for the new participants of the 2010-2013 Oxfam Action Partners cohort. Patrick belongs to the Bukidnons, one of the indigenous tribes of Mindanao.

Host Organization: International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children

Oladele has more than three years of experience in the nonprofit and community health services sector in Nigeria as a medical doctor. He graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Medicine from the University of Ilorin, Nigeria in 2005. He obtained a Master’s degree in Public Health from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland in 2010. Oladele’s professional interests are in the areas of reproductive health, HIV/AIDS treatment and community health services. He has acquired intensive trainings and certificates in these subject areas in Nigeria, South-Africa and the United Kingdom. In 2007, he pioneered community health awareness campaigns as a volunteer with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). These campaigns focused on dissemination of information and strategies to prevent the spread of malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS in northern Nigeria. He was appointed as a consultant on HIV/AIDS treatment by the International Centre for AIDS Care and Treatment Programs (ICAP) in 2008. During this time, he developed strategies that contributed to improvements in the quality of care of HIV-infected persons. In 2011, he joined the Centre for Integrated Health Programs (CIHP), an indigenous non-governmental organization that delivers integrated services on malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS control and prevention. In his position as a “senior clinical associate”, he provided technical assistance and capacity-building services for staff at CIHP project centres.

Host Organization: GBCHealth

Mohammed has over three years of experience in the nonprofit sector, and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Khartoum and a Master’s degree in Public Health from the University of Medical Sciences and Technology. Mohammed was the National Officer on Research Exchange and President of the Medical Students International Network (MedSIN–Sudan), an NGO which represents the future physicians of Sudan worldwide. After joining graduate school, Mohammed and his colleagues founded the Rebuilding Reproductive and Child Health Systems in Post Conflict Settings Initiative (ReReCHI) which is an official partner of the WHO Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research. During that time, he also worked in post-conflict southern Sudan and was the head of Training and Capacity Building for the ReReCHI. Throughout the year, he conducted research that supported evidence-based health systems decisions and policies for health sector planners, analysts, policymakers, program designers, and other stakeholders. He also trained people ranging from illiterate women to PhD students in post-conflict southern Sudan. Due to great success of the initiative, the University of Medical Sciences and Technology formed the Reproductive and Child Health Research Unit, which is the first of its kind in Sudan. Mohammed also worked on projects for UNICEF and the EU mission in Sudan.

Host Organization: Susan G. Komen for the Cure

Kay has two years of experience in the nonprofit sector, and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from Northwestern University in IL, USA. She has served as a volunteer at NGOs such as Habitat for Humanity, Rotary International and Clinton Global Initiative, in countries including the Philippines, Belize, and Hong Kong, mainly focusing on HIV/AIDS education and awareness. Recently, Kay finished a six-month internship with South Africa’s leading HIV/AIDS activist organization, Treatment Action Campaign. During her tenure within the M&E unit of TAC, Kay wrote researched articles about tuberculosis for an online website, organized public service ads, and co-edited its first book publication. Prior to launching a career in the nonprofit sector, Kay worked in Hong Kong as an equity capital markets financial research manager responsible for covering and liaising with top-banking clients within the Asia-Pacific region. Kay is passionate about working in the fields of human rights, health, and education and wishes to utilize her research, reporting, and communications skills to achieve her goals. Outside of professional interests, she enjoys backpacking, reading memoirs, and playing the violin and piano.

Host Organization: Service for Peace

Jonathas has more than five years of experience in the nonprofit sector promoting sustainability and social entrepreneurship within the Brazilian private and nonprofit sector in roles such as consultant, manager, and professor. He holds a degree in Business Administration from the Federal University of Juiz de Fora, and has completed specialization courses on Nonprofit Management. Jonathas has worked in various sectors, from starting economic development projects to teaching low-income university students in Brazil. He served as the financial manager for Pangea bilingual school for impoverished youth, where he significantly increased the student enrollment rate, started a social enterprise for unemployed parents and implemented a business model for incorporating paying students to make the school self-sustainable. He played a key role for over two years in the most strategic partnership for Ashoka, where he, in collaboration with McKinsey consultants, implemented a Scaling Up Program for fellows to increase their impact and conceived Ashoka’s first monitoring and evaluation system for fellow performance in Brazil. Most recently, Jonathas acted as an Associate Consultant at LUME sustainability consulting, where he advised leading Brazilian companies on sustainable business practices to achieve the triple bottom line of profits and social and environmental outcomes. He is a co-founding member of AIESEC in Juiz de Fora and a WYSE youth fellow.

Host Organization: Points of Light

Jane has over seven years of experience in the nonprofit sector and hold a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology, Language and Communications from the University of Nairobi and a Diploma in Information Science from the Kenya School of Professional Studies. As a Programme Officer at the Foundation for Kenya Pastoralist Women (FKPW), she was in charge of facilitating processes and initiatives that enhanced the participation of pastoralist women in socio-economic, political, and cultural development. Prior to joining FKPW, Jane worked for Transparency International Kenya as a Deputy Programme Officer in charge of the Resource Center. She was part of the Advocacy and Communication Programme that was mandated to advocate for transparent and accountable institutions of governance in Kenya whilst building alliances with civil society, public institutions, schools, and media outlets. Jane has also set up fully- functional libraries for Save the Children Sweden and Water Service Trust Fund. Jane has worked as a Presiding Officer in the Starehe by-elections and the referendum that saw the enactment of Kenya’s new constitution. Through her experiences, Jane has gained a deep understanding of development issues and valuable skills in research management and administration.

Host Organization: InsideNGO

Ihsan Karayazi has seven years of experience in the nonprofit sector. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in English Language and Literature from Kafkas University and a Master’s degree in Cultural Management from Istanbul Bilgi University. Ihsan has worked for both public and civil society areas with a particular focus on conflict resolution alongside the border with South Caucasus. From 2005-2009, Ihsan was employed by the Municipality of Kars as an officer in charge of external relations and project coordination. In 2009, he joined UNDP Turkey as the site manager of UN Joint Program Alliances for Culture Tourism in Eastern Anatolia, which uses tourism to generate income and eliminate poverty. Ihsan has worked as an advisor to many national and international organizations including the International Institute of Urban Development (IIUD), International Alert of London, TESEV (Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation) of Istanbul, Anadolu Kultur of Istanbul, City Research Center of Gyumri, Armenia and Barents Secreteriat of Kirkenes, Norway. Ihsan has participated in training programs including the Emerging Young Leaders program offered by US State Department, the summer university program of the Central European University (CEU-Budapest) on Public Management of Urban Challenges in Transitional Cities, and a European Diploma program in Cultural Project Management.

Host Organization: HasNa

Hira has more than four years of experience in the nonprofit sector. Hira holds two postgraduate degrees in Mass Communication and English Language and Literature from the National University of Modern Language in Pakistan. Her areas of expertise are advocacy, development communication, monitoring and evaluation, capacity building, reporting and research. Since March 2010, she has worked with the Oxfam GB Pakistan Programme as a Communications and Monitoring and Evaluation Officer with the emergency response team. Previously, Hira worked with the Red Cross as a Program Officer where she was responsible for improving the quality of health, disaster risk reduction, and capacity-building programs by undertaking effective monitoring. Hira has also worked for UNDP Pakistan, where she streamlined knowledge management and developed a strategy to serve as a roadmap for knowledge-sharing. She ensured efficient utilization of knowledge-sharing tools and produced key research focusing on poverty, gender, environment, governance and crises prevention issues to serve as policy support for the government. She has also participated in UNICEF relief efforts

Host Organization: Service for Peace