Cohort 12

Abdulsamod Balogun is a communications and marketing professional with over six years of experience leading end-to-end content storytelling and digital marketing (search, social and email) campaigns in the nonprofit, financial services, venture capital and technology sectors in Africa. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from the University of Ilorin, Nigeria, and is trained in product marketing and growth marketing by Product Marketing Alliance UK and CXL Institute US respectively. He is the director of partnerships at Vibrant Girls Development Initiative, a social enterprise that has empowered over 300 girls in semiurban areas of Lagos with soft and digital skills, and provided career mentorship to 90 girls. Previously, he was a communications and marketing fellow at VestedWorld, an impact-focused African VC, where he raised newsletter open rate to over 40% and executed content marketing strategies that grew Linkedin followership by 115%, engagement by 1100% and unique visitors by over 70%. He also led communications for Leonine, a financial services firm, where he helped over 20+ social entrepreneurs get investor-ready and raise external capital. He also executed tailored B2B and B2C content marketing strategies that helped increase the firm’s web traffic by 300%, Linkedin page followers by 70%, enterprise client pool by over 60%, training pool by over 150% and originated deals worth over $1million. He is one of 5 Agora Fellows trained in communications by Young Voices UK in 2019 and has coordinated marketing for LEAP Africa SIPA and SocialGood Summit Lagos. Through these experiences, he has developed strong skills in content, digital and event marketing. Abdulsamod enjoys launching initiatives and dissecting issues in youth development, entrepreneurship, gender, and education.

Adriana Benitez holds a professional degree in communication, graduating Summa Cum Laude from Universidad Privada Boliviana (UPB). She has three years of experience in development project management and public policy. She has worked for governmental institutions and international NGOs. In her current position, she has worked with more than five projects managed by organizations such as UNICEF and Oxfam International, supporting the development of strategic plans, gender and child protection policies, and youth empowerment. In her time with state/ public organizations, she has contributed to the development of projects that promote alternative energies in Bolivia. In a cross-cutting manner, she has supported the generation of content and communication strategies in all her jobs. Adriana is also a feminist activist in her community, having been part of collectives that promote women’s rights. She has managed projects to support women who have suffered physical, economic, and psychological violence in her department. She is passionate about gender equality and children’s issues, academic research, and the management of development projects.

Alba Giol is from Catalonia. She studied Social Work at the University of Girona. She did her final project about how this profession can contribute to fighting the climate crisis, according to how it affects vulnerable groups. That research helped her focus her professional training on sustainable development. That is how she decide to study for a Master’s degree in Environment, Sustainability and SDGs, which is focused on the UN 2030 Agenda and brings a whole view of sustainability on its three edges. Right now, Alba is doing her Master’s internship with UN Etxea, participating in some projects about environmental education, the climate crisis, and human rights. She has a particular interest in the relationship between the climate crisis, social exclusion, and inequalities. She had not particularly studied the link between these sectors in the university degree and she feels that nowadays it has become part of the base of social change. She also shares the idea that we are now facing a very complex problem, which means we need multidisciplinary solutions. This will lead everyone to be involved and contribute as much as we can, working together as a society and empowering community work, to ensure a better future for the next generations and even for ourselves.

Alison B. Omiste is a Systems Engineer and lawyer, both with mention of excellence. She has studied Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at Hradec Králové University, Czech Republic, and Advanced Studies in Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law at Washington College of Law. She is an activist for human rights, gender equality, and freedom. She is a former IACHR intern and lover of technology, particularly its use to build a fairer, more transparent, and equitable society. Alison has been a trainer and speaker in various academic and technological spaces and is the Co-Founder and current National Director of “Mujeres TICs Bolivia” (Women ICTs Bolivia), an organization that seeks to reduce the digital gender gap. Her organization has trained more than 500 women from peri-urban and rural areas of Bolivia on issues of technologies and digital inclusion and has impacted more than 2,000 people with different digital inclusion programs and workshops in STEM areas. She works in constant contributions and investigations presented as amicus curiae before the IACHR and has participated as a team coach and judge in international Human Rights competitions. She is the Vice-curator of the Global Shapers hub and a member of the Ladies of Liberty Alliance and Students of Liberty. Alison is also a Fellow of the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) and of the Ban Ki-Moon Center for Global Citizen. She is a CISCO instructor with experience as a mentor in digital education.

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.

Didac Amat Puigsech is a Ph.D. candidate in International Climate Change Law at Pompeu Fabra University (UPF). He lives in Barcelona, where he combines his research with teaching activities. Concretely, he teaches undergraduate courses on International Public Law and International Constitutional Law at the UPF, a Master’s course in International Climate Change Regime at the Centre of International Studies of Barcelona (CEI) and a Master’s course in International Relations Theory at the Barcelona Institute of International Studies (IBEI). Before his current positions, Didac studied Law and Political Science, graduating with honors from UPF, and a Master’s in legal practice at the Barcelona School of Management, also graduating with honors. During his university years, Didac developed a special interest in sustainable development and international relations. Thus, he did an exchange program at the City University of Hong Kong, worked in Greece as a legal assistant on human rights strategic litigation, and completed a pro-bono program in Peru. In 2018, Didac started his professional career at CIDOB, ranked the 35th IR think tank worldwide. During this period, he improved his knowledge of climate change mitigation strategies by completing a one-year program on Solar Photovoltaic Energy from the Open University of Catalonia (UOC). Finally, previous to his enrollment in the Ph.D. program one year ago, Didac was the chief of the cabinet of Òmnium Cultural, a cultural NGO that promotes social cohesion through the defense of civil, political, and cultural rights.

​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.

Estefania Ortuño has a degree in Business Administration from Universidad Catolica Boliviana in La Paz and graduated with a Master of Social Innovation and Solidarity Economy at the University of Salamanca, her origin and values ​​prompted her to work for a sustainable world. In her ten years of professional experience, she sought to be part of institutions with a purpose aligned with her values. She currently works at BancoSol as Sustainably Senior leading the development and creation of the non-financial offer and supporting the evolutionary process towards the sustainability strategy with inclusion. Although support for vulnerable sectors was always one of her main focuses, without a doubt one of the most challenging labor was the one she faced at Banco Unión, where she began as National Head of CSR and was promoted to Management General Coordinator, supporting the coordination of the payment of bonds at the national level during the pandemic. In her extensive years of experience, she developed adaptability and international standards for the development of strategies in the generation of shared value and sustainability, all these skills were first started when she began his professional career in the consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers in the area of ​Sustainable Business Solutions and other projects, which gave her the opportunity to get to know different industries and companies. She has also volunteered from a young age at institutions such as Rotary, and Global Shapers Hub La Paz, becoming a curator at this last one.

Felix Rugama is an agronomist with more than ten years of experience working on topics related to agriculture, climate change, food security, gender, community organization, and empowerment. Lately, he is working at a nonprofit organization as a Project Manager, ensuring that girls and boys have access to basic services and that women and men have the same opportunities to achieve their social development goals. He has specialized studies in fields related to disaster risk management, climate change, child protection, gender, evaluation and monitoring, and girls and women empowerment. Felix is passionate about topics related to leadership, believing that we all can be leaders in any field and we all can contribute to making this world better and leaving a better future for the next generations.

Frank Sarria is a native of Managua, Nicaragua. He is a lawyer by profession, with a Master’s degree in Corporate Law and almost a decade of experience at the management level in the areas of marketing and sales in transnational companies such as Pepsi and Colgate-Palmolive among others. He has been responsible for the planning and execution of distribution channel development plans as well as commercial investment projects. Since March 2022, he assumed the challenge as Country General Manager with the Swiss organization Buy Food with Plastic, responsible for cementing the operational foundations of the organization for Nicaragua and providing support to the global management team in the elaboration of its development plans for India and Ghana towards 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/frank-ivan-sarria-palacios/ https://www.facebook.com/frank.i.sarria

Ian Serra has an undergraduate degree in Politics and an MSc in Sustainability and Management. He currently works for Andorra Research and Innovation, an entity in charge of generating and promoting knowledge, providing innovative solutions for sustainable development, and contributing to the economic diversification of Andorra. In this entity, he is involved in different projects involving the sustainability approaches of many stakeholders in the country. He is very interested in circular economy principles. These directly affect sustainability as a whole and can be used as drivers for social change. Similarly, he believes companies and society need to change their approach in many areas to be able to tackle climate change (energy, waste management, supply chains…).

Irene Vivas Lalinde is a climate activist and a storyteller. Irene has been involved in different capacities in the fight for climate justice in organizations such as the Federation of Young European Greens (FYEG) and Juventud Verde, as a delegate to COP 26 and COP 27, as a Feminist Climate Ambassador and as the co-founder of the initiative Proyecta Valencia – Hacia el 2030. Currently, she is a board member of Verdes EQUO, the Spanish green party, and works as a project officer at Eurocities. In the past few years, she has worked in European and international organizations such as EIT Climate KIC, the European Parliament, and Women’s Link Worldwide on climate innovation, citizen science, and human rights. She holds an MSc in Public Policy and Human Development (UNU Merit – Maastricht School of Governance) and a Bachelor’s in law. To disconnect, she enjoys the company of dear friends and family. She also loves meeting new people. Doing yoga and meditation has helped her keep her mental health balanced. In her free time, Irene enjoys reading, dancing, and writing. She regularly publishes in the online magazine Hyperbole. She believes in the power of stories to change people’s minds and create new imaginaries for a greener future.