Heba Shama
Heba Shama is an architect with a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Engineering from the American University in Cairo (AUC). Heba was involved in several projects that focused on reclaiming the right to public spaces and proposing physical interventions to overcome social issues such as women and girls’ safety, children’s rights to play, and encouraging mutual acceptance between local communities and refugees. Heba is currently working with Takween Integrated Community Development (ICD) in the framework of a project for the British Museum, where she works on documenting the vernacular architecture of the village of Shutb while trying to engage with the community on building a collective appreciation for the local tangible and intangible heritage.
Shama grew up in South Sinai where she is currently involved on a project, “Strengthening Protected Areas’ Financing and Management Systems,” with the Operational Unit for Development Assistance for UNDP Egypt. She is also involved as a teaching assistant for the USAID program, “English Access Micro-scholarship Program.” Heba is working as a voluntary art workshop co-facilitator with Tur-Sinai Youth Center, which collaborates effectively in delivering a diverse range of visual arts-based workshops to young children. Shama has a special interest in working on relief operations and education and refugee-oriented initiatives, especially on initiatives that focus on children.
Heba considers herself as a multidisciplinary designer. She is an architect who is interested in the visual and literary expression of cultures; a philanthropist with a strong passion to work with, learn from, and empower the local communities. This is an identity that she developed through her participation with the Lazord Fellowship. Recently, she has become a graphic designer, and sometimes considers herself as an amateur photographer who enjoys taking photos with her cellphone camera.
Enas Mahmoud Alkurdi
Enas graduated from the University of Jordan with a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 2009. Her interest in psychology and its implications in social development led her to the Jordan River Foundation where she worked as a volunteer psychologist for two years, working with children in violent environments in Jordan.
In 2014, Enas joined the Leaders of Tomorrow team through the Lazord Fellowship as a project officer and office administrator, working on the Leadership and UACTIV8 Active Citizenship projects. After this big experience she decided to apply to Save the Children, an international organization that works with Syrian refugees, where she worked as a Case Manager for 1.5 years. In July 2018 she started her current job at Humanity & Inclusion, an organization that supplies relief to Syrian refugees in Jordan.
Enas is very proud for having been able to take advantage of the amazing opportunities from the Lazord Fellowship, and is looking forward to other achievements and successes in her practical life.
Shireen Zayed
Shireen is a program coordinator, project development professional, and a John D. Gerhart Center alumna with over 6 years of experience in the development field. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Statistics from Cairo University (Egypt) and a master’s of Comparative Middle East Politics and Societies granted by the joint master’s program of the American University in Cairo (Egypt) and the Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen (Germany). In December 2018, Shireen authored her first publication with Routledge, NY: a chapter on activism development in Egypt in the book, “The Struggle for Citizenship Education in Egypt.”
Shireen is recognized by her managers, peers, and beneficiaries as a dedicated and organized coordinator, a visionary, and a creative leader who has distinctive abilities in strategic planning and project monitoring. Her previous work focused on the promotion of blue collar working conditions with NEP, and improving the economic prospects of young people in Egypt while working with Oxfam in Tunisia.
Shireen is currently working as a senior program assistant for the Regional Development and Protection Program (RDPP) within the Labour Mobility and Human Development unit at the International Organization for Migration (IOM Egypt).
Lian Saifi
When Lian Saifi first joined the program, she was a fresh graduate and joined the great local youth organization Leaders of Tomorrow (LOT). She spent two years there, building her skills and capacities. It was the perfect place to do so, because they gave her the opportunity and the space to grow and come out of her comfort zone. Being there nurtured in her the drive to keep trying new things and be up for challenges. She first joined LOT as an intern and was rapidly given the full trust to lead an entire project.
After understanding the youth context and the local sphere of NGOs in Jordan, she decided to apply to an international organization. One of them was the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), which is one of the most reputable organizations among the INGOs in Jordan. She became the multimedia technical officer at NRC, working in the communications and advocacy unit. She manages communication products that advocate and address Syrian refugee issues in Jordan. The communication products vary from videos, photos, publications, data visualization, and blog content to campaigns.
“Now that I am out there, I can reflect back to those 4 years that passed and I would say that I am very proud of myself, and very happy with the opportunities I was given along the way, and I would tell you to stay tuned, because you will be hearing some great news about me in the coming days.”
Ehab Gamal
Ehab is 27 years old, and is currently the youth programs and popular engagement assistant at PlanBørnefonden International Denmark. He has been working in civil society since 2008, and is committed to just social development and inclusive change. He started his career in civil society by co-founding Ruwwad Egypt, where he was the director and project officer for youth empowerment from 2014 to 2017.
In 2012, he received his bachelor’s degree in law from Cairo University. In 2013, he was awarded a diploma in civil society and human rights from the Faculty of Economics and Political Science at Cairo University. He has studied, and been mentored in governance transparency and accountability, community facilitation, and youth leadership, receiving certificates from the Coady International Institute of St. Francis Xavier University in Transparency, Accountability and Governance (2013) and Global Youth Leadership (2016).
In 2013-2014, he was the recipient of the Lazord Fellowship Egypt.
He is a co-founder of the Mesaha Foundation for Community Development and a member of the management board of NGO “Al-Amlany El-Gamila” (Beautiful Wishes) for people with disabilities. Ehab is also a member of the Goethe Institute regional team of trainers for civic education.
Omar Rabie
Omar is a lawyer with a strong background in corporate law and extensive experience in social and business entrepreneurship. He provides legal advice to social enterprises, start-ups, and non-profit organizations.
Omar has a wide range of professional experience in social innovation, entrepreneurship, and is working towards a career in the capacity building of enterprises and start-ups in the MENA region.
Along with Omar’s legal practice, he currently works as an Advisor at GIZ. Prior to that, he has held several other positions: he was an Incubators and Accelerators Advisor at USAID’s Strengthening and Enterprise Development (SEED) project; an Account Manager at Nahdet El Mahrousa (NM), supporting early-stage social enterprises by turning their ideas into operating social businesses; a Program Manager at Ana Masry Foundation; an active member of Green Arm; and lastly, a Communication and Social Mobilization Fellow at UNAIDS Egypt during the Lazord Fellowship.
Omar has a Bachelor of Law and a Master of Science in Europe Mediterranean Studies from Cairo University. He also has a diploma in Social Innovation Management from the UPeace Center for Executive Education in Costa Rica. In April 2016, Omar received a post-graduate certificate in Social Innovation Management from the Amani Institute in Nairobi, Kenya, where he also spent his legal apprenticeship at IKM Advocates, DLA Piper Africa.