Ahmed Tag M.

Tag is a filmmaker, visual artist, and film impact producer. He is passionate about freedom of expression, intercultural dialogue, and art democratization for social change. Tag is motivated by his passion for civic engagement, intercultural dialogue, the arts, and filmmaking. He decided to apply to the Lazord Fellowship because of his strong belief in arts and culture as a method for social change. Ahmed was particularly engaged during college, writing, and translating several published articles on the social and political situation in Egypt and globally. He also volunteered and participated in many civic engagement projects and exchange programs in Egypt and abroad. Ahmed is an art enthusiast who is passionate about photography, videography, creative writing, and storytelling. Since 2017, he has written, filmed, edited, and directed several short films that have been submitted to film festivals, winning awards in Egypt and internationally.

Manar Abdullah

Manar Issam Abdullah is a passionate humanist, civil engineer, and advocate for positive social change, holding a degree from the University of Jordan.

Throughout her career, she has been committed to driving educational and charitable projects aimed at improving lives and fostering a better future for underprivileged communities. Her journey into community service officially began when she became the lead coordinator of The Camp of Gaza Support Campaign (TCGSC), where she worked to empower disadvantaged children and adolescents through education, health awareness, and essential life skills. This role honed her leadership, adaptability, and strategic planning abilities, reinforcing her commitment to championing child rights, education, women’s empowerment, and the welfare of refugee communities.

Stemming from her belief that music is a universal language that unites people, she also pursued and earned a diploma in ‘oud,’ reflecting her dedication to cultural connection.

Manar later worked with the Madrasati Initiative for nearly two years, where she focused on improving the physical and educational environments in some of Jordan’s most underprivileged public schools. Her groundbreaking research on “Period Poverty among Women in Poverty Pockets in Mafraq Governorate, Jordan” became a milestone in her career. This eight-month research project, the first of its kind in Jordan and the Middle East, won national recognition through the Lazord Fellowship competition.

In her current role, Manar leads the Jordan Young Scientists (JoYS) initiative at the Embassy of Ireland in Jordan, a national programme aimed at inspiring and rewarding young people who excel in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology. Under her leadership, the JoYS initiative, which is modeled after a 60-year-old programme in Ireland, has expanded its impact in Jordan, motivating students to apply scientific knowledge in innovative ways.

In addition to her role as the lead coordinator for JoYS, Manar also heads the Green Team at the Embassy of Ireland, spearheading sustainability initiatives. The team focuses on improving environmental practices within the embassy and the residence, setting yearly goals and benchmarks to advance sustainability efforts.

Manar is also a strong advocate for climate resilience and sustainability in Jordan. Most recently, she authored a position paper on “The Effect of Climate Change on Agriculture Sustainability in Jordan,” which she presented as the moderator and main speaker to both the Minister of Agriculture and the Minister of Environment. Her work on this topic underscores her commitment to addressing one of the most pressing global challenges—climate change—and its local impacts.

Reham Al-Aghbari

Reham Al-Aghbari is a proud DAAD scholar with a master’s degree in Public Health and a bachelor’s degree in Nutrition and Dietetics. Currently, Reham is an External Projects Program Coordinator at Saint Andrew’s Refugee Services (StARS), Egypt. She works in developing the institutional capacity of refugee-led organizations in Egypt to derive quality services to the refugee community. Prior to working at StARS, Reham worked as a program coordinator at Generations for Peace in Jordan. Reham was inspired to know the relationship between health and conflict. She learned how to identify conflict in a community and how the quality of relationships (building acceptance, inclusion, and respect) plays a significant role in conflict transformation. In the public health sector, Reham has worked researching in the electronic health (eHealth) major and joined research programs at the University of Hamburg and Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine in Germany. In her free time, Reham can be found playing football, going hiking, and crafting.

Rana Shihabi

Rana is an English Language and Literature graduate from the University of Jordan and an Erasmus+ alumna from the University of Cologne in Germany. Stemming from a growing interest in education and different cultures, Rana has extensive work and voluntary experiences in the field of Higher Education, Educational Exchange, and International Relations. Currently, Rana works at Amideast in the capacity of the Programs Coordinator leading U.S. Department of State Programs and various Education Abroad programs while pursuing her M.A. in European Studies and Politics at the same time.

Yousef Hesham

Yousef is a change leader with over seven years of experience working at the intersection of youth engagement, economic empowerment, and inclusiveness. His social development adventure began at the age of 18 when he cofounded the VIA Club, with the goal of bridging the gap between student competencies and labour market demand supporting 4,500+ university students. He wore multiple hats, working in business development, project management, and research for a variety of INGOs and consultancies. He currently works at Ashoka as a Regional Fellowship Assistant, empowering civic organizations in the Arab region. Additionally, he is the founder of ZShapers, an initiative to empower young leaders in the civic sector. Yousef was selected in 2020 to represent Egypt in SWY under the auspices of the Japanese Cabinet Office, is a member of the World Economic Forum’s community “Global Shapers”, and is the curator of the GIZA hub for the year 22/23.

Yousef has a BSc in Business Administration from Cairo University.

Merna Yossif

Merna is an activist in child protection. She has an outstanding passion for gender and women’s rights and children’s mental health, with four years of experience in this field. She is skilled in workshops facilitation, case management, and psychosocial support.

Merna has a strong education background with a pre-master degree in psychology studies. Her current thesis is about self, identity, and body image for adolescent girls.

Jihen Zemzmi

Jihen is a journalist who graduated from the Institute of Journalism and Science of Information. She is ambitious, dynamic, and loves humanitarian and civil work. The Lazord Fellowship represented a turning point in her life, as it contributed greatly to the opening of doors to civil society in her life, where she found something of her identity and passion, where everyone gathers together for the sake of humanity.

Al Muthana Mufleh

Multiple circumstances, life changes, lessons, loss, lies, and too many other things to count have shaped AlMuthana (Dr. Alex) into the person he is today.

The person who he is today is a result of living in three different countries, dealing with people and cultures all around the world, having the insight of a doctor who tells him how the human body works and how to deal with the human being at his weakest, combining being a human and curing one. One sphere of knowledge won’t grant you success and that one sphere is not enough to proceed in life and have an impact upon others’ lives.

Becoming a Lazord Fellow put Dr. Alex in a test that sculpted his skills and gave him insight into what he is capable of learning and doing, implementing his skills, and coming up with a more aware person of what is the meaning of an opportunity, and giving it to himself.

He became a Lazord Fellow to be a part of a community that holds two important words as an aim. “Responsible leader” sees that the first word is scary to state but yet the second one is tempting to hold. Dr. Alex believes that the way to achieve your dreams and ambitions is taking responsibility for your own actions and leading yourself to greatness by learning and spreading the knowledge a person can gain.

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Dr. Alex is a very sophisticated person that has always pushed himself beyond the traditional paths of life and stereotypical life He didn’t limit his life choices within his major but he also went beyond to discover, develop skills and experiences in other aspects that made him involved and evolve in the social and management of life aspects in three different countries. When he started his journey in Medicine he had the honour to claim the position of the Batch leader and advancing all the way to become the first-ever foreign president of the faculty of his university where he worked thoroughly with students and their well-being, academic development. Dr. Alex also became a TV host to spread awareness on matters that help maintain the original concept of humanity and working hard.

“Once you stop learning, you stop living” – Dr. Al Muthana Mufleh

Mohamed Kahna

Mohamed Kahna is a surgical technologist and research developer in digital health with experience managing global teams and medical innovation consulting. His research focuses on the intersection of technology, healthcare, and society.

Kahna is fueled by his passion for understanding the nuances of medical innovation and technology. He considers himself a ‘forever student,’ eager to both build on his academic foundations in technology and health science and stay in tune with the latest digital innovation strategies through continued coursework and professional development. He believes mindfulness in the workplace and sharing knowledge is the key to success, which is why he is also a content creator on LinkedIn through his interests in medical technology and innovation.

After graduating from the Lazord Fellowship and improving his skills, he was invited by the general direction of military health in Tunisia to lead a digital health project during the pandemic COVID. He vastly improved the productivity of his department by implementing strategic project management methods and ensuring a work-life balance for his team.

Kahna is currently starting a new journey in Qatar as a project manager in digital health and is always interested in a challenge.

Mallak Bani Mustafa

Mallak is an engineer, social entrepreneur, and co-founder of SHABABIT, a digital tool that promotes knowledge about and from youth-friendly services (YFS) in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). For five years, she served in the area of sustainable-focused innovation in Jordan, the Arab region, the EU, and the UK, assisting 40 startups from a vulnerable region in launching their businesses from the ideation phase, with the goal of promoting sustainable economic development and decent work. She was awarded a TOTAL prize, the Hult prize, for her renewable energy invention in biodiesel production. She is a STEM Ambassador and a Siad Foundation Alumna, in addition to being a Lazord Fellowship Alumna.

She is certified in project management from Red R UK and MDF with three years of experience. Her 550 national and international volunteer hours were devoted to SDG 8, 5, and 11 through TEDX, UNLEASH, SUSSEX University, Anna Lindh Jordanian Network, Solyia, and Erasmus+, in addition to IAESTE in the Czech.