Youth leader and social activist. He has experience in civil society (NGO) since 2016. He has volunteered in several projects focused on youth and economic development. Also, he cooperated with a team from the Jusoor Project to launch two initiatives in the field of mental health and education for people with special needs. Moreover, he won the Best Delegate Award in the Arab Council (United Nations Simulation Programme) for the year 2017.
Fact: we are all part of something bigger than us. You decide what you do with that. Two revelations have shaped Menna’s life: One. The complexity of the human experience is fascinating. Two. All these people are connected in the intricate labyrinth of the community, some take that as it is, and others decide to take action.
The first made her delve into the social sciences in a pursuit of learning about society and humans, and she obtained a bachelor’s degree from the Faculty of Economics and Political Science at Cairo University. Her inquisitive nature and exceptional diligence earned her a scholarship at the University of Chicago in the US where she spent one academic year of endless knowledge and self-discovery. Her biggest interest and experiences shaped throughout this journey is in research, and she found her calling especially in gender studies and ethnography.
The second revelation made her recognize her position in her community, her privileges, limitations, and potential. This guided her toward the development sector very early on, and she began her journey by volunteering with her school’s charitable initiative and then during college with different initiatives targeting people with disabilities such as Et3lmo Eshara, and Mashroo3 Matar.
On a more personal side, Menna’s passion for writing encouraged her to join different student activities such as Catcher in the Rhyme and MESE. During her internship at the Art for Vulnerable Road Users Program, she learned about how art can be integrated into social change which she found inspiring. Menna’s biggest comfort and drive has been this awareness of where she fits in her community. Her dream is to write a book about, for, and by her community. She wants to walk inside her city, walk up to strangers, to document their experiences. As a listener, reader, writer, and storyteller, she believes in the power of the narrative. She wants to show people that sometimes they have much more in common than they think and that they are part of something bigger than they are. Menna believes that this will make them question the role they have in their society and hopes this will encourage them to become changemakers and be more involved.
Nour graduated from the University of Jordan with a bachelor’s degree in German and English as foreign languages. She was granted two scholarships to study in Germany for eight months due to her academic excellence. These experiences enabled her to be self-reliant and immerse easily in new environments. In 2020, her passion for alleviating the suffering of vulnerable populations led her towards pursuing a master’s degree in Social Work/Migration and Refugees at the German Jordanian University and utilizing her acquired skills and knowledge in such a practice-based profession. Lastly, Nour has work experience at Mercy Corps as part of the RYSE project implemented in Al Zaatari camp, which aims to enhance civic engagement skills of Syrian refugee youth through art and sports activities.
Yara started working in sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) as a local officer in her university where she held several on-ground campaigns for two years. She later became the national officer assistant, during which she was the focal point for the International Federation of Medical Students Associations (IFMSA) and delivered workshops in several universities. She continued her work on an international level as a development assistant where she handled the approval and evaluation of all SRHR workshops globally, as well overseeing a small working group that created a manual for HIV advocacy and educational training. Lastly, she became the regional assistant of SRHR, where she worked with 13 countries in the MENA region. She executed 5 digital awareness campaigns, oversaw a 3-day regional meeting, delivered workshops and activated two new countries. Through the Lazord Fellowship, she is placed at UNAIDS as the Partnerships and Resource Mobilization Assistant.
Mostafa is a youth leader in the civic society field who is passionate about a project management career.
Mostafa is eager to learn more about his career, so he started working at Alashanek Ya Balady Association for Sustainable Development (AYB-SD) during Lazord Fellowship in order to practice all the project management activities. He still works and grows there.
Alongside, he is a consultant in research, data collection, data analysis, project implementation, livelihood projects, creating manuals and curricular. In addition,he works as an employability and entrepreneurship trainer as well as a career coach.
Mostafa graduated from the Faculty of Commerce English Section; Business Administration department and he is always ambitious to achieve all of his own career goals.
Mohamed is a training specialist with five years of experience, having been a trainer and cultural manager in many countries like Germany, Jordan, Tunisia and Egypt. Due to his multicultural working and living experiences he has high intercultural sensitivity that he is able to apply to his work. He has extensive experience in education and the development field with national and international NGOs, with particular emphases on organizational development, building leadership models, educational startups, business/corporate development and capacity building. He constantly aspires to be part of a community that aims to develop sustainable solutions. Through civic leadership his experience has enabled him to operate social projects, empower local communities, and implement resourceful solutions for a more inclusive community. Over the past four years he has participated in many programs aiming to achieve sustainable development in Egypt through educational, environmental, and social development aspects.
Ghaida has over six years of experience working with nonprofit organizations in the area of youth development and engagement with a focus on civic education and youth employability. She has actively participated in community development activities and campaigns; Ghaida worked on a youth-focused mass media campaign with UNESCO Amman Office and other national campaigns with UNFPA Youth Network in Jordan. Through her work she has facilitated around 100 sessions on democracy, human rights, gender, and conflict resolution. In addition, she has trained youth on advanced advocacy skills to influence the public discourse by well-organized grassroots campaigns.
Ghaida has attended several trainings and workshops in the MENA region and Europe on the topic of civic engagement, debate, local governance, and strategic planning. She is currently working at a youth empowerment program for crisis-affected Syrian youth in Jordan with an INGO, providing learning pathways to improve livelihoods, increase social engagement, and further education.
Ghaida endeavors to support youth to become active citizens, and to provide them with the knowledge and tools they need to contribute positively to their communities.
Nourhan graduated from the English department at the Faculty of Education at Ain Shams University. She believes that the development field consists of work by the people to the people. Nour works from her heart. She works for youth empowerment on many levels by working with different INGOs. She defines herself as adventurer who seeks to discover this world, but according to her, the best adventure that anyone can ever experience is to discover oneself. Nour started her career very early during college. She thought that she was working to help people and to satisfy their needs, but what she discovered was that work feeds one’s soul and make each one of us more human. She loves talking with people from different backgrounds, experiences, and nationalities. Everyone has a story that deserves to be heard. You can find Nour working with youth of varying ages, helping them to map out their future by determining their needs and assets.
Hana is a debater and development engineer. She is passionate about youth empowerment and entrepreneurship. She believes that spreading a culture of dialogue and accepting others are key in community work.
Osama Samir, an Economic and Youth Development practitioner, holds a B.S. in Business Administration and a Diploma in Project Management from the American University in Cairo.
He is currently pursuing an MBA at the German University of Cairo. In 2017, he graduated from the Lazord Fellowship, where he was placed in Corporate Social Responsibility at PwC Egypt. There, he collaborated with multinational corporations to raise awareness about blood donation and environmental sustainability.
In 2018, he worked at the John D. Gerhart Center at the American University in Cairo, empowering youth and designing programs for several projects funded by international organizations. Additionally, he served as a Senior Lazord Fellowship Specialist, focusing on building the capacity of youth seeking employment in the development sector.
Currently, Osama is an Organizational Capacity Building Specialist at the USAID TRADE Project, working to enhance trade support institutions’ capacity and services to support SMEs’ exporting.