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Firas Saedaddin

With more than 25 years of leadership experience in the high-tech sector, Firas Saedaddin, MBA, has built expertise in telecommunications, corporate communications, digital media, and advertising. His international career — spanning France, the United States, China, and Malaysia — was defined by leading go-to-market strategies and sales management for global players such as Alcatel-Lucent (now part of Nokia) and Genesys.

As the visionary behind Tridacna Holding and the consultancy AGA Group, and co-founder of 4u-ventures, Firas is a seasoned serial entrepreneur and business angel dedicated to fostering the next generation of innovators. Focused on Deep Tech, Health Tech, and Food Tech, he is deeply rooted in the startup ecosystem and has supported hundreds of founders and companies toward sustainable growth and scaling always guided by innovation, resilience, perseverance, and impact.

He also promotes labor market integration for individuals with refugee and migration backgrounds and drives economic advancement within the community. By bridging international business leadership with local civic engagement, Firas positions himself as a transformative force both in Austria and on the global stage.

In 2024, he co-authored How to Start-up (Linde Verlag), a practical guide for founders and business leaders combining hands-on advice with real-world case studies from the startup ecosystem.

Joy Sunday

Joy Sunday is a passionate anti-human trafficking advocate from Nigeria with a background in Experiential Marketing and Communications. Driven by her passion for social justice, she transitioned into the anti-human trafficking space. Currently, Joy holds the vital role of Movement Building and Communications Coordinator for Footprint to Freedom. She is also one of the major driving forces behind the development of the African Survivor Coalition—a network dedicated to empowering, uniting, and amplifying the voices of survivor leaders across all 54 African Nations.

Joy collaborates closely with individuals who have lived-experience to develop programs, initiatives, and resources aimed at enhancing survivor capacity and ensuring their voices resonate powerfully. She takes immense pride in her knack for bringing ideas to life, executing initiatives that leave a lasting impact on the human trafficking landscape.

Beyond her professional commitments, Joy expresses her creativity through playing the guitar, using music as her voice to touch lives and convey inspiring messages that resonates with people.

Laur Mihai Amanolesei

Laur-Mihai Amanolesei (26 years old, Iasi, Romania) is a poet and researcher on restorative justice for LGBTQI+ people in sport. He has read and performed publicly in Romania, while publishing his poetry in several online magazines in Romania (Echinox, FILIT) and abroad (Casapais). His poetry explores memory in queer love alongside contemporary components of the ethos of existence of queer people such as: instinctual powerlessness, limerence & political oppression.

Doaa Al Zamel

A Syrian of a refugee background, Doaa is one of 11 survivors of the 2014 Malta migrant shipwreck that killed approximately 500 people. Doaa survived four days at sea, holding two infants; she was rescued and taken to Greece.

A book was written about Doaa: A Hope More Powerful than the Sea. She has won numerous awards, including from the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID). Doaa lives in Sweden.

Dr. Hyab Yohannes

Hyab Yohannes is a research associate at the University of Glasgow. His work involves conducting research and synthesising findings to provide insights into theoretical, methodological, and policy-related questions. Recently, Hyab co-edited a Special Issue on Intercultural Knowledge Production for the Journal of Language and Intercultural Communication. He is also currently co-editing a Handbook of Cultures of Sustainable Peace for Multilingual Matters. Additionally, he has signed a book contract with Routledge for his upcoming publication entitled “The Refugee Abyss”. Hyab’s research interests include (b)ordering (physical, onto-epistemic, spatio-temporal, juridico-political, etc.), (de)coloniality, and political theories.

Kendall Alaimo

Kendall Alaimo is an international activist, a clinical educator, a professionally trained artist, and a survivor of child trafficking and re-exploitation. What survived is her voice and she is using it around the world to innovate clinical care for complex trauma survivors. Kendall is an expert in child sexual abuse prevention and versed in medical modalities for complex trauma recovery.She has spoken both domestically and internationally in her mission to educate, support and provide hope to populations affected by the fallout of all types of trauma through her Trauma Talk. During her address at the 2021 United Nations General Assembly High Level Meeting on Combating Trafficking in Persons she stated, “Lets come together, let’s work together and let’s bring these survivors home.” As an Artist, she is known for using her iconic Red Seats. Her artwork and activism has recently been featured on CNN International. Kendall is the founder of The University Alliance on Human Trafficking.

Nyombi Morris

Nyombi Morris is a Ugandan environmental activist who is known for promoting and advocating for climate justice and gender equality. Morris’ activism began when he asked world leaders and polluters to adapt to climate change based on the devastating rains and floods in Uganda. Morris initially gained notice for his youth and his ability to speak out. He is CEO of the non-profit organization he founded (Earth Volunteers), ambassador for the UNOCHA, and CNN’s “Environmentalist of Tomorrow”.

Davida Padi

Davida Padi is a Social Media Strategies and Pre-Law Student based in the New York Metropolitan Area and Washington, DC. Her portfolio includes social media campaigns incorporating versatile design styles, vibrant colors, and cultural references that inspire and inform others. While Davida specializes in social media and mental health, her passion lies in public policy and digital storytelling. She is Ever so passionate about using her creativity to communicate with others. She has worked with, but not limited to, Pinterest, MTV, Rare Beauty, and the White House while concurrently earning her undergraduate degrees in Social Media Strategies in the University of Scranton. She is looking to continue utilizing her skillset to bring mental health resources globally while demonstrating that creativity is involved in every aspect of life.

David Onilude

At 21, David Onilude is a Nigerian Digital Literacy Advocate, Frontend Developer, internationally acclaimed Social Entrepreneur, Ambassador for TheirWorld, Ashoka Young Changemaker, Teen Vogue 21 Under 21 Honoree, and Founder of Tech Now Global. He is a young changemaker empowering and improving the lives of children in underserved communities in Nigeria through technology. His work ensures that young people in rural communities have the digital skills, resources, and support to thrive in today’s rapidly changing world.

Ethan Hill

Ethan Hill is a 12-year-old award winning philanthropist from Birmingham, Alabama. He is the founder of Ethan’s Heart-Bags4Blessings which is a nonprofit organization that services the immediate needs of the unhoused homeless population. He started this work at the age of 6. In 2022, he created a fully customized trailer which serves as the first of its kind Free Mobile Store and Educational Unit. It allows those experiencing homelessness to shop for supplies free of charge. He is an avid junior golfer who plays competitively on the high school varsity team at the prestigious Altamont School PGAjr., and as a First Tee Ambassador.

Geraldina Guerra Garcés

Geraldina is an activist and advocate for women’s human rights. In Ecuador, she represents the ALDEA Foundation and the National Network of Shelters for Women Living with Violence and their Children. She is one of the people in charge of the civil society femicide register. She is an independent consultant specialising in research, social action, and local and national advocacy for a life free of violence for women, children and adolescents. Geraldina has a degree in Migration and Development from FLACSO Ecuador and a degree in Social Communication.

Kirsty Rancier

Kirsty Rancier is the youth focal point for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and has in-depth experience engaging youth in educational and electoral contexts. As an Associate Programme Management Officer, she works to mainstream youth activities within UNODC and advocates for the accomplishment of the Sustainable Development Goals in inter-agency spaces. Kirsty holds a Master of Arts in Public Policy and Public Administration from Concordia University (Canada) as well as a Bachelor of Management from the University of British Columbia (Canada).

Laurent Ziegler

Laurent Ziegler (MA) is the author of the print publication »Die Erinnerung an meine Kindheit«, an autobiographical analysis of traumatic experiences of childhood trafficking and ritual abuse, captured in paintings, drawings, text, and photography. In his artistic work, Laurent also focuses on installation and performative work. He studied Political Science at the University of Vienna and completed educational programs in contemporary dance and film. Laurent collaborates with artists in Europe and Japan and in 2009 initiated an arts-in-education program for photography in Sri Lanka (One World Foundation). A nomad at heart his work is internationally on display.

Tarek Ziarkash

Tarek Ziarkash is a dedicated law student at the esteemed University of Vienna, driven by a profound passion for justice and legal advocacy. As part of his academic journey, Tarek Ziarkash embarked on an enriching experience through the Erasmus program, where he studied law at Istanbul University. This invaluable opportunity allowed him to immerse himself in a diverse legal system and further develop his understanding of international law. Building on his international background, Tarek Ziarkash has gained practical experience through work abroad, engaging in legal research across different jurisdictions. Additionally, his commitment to social causes is evident through his voluntary work with esteemed associations such as the European Law Student Association and different aid organisations. Equipped with a comprehensive skill set and a global perspective, Tarek Ziarkash is eager to contribute to the pursuit of justice and positive change on an international stage.

Zoi Sakelliadou

Zoi Sakelliadou works as a Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Officer in UNODC’s Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Section. She is responsible for developing knowledge and innovation for the Section. With a career spanning over 15 years, Zoi has worked in the field, provided legal and policy advice and serviced intergovernmental processes. She has worked for the European Union in Brussels and served with the OSCE and UNHCR in post-conflict settings in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia. She has also worked for the Greek Council for Refugees. She holds a Master of Arts in European Union Law, a Bachelor of Arts in International and European Studies, as well as post-graduate diplomas in Childhood Studies, Islamic Studies, and has studied Law. Originally from Greece, she speaks Greek, English, Italian, French, Serbo-Croatian, and has basic knowledge of Spanish and Russian.

Ian Tennant

Ian manages the GI-TOC Resilience Fund, a multi-donor initiative which supports civil society individuals and organizations working to counter the damaging effects of organized crime around the world. He is based in Vienna, where he leads GI-TOC engagement with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the wider diplomatic and civil society community in Vienna. Ian is currently the Chair of the NGO Alliance on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice. Before joining GI-TOC, Ian spent five years at the UK’s Permanent Mission to the UN in Vienna, where he led UK engagement with the UNODC and represented the UK in several prominent UN negotiations on organised crime and related issues.

Katharina Stourzh

Mag.^a Katharina Stourzh, MA leads Parliamentary Cooperation within the EU and International section of the Austrian Parliament. This entails contact, networking and exchange of information with other parliaments and partner organizations for the purpose of establishing parliamentary cooperation; development, planning and implementation of cooperation with other parliaments, ongoing project management as well as follow-up and evaluation. Stourzh and her department serve as the contact point of the interparliamentary EU-Information Exchange (IPEX) and provide coordination of international parliamentary administrative exchange in addition to the preparation of information for the Austrian Parliament.

Karin Dobler-Kreibich

Karin Dobler-Kreibich is the Director of Bundesrealgymnasium Wien 19 which is an SDG Ambassador School and part of UNESCO School Network. For the Austrian Ministry of Education, she also serves as the Chair of the Expert Commission for Geography and as Appraiser for School Books in the category of geography.

As Head Teacher, Karin Dobler-Kreibich ensured that high standards in all aspects of school life were maintained by closely monitoring operations. She maintained accountability for developing and implementing curriculum strategy and updates while managing overall operation of all school events, day-to-day human resources issues, and school premises.

Organisational leadership, educational-institution development, and team collaboration are among her areas of expertise.

Michael Spiekermann

Michael Spiekermann is a Fridays For Future Austria activist, as well as Austria’s Climate Youth Delegate on COP26 via CliMates Austria. As he describes himself, he is a ‘student, occasionally keynote speaker, impatiently waiting for government to pass a strong climate law’. Michael has put in practice his love for climate policies in various key institutions and organisations, such as Klimabündnis Österreich, Bundesministerium für Klimaschutz, Umwelt, Energie, Mobilität, Innovation & Technologie and Agora Energiewende. As a Fridays for Future activist, he gives interviews on radio and TV, is part of press conferences, engages with journalists, and writes numerous press releases on FFF campaigns and climate policy reforms. In 2021, he was the UNFCCC youth delegate at COP26 in Glasgow as part of the Austrian delegation, and the next year he mentored the two new youth delegates at COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh.

Markus Wane

Markus Wane, an Economics and International Law student, has engaged in projects focused on education and environmental concerns in Senegal with the Austrian Service Abroad, aligning with broader human rights objectives. His experience includes contributing to political reporting for the European Commission in Austria and support work at the Austrian Embassy in Dakar. He is involved in volunteer roles, such as his mandate within an international Youth Reference Committee for Youth engagement.

WYSD 23 – Art Exhibition

With a view to the importance of artistic expression, the World Youth Skills Day celebration at the United Nations in Vienna on July 14, 2023 will include an Art Exhibition. The Event takes place in Conference Room 1, and the Exhibition will be held in the hallway outside of that room.

Please note that the Exhibition will be available only to those who have registered for the WYSD 23 Event or who already have ground passes to VIC.

Some of the artists featured are listed below (alphabetically):

Ruchira Gupta will display fine art prints from her series ‘My Forbesganj Garden’. Crafted in an old school drawing book, the paintings capture memories of her childhood home in the Himalayan foothills.
Iga Hani, a young Ugandan artist, will showcase fine art prints on World Youth Skills Day
Laurent Ziegler will display fine art prints from his series (and related book) ‘Die Erinnerung an meine Kindheit’. This a story about transformation and healing, Ziegler’s very personal journey to his own heart and to a self worthy of love and life. The fine art prints and book provide an insight into the autobiographical analysis of traumatic experiences of childhood abuse.

Ruchira Gupta

Ruchira Gupta is an Emmy winning journalist and founder of the anti sex trafficking NGO Apne Aap that helps women and girls exit systems of prostitution. I Kick and I Fly is her debut fiction novel.

She has been given the French Ordre National du Mérite, Clinton Global Citizen Award, and the UN NGO CSW Woman of Distinction among other honors for her contribution to the establishment of the UN Trafficking Fund for Survivors, the passage of the US Trafficking Victims Protection Act and her grassroots activism with Apne Aap. She has co-written a book with Gloria Steinem, As if Women Matter, and edited two anthologies, River of Flesh and Renu’s letters to Birju Babu. She holds a Doctor of Humane Letters from Smith College. Ruchira has worked for the United Nations in Nepal, Thailand, Kosovo, Iran, and USA. She teaches occasionally as a visiting professor at New York University.

Rania Ali

Rania Ali is an award winning journalist, public speaker, and human rights defender from Syria. Having made her first award-winning documentary with the Guardian in 2017, she works as a campaigner highlighting to governments the importance of protecting human rights defenders worldwide. She is an advocate for human rights generally and refugee and women’s rights specifically, engaged in that pursuit for the past five years. She has dedicated herself to speaking on many international platforms for said issues.

Rania Ali has a degree in international relations thus expanding her expertise in areas related to post-conflict peacebuilding and reconciliation.

Luca Kielhauser

At the age of 20, Luca achieved something he had been working towards since elementary school. He began his career as a football commentator at Sky Sport Austria, thus reaching his interim professional goal.

Prior to joining Sky Sport Austria, Luca had already reached many journalistic milestones. For more than two and a half years, he had designed and hosted the weekly sports program of the online radio station “Radio Waltl,” written articles for “Die Woche” and “SturmNetz,” taken part in the media summer academy “Energy for Life,” and completed three internships at ORF (two of them at the Styrian regional studio, one at the ORF Center in Vienna).

Luca is also the author of the book Daheimkicker, which he co-authored with Philipp Maschl.

At the beginning of 2022, Luca started his own business as a journalist and presenter, offering mainly event moderation. In parallel, he has been completing the part-time sports journalism course of the “Paris Lodron University Salzburg” at the Olympiazentrum Rif. In addition, he writes regularly on inclusion and accessibility in his own column of the street newspaper “Megaphon”.

With his journey, Luca consciously aims to contribute both directly and indirectly to making the world a more inclusive place, where people with disabilities have the same opportunities as those without disabilities.

Weirong Li

Weirong Li, a global citizen with Hungarian, Chinese, and American influences, is the founder and CEO of Raw Culture, a social impact media company that promotes human rights through diversity initiatives. She is a Global Communications Keynote Speaker, Trainer, Moderator, and Facilitator with a focus on cross-cultural communication, diversity equity and inclusion, and global citizenship education. Weirong is a TEDx speaker and serves as a UN Geneva Representative at World Information Transfer, advocating for environmental literacy and health. Weirong’s work aims to foster positive societal impact by cultivating global citizenship skills to promote a more loving, collaborative, and peaceful world through the power of diversity and storytelling.

Heather Wokusch

Heather is the founder and Executive Director of SDG2030.me and MESPERO: Impact for Resilience and the Director of Development for the International Forum for Understanding.

She also founded and leads blockhub.care, which leverages EdTech and PeaceTech for humanitarian capacity building.

Heather consults corporations, governmental groups, educational institutions and other entities on virtual learning, digital transformation, leadership development, employee engagement, change management, strategy, and globalization. With expertise in promoting emotional wellbeing on organizational levels, Heather consults on burnout prevention and is often asked to speak on business-related topics such as connected to Future of Work.

Public outreach is emphasized, whether keynoting at global events, moderating high-level diplomatic panels, guiding technical-expert interactive workshops, or hosting televised broadcasts. Heather’s Manhattan-based television interview series has won national awards.

Mădălina Boț

Mădălina is a communications expert dedicated to trauma-informed principles and intersectional feminism. She works to amplifying the voices of individuals with diverse lived experiences, particularly those impacted by human trafficking, gender-based violence, and climate change. For that, she supports various organisations by developing eLearning courses, managing social media channels, organising events, and writing across different formats. With a background in International Relations, she has a strong grasp of the links between forms of oppression and systemic injustice.

Malaika Oringo

Malaika Oringo is the Founder and CEO of Footprint to Freedom, a survivor-led organization. She is also the Founder of Footprint to Climate and the African Survivor Coalition. A talented advocate, she speaks up against human trafficking, stands up for victims’ rights and works to strengthen survivor inclusion and engagement. Malaika has spoken on various stages throughout Europe and at the United Nations in New York. Raised in Uganda in harsh conditions and exploited in the Netherlands, she has devoted her life to fighting against human trafficking. Malaika believes that since survivors are the most significant stakeholders in the fight against human trafficking, they should sit at decision-making tables from the community level to the national level and the international level.

Nour Barakeh

Through her scientific study, artistic work, and academic training in public policy, Nour Barakeh strives to understand society from different viewpoints and to communicate complex topics. Her M.A. in Public Administration from Central European University emphasized the Sustainable Developments Goals (SDGs) and environmental policies to mitigate climate change. Developing migration policies and combating human trafficking are also in scope.

With experience ranging from dance and theater to social work and journalism, she aims to support the establishment of sustainable educational projects focused on empowering people through raising awareness, and to counsel governments, NGOs and corporations on policies with a specific focus on the Sustainable Developments Goals. As a Global Citizen, she believes in proactively pursuing the necessary goal of peace.

She previously studied at the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts in Damascus and graduated from the Faculty of Pharmacy at Damascus University. As a sought-after speaker on the SDGs, refugee, and migration issues, she has spoken on numerous high-profile panels highlighting young, female voices such as at European Forum Alpbach alongside former UN SG Ban Ki-moon and former Austrian President Heinz Fischer as well as at a UN High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development among others. Nour Barakeh is also an Agents of Change Youth Fellow at Wilson Center.

Ishaan Shah

At the age of 13, Ishaan Shah co-founded Stolen Dreams, and more recently, the Youth for Freedom Collective, two international youth-led collectives working with stakeholders to counter modern slavery and human trafficking through education, advocacy, and policy. Today, Ishaan is 20-years-old and was the Permanent Mission of the United Kingdom to the United Nations’ Youth Delegate to the UN’s 67th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), is the first Youth Focal Point for the Review and Implementation of the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), a UN Women National Gender Youth Advocate, UNESCO SDG4 Youth Network Representative, the UN MGCY’s Migration Youth and Children’s Platform (MYCP) Trafficking in Persons Specialist, and a Youth Representative on the UN Network on Migration’s Civil Society Action Committee. He is also the youngest member of the Global Commission on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking, sitting on the Supply Chains Working Group. Through this work, Ishaan is promoting meaningful youth participation, partnership and co-leadership in decision-making processes at all levels.

Dr. Suad Mohamed

Originally from Somalia, Suad has also lived in Saudi Arabia, Syria, Pakistan, and Austria. She speaks six languages: Somali, Arabic, German, English, Hindi and Urdu.

She graduated with a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Karachi. She works as a Social Medical Consultant (including psychological counseling) at DiakonieÖsterreich and as an Assistant Consultant at the Austrian Red Cross. She also works at the Medical University of Vienna as a researcher. Suad is a certified counselor regarding female genital mutilation (FGM) issues and is active in related community outreach. SDG 3 is especially important to Suad. She aims to spread awareness about refugee and migration issues, to improve the healthcare and pharmaceutical systems in developing countries, and to empower women.

Nour Barakeh

Through her scientific study, artistic work, and academic training in public policy, Nour Barakeh strives to understand society from different viewpoints and to communicate complex topics. She is a talented content and communications consultant and an accomplished playwright aiming at post-conflict peacebuilding.

Nour Barakeh is also an Agents of Change Youth Fellow at Wilson Center, a joint fellowship from the Environmental Change and Security Program and the Middle East Program, whereby, her developed project was presented at COP28. Nour is especially interested in nuclear energy, climate nexus. In that regard, she joined a panel discussion on “Bridging Climate Divides” at the United Nations in Vienna as part of World Youth Skills Day 2023.

Rania Ali

Malaika Oringo

From Uganda, Malaika Oringo is the founder and CEO of Footprint to Freedom, a survivor-led organization that believes the only way to eradicate human trafficking is by giving survivors a voice and the opportunity to lead.

For the past 17 years, Malaika has been intensively involved in the fight against human trafficking, as a representative of the Salvation Army at the EU Affairs Office in Brussels and more recently as a global consultant on anti-human trafficking efforts. She campaigns for victims’ rights and works to strengthen survivor inclusion and engagement in decision-making processes.

Ishaan Shah

Ishaan Shah is a 19-year-old international anti-human trafficking, gender equality and climate action young leader. In 2017, he founded Stolen Dreams, a youth-led organisation working with global stakeholders to drive concrete actions around countering trafficking in persons through education, advocacy, and policy. Ishaan is the first Youth Focal Point for the Review and Implementation of the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and a UN Women National Gender Youth Advocate. Ishaan spends much of his time with survivors, organisations, policymakers, journalists, and lawyers, learning from the best minds in the world on these issues and always recognising intersectionalities.

Layla Barakeh

Layla Barakeh is a humanitarian worker and disaster-management specialist based in Syria. She specializes in mental health and psychosocial support and livelihood training. Layla is the Director of Humanitarian Community Life (HCL), a capacity-building initiative for humanitarian settings in Syria and Yemen.

Meredith Blake

Meredith Blake is an MA candidate in International Relations at Central European University in Vienna, Austria. She previously worked as the Research Coordinator for the Gender, Rights and Resilience and Advanced Training on Humanitarian Action programs at the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative at Harvard University where she was the executive producer and host of the Harvard Humanitarian Assistance Podcast. She was a 2018 Humanity in Action Fellow in Warsaw, Poland and has worked on humanitarian and human rights challenges across Europe, North and Central Africa, the Middle East and South Asia.

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Nadja Greku

Nadja Greku is an MA candidate in International Relations at Central European University (CEU) in Vienna, Austria. She holds a BA in Sociology from the University of Novi Sad, Serbia. Greku also completed the International Interdisciplinary Romani Studies Postgraduate Specialization Program with distinction at CEU, Budapest, Hungary. Her research focus is broadly on the governmentality and (in)securitization of Roma, as well as on the potential (re)conceptualizations of war as productive from the perspective of identity politics. Her upcoming book chapter for the Roma Civil Monitor studies the governmentality of Roma in and through monitoring of Roma inclusion strategies. She has worked with the Regional Cooperation Council (former Stability Pact) in Sarajevo, while supporting the regional cooperation, European and Euro-Atlantic integration of South-East Europe for over five years. In the last decade, she has also volunteered with various Roma organizations in the Western Balkans. She is the founder of CEU’s Roma Students and Alumni Association and has published op-ed articles addressing anti-gypsyism and police brutality in LeftEast (co-authored with Michal Mižigár) as well as the outlet Portal-Udar.

Fauziah Wanjiru

Fauziah Wanjiru is a survivor, facilitator and human rights activist based in Kenya. Currently, she is working with Footprint to Freedom, a survivor-led organization, as Region Coordinator East Africa. She serves as the main point of contact and subject matter expert on human trafficking, programs, and activities done in Uganda, Kenya, and Rwanda on behalf of Footprint to Freedom.

As a survivor of labor trafficking in the Middle East and an activist, she stands and speaks up for victims and survivors of human trafficking creating awareness of the exploitative situations many women find themselves in. Her main interest is identifying and solving problems that affect the communities, more specifically survivors and vulnerable children, women and youth primarily in informal settlements.

Her passion for a safe and progressive community has led her to win various accolades including; she-for-he awards at the United Nations Sustainable Goals Development supported by UN Women.

She is industrious, humble, and likes working in groups as she seeks to solve problems. She has gained experience working with the Solidarity Center and Centre for Rights Education and Awareness (CREAW).

Her love for reading has made her work on a project dubbed ‘save a woman’. This project seeks to save women from human trafficking, gender-based violence, and early marriage and prevent them from experiencing the situations that constantly endanger their lives as women. It will also educate women on the dangers of out-of-state casual jobs.

Seise Bagbo

Seise Bagbo is a human rights activist based in Nairobi, Kenya. They do human rights advocacy through education, performance arts, concept and content creation.
They’ve created education material around art therapy, organizing and mobilization for activist, art for social change, sex, gender and sexuality, and Sexual Reproductive Health Rights.
Their art works have gotten three awards (2 Poetic Hour Poetry Awards and Afrika Moment Barcelona Awards) and 1 nomination (Cafe Ngoma Awards ). They’ve toured Afrika, Europe and Americas with their art work that is based on the lives of queer, trans folk and women living in Eastern Afrika.
Partnering with various people and organizations, they’ve created and developed concepts that include using arts in activism, self-care in activism and social media as a tool of socio-political change. Some of the spacess they’ve worked with are: FEMNET, AMWA, PAWA254, Nafasi, Southern Feminists Futures, FRIDA, Kisumu Feminist Society, Elite LBQ, Goethe Institut, Forum CIV, AMWIK, among others.
They are currently working on a stage film production retelling the stories of Kenyan LGBT+ Community.
“What keeps me going? My partner, she is the funniest human being ever”

Yulia Dwi Andriyanti

Yulia is a queer Muslim woman, writer, community organizer and independent researcher. Her experiences of activism in Indonesia for the past twelve years include women rights, LBTIQ rights, and education for diverse youth on faith and sexuality. She co-founded several organizations or collectives, such as Youth Interfaith Forum on Sexuality (YIFoS), a youth organization aiming to build peace within diverse faith and sexual identity, in 2010, and Qbukatabu, an Indonesian feminist-queer collective, in 2017. She was also one of co-directors of a collective queer women documentary, Children of Srikandi (2012) and one of the co-authors of an anthology of queer of feminist organisers, Cerita Sehari-Hari Diri dan Semua yang Mengitari (2021).
She completed her MA in Gender, Sexuality and the Body from University of Leeds. In regional context, she is one of the advisory network pools of Urgent Action Fund for the Asia and Pacific and a part-time Coordinator of Peace Brigades International Southeast Asia Project Exploration. Since late 2020, she has started to use digital storytelling to document the lived experiences of herself as queer person and continued to work with other LBTIQ individuals and groups. She is a self-care practitioner through journaling, moving meditation, and experiencing a vegan life.

Marwan Yaghi

Marwan Yaghi is a lawyer and a human rights activist. He used to work at the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, based in Palestine, Gaza, as a Bertha Justice Fellow for more than two years, where his main areas of interest included human rights, war crime, torture and arbitrary detention. This led him to launch the “Together against Torture” campaign, to end the systematic use of torture and other abuses related, by the public authorities against detainees and arrestees, through employing international advocacy and pressure tool. Marwan is a Chevening scholar for the year 2021/2022. He is studying International Human Rights (LLM) at Essex University. Currently he is a legal assistant at the Digital Verification Unit at The Human Rights Center Essex University and Amnesty International, conducting investigations into human rights violations around the world, using open-source techniques. Marwan hopes to make valuable contributions in advancing human rights and social justice in the world.

Ana Laura Velázquez Moreno

Ana Laura Velázquez Moreno is a Mexican lawyer with more than eight years of experience in gross human rights violations and gender perspective. She has worked in this area from different fields. From civil society, she worked in a NGO as an attorney, legally representing cases of forced disappearance, approaching them from a gender and intersectional perspective. From the public administration, she occupied the position of technical secretary of the Gender Equality Commission of the Chamber of Deputies of Mexico, where she worked on bills in favor of women. Additionally, she is a founding member of the Feminist Circle of Legal Analysis, an NGO that seeks to challenge, interpret and apply the law from a feminist perspective. She recently finished her postgraduate studies in International Human Rights Law at the University of Essex as a Chevening Scholar.

Advocate Karuna Parajuli

Advocate Karuna Parajuli is a litigating human rights lawyer of Nepal. She is Legal Advisor to the International Commission of Nepal, South Asia Office, Kathmandu. In this role, Parajuli works closely with Nepalese judiciary and judicial actors that support promoting the independence of the judiciary and legal professionals. Parajuli is currently researching for her M Phil thesis (Nepal Open University) focused on women’s political participation in Nepal. She also completed her LLM in International Human Rights Law from the University of Essex, UK. Parajuli envisions strengthening access to justice for the economically underprivileged people in Nepal. She is a member of the High Court Bar, Association, Patan, Lalitpur.

Onyango Otieno

Onyango Otieno is a trauma therapist, writer, poet, mental health advocate, digital advocacy trainer, and an Afro-Masculinity Activist. His work centers on African Masculinity and its role in ensuring gender equity, especially championing for African men’s involvement in sexual and reproductive health and rights. He is a facilitator of trauma healing circles, managing a safe space for sexually abused African boys and men. He founded a 200-member mental health online support group where members utilize storytelling as a tool for tackling mental illness stigma and hosts Afro-Masculinity Podcast where he interrogates the complexities of African Masculinities.

Joyce Nawiri

Joyce Nawiri is a bisexual Kenyan feminist writer and lawyer who examines feminist themes around misogyny, gender inequality, sexual orientation, racism and fatphobia. She has been widely published by diverse human rights magazines notably Coalition of African Lesbians.

Nawiri has presented on high-profile panels on sexual harassment and law in Africa. Recently she was a panelist on the Unsettling Knowledge Production on Gendered & Sexual Violence Symposium by University of Cape Town. In addition, she has previous working experience organizing and conducting workshops on sexual and reproductive health rights, and legal aid at Shimo la Tewa Women’s Prisons in Mombasa and Eldoret Women’s Maximum Prisons in Eldoret. Her feminist politics are inspired by the late Nawal El Saadawi’s work. When she’s not writing, she continues with her activism on Facebook. She thinks of herself as a dangerous and savage woman.

Jannatul Mouwa

Jannatul Mouwa is a youth climate activist, UN Women Bangladesh declared her as a climate champion in 2021. Also ActionAid Bangladesh Awarded her Climate Champions in 2021. She got an honorable mention Award on Climate photography 2021 from Drik & British Council. Also she was nominated for the WIN DRR leadership Awards from Australian Aid. She was born in 1991 in Satkhira, which is one of the climate vulnerable districts in Bangladesh. In 2011, she worked to prevent child marriage. In 2014, her Upazilla was declared by the Government as the first Child Marriage Free Area in her country. In this time, she worked directly with the local government in this initiative. She founded a youth feminist Organization named BINDU Nari Unnayan Sangathan.

Mutinta Masowe

Mutinta Masowe is a Zambian feminist, Educationist with a BAED, passionate about climate justice, social accountability, SRHR, and Education. She champions green economy and women equality.

Faith Madaki

Faith Madaki is an international development consultant. She is a Chevening Alumni and member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers Community. Currently a Ph.D candidate studying Development communications. She has a MSc International Development from University of Bath Uk and BA Development Studies from Catholic University of Eastern Africa Kenya.
Faith is an inter-sectional feminist passionate about humanitarian work and ensuring everyone has equal opportunities and safe spaces, especially for women, girls and youth. Over the past 5 years, she has worked as a development consultant towards raising funds to lift people out of poverty in hard to reach communities across Nigeria. Faith has worked with International NGOs such as ActionAid, UNICEF, GAIN and African Initiative. She is currently a director at Imani humanitarian initiative, a nonprofit dedicated to the promotion of human welfare.

Afnan Khalid

Afnan Khalid is a Sudanese lawyer and civil society activist. She worked in the humanitarian field supporting refugees and IDPs in Sudan to access information, civil documentation and also social and economic rights. In addition, she worked with Trade Unions and youth resistance committees to boost female participation in the political arena and civic engagement.
Currently, she is doing her Masters of Law at the University of Essex in Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

Sheila Cabusao

Sheila Cabusao is a Filipino feminist activist, currently based in Bangladesh. Sheila was one of the organizers and a founding member of the Young Feminist Network, a grantee of FRIDA – the Young Feminist Fund since 2018. She is currently providing an advisory role to the network and a freelance consultant for I/NGOs working and supporting young feminist activism and social movements. Sheila has a long-standing experience in youth engagement and women’s rights for over 7 years, enriched with multicultural and multi-country working experience with government, media, and civil society organizations. She also has an in-depth understanding of humanitarian crisis and conflict through diversified work engagements as a community volunteer, media personnel, government employee, and civil society representative. Turned gender trainer Sheila is also alumni of the Korean Institute for Gender Equality Promotion and Education (KIGEPE). She provides training to young folks on gender and feminist leadership.

Nurat Wamaya

Nurat Wamaya is vibrant and passionate activist for gender and human rights. She enjoys social work as she gets to be part of bringing solutions to problems in society. Her desire is to see a world where men and women coexist in peace and harmony without the many inequalities seen in today’s world. She has been involved in a number of child development, child safety and social work volunteer and internships with organisations that have the same goal, vision and mandate.

Nurat has experience in entrepreneurship/business management having run a small business for three years. She also planned and managed various projects in the past as a student at Egerton University ,including a sanitary pads drive with the Egerton University Gender Student’s League, and with SCORA-Kenya, as well as collaboration with GVRC-Kenya to conduct an Anti-Gender Based Violence festival in Nakuru county.

Nurat is a great team player and team leader. Working at Okumu Creative Digital, she was instrumental in the success of a movie production that was awarded ‘Best Short Film’ at 2018 Kalasha Awards.

Nyadoi Philister

Nyadoi Philister is a 25-year old Ugandan. Passionate about fighting injustice against women and girls, she opts for a more inclusive community where women and girls are safe, empowered, and economically independent. She is the Regional Coordinator of the Footprint to Freedom Ugandan Chapter. She is working under the general umbrella of Footprint to Freedom’s mission of fighting against human trafficking in East Africa and The Netherlands through survivor empowerment, prevention, education reintegration, and advocacy.

She believes human trafficking is one of the greatest injustices of our time. She is committed to helping end it. As an activist, she uses her academic background in Arts Education and Literature to educate, inspire, and empower survivors and at-risk women and girls, using art and craft for self-expression to promote healing for survivors and learn entrepreneur skills in making bags and shoes for economic independence; as a result, she is contributing to breaking the cycle of vulnerability to human trafficking.

Nyadoi Philister works under the Footprint to Freedom organization that champions fighting human trafficking to its core through survivor leadership, prevention, and education. She has learned that some of the most significant, pervasive problems cannot be quantified because they are rooted so deeply in society’s ignorance about slavery and the lack of alternative options for vulnerable people who risk their lives for jobs and opportunities abroad. Creating employable skills is critical; that is where her focus is.

Nancy Houston Ouya

Nancy Houston Ouya is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya passionate about powering feminist movements for gender justice. She is a 2021/2022 Chevening Scholar at the University of Essex where she is pursuing an LLM in International Human Rights Law. As the co-founder of Feminists in Kenya, a vibrant movement for community, joy, and resistance, she collaborates with multiple partners to shape feminist policies and amplify feminist discourse in Kenya. Nancy is also an Advisor at FRIDA-The Young Feminist Fund where she works to shape feminist funding for women and girls in Africa. She enjoys writing, researching and speaking about the intersections of Gender and the Law.

Jessica Grün

Jessica Grün is a policy advisor for fundamental rights and security for the Austrian Green Party in Parliament as well as the President of Women in International Security Austria (WIIS). In her work with WIIS she challenges outdated ideas on and the role of women in the field of security policy. Prior to her work in parliament, Jessica worked in the Austrian Foreign Ministry after finishing her Master of Advanced International Studies from the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna where she wrote her thesis on feminist foreign policy.

Jessica is a passionate feminist and human rights activist, and her desire for social justice and women’s empowerment led her to co-found “Menschenrechtswoche Tübingen”, a human rights education organisation based in Tübingen, for which she was awarded the Youth Peace Prize by the United Nations Association of Germany in 2017.

Aigerim Seitenova

Aigerim Seitenova is a human rights professional from Kazakhstan with more than five years of experience in the civil society sector of Kazakhstan with a particular focus on human rights and peace education, youth and feminist activism.

Aigerim Seitenova is a nuclear disarmament activist and a third-generation survivor of Soviet nuclear testing. Aigerim’s interests are centred across intersecting areas such as human rights, disarmament and nuclear colonialism, WPS (women, peace and security) and YPS (youth, peace and security), critical approaches to international law, and peace activism, cross-culture education, decolonial feminism and civil society advocacy. Aigerim is one of the founding members of the newly established initiative Steppe Organization for Peace (STOP): Qazaq Youth Initiative for Nuclear Justice. Aigerim is an alumna of the UK Govt Chevening Scholarship and holds an LL.M in International Human Rights Law from the University of Essex and an MA in European Studies from the EU Global Campus Master’s Programme in Human Rights and Democratization in the Caucasus.

Dr. Suad Mohamed

Originally from Somalia, Suad has also lived in Saudi Arabia, Syria, Pakistan, and Austria. She speaks six languages: Somali, Arabic, German, English, Hindi and Urdu.
Suad graduated with a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Karachi. She works as a Social Medical Consultant (including psychological counseling) at Diakonie Österreich and as an Assistant Consultant at the Austrian Red Cross. She is a certified counselor regarding female genital mutilation (FGM) issues and is active in related community outreach. SDG 3 is especially important to Suad.
Suad is a sought-after panelist and presenter, known for her storytelling skills in a variety of areas. She has spoken at the United Nations on interreligious topics, contributed to a migration and health panel at European Forum Alpbach, and contributed to high-level events including at the Diplomatic Academy Vienna, the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens and at an International Peace Day celebration hosted by the Second President of the Austrian Parliament.
Suad aims to spread awareness about refugee and migration issues, to improve the healthcare and pharmaceutical systems in developing countries, and to empower women. She often quotes Oprah Winfrey: ‘You become what you believe.’
Suad is the Founder of the Somalia Health Club which is a space to help the global Somali community meet with Somali health professionals and ask questions regarding medical topics, especially in relation to Covid-19 and vaccines (Instagram).

Julia Zimmerman Feil

Julia is a dedicated sustainable development professional and a passionate advocate and activist for human rights and gender equality. She has four years of progressively responsible work experience with international NGOs, managing programs and partnerships for youth and women’s empowerment and policy for the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations (SDGs) as well as Transformative Education. Julia seeks to use her career and voice to uplift and empower others and believes in the power of communication and the arts in changing hearts and minds.

Julia holds a bachelor’s from the University of California Irvine and a master’s (cum laude) in International Relations from Webster Vienna Private University.

Nour Barakeh

Through her scientific study, artistic work, and academic training in public policy, Nour Barakeh strives to understand society from different viewpoints and to communicate complex topics. She is a talented content and communications consultant and an accomplished playwright aiming at post-conflict peacebuilding.

Nour Barakeh is also an Agents of Change Youth Fellow at Wilson Center, a joint fellowship from the Environmental Change and Security Program and the Middle East Program, whereby, her developed project will be presented at COP28. Nour is especially interested in nuclear energy, climate nexus. In that regard, she has recently spoken on a panel discussion on “Bridging Climate Divides” at the United Nations in Vienna as part of World Youth Skills Day 2023.

Her M.A. in Public Administration from Central European University emphasized the Sustainable Developments Goals (SDGs) and environmental policies to combat climate change. She previously studied at the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts in Damascus and graduated from the Faculty of Pharmacy at Damascus University.

As a sought-after speaker on the SDGs, refugee, and migration issues, she has spoken on numerous high-profile panels, such as, Beyond Borders Scotland 2023, UN High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development 2022, UNHCR Austria, 2020, International Peace Institute (IPI) 2021, European Forum Alpbach 2018 alongside former UN SG Ban Ki-moon and former Austrian President Heinz Fischer.

Nour Barakeh has experience ranging from research and strategy to social work and journalism. She aims at supporting the establishment of sustainable educational projects focused on empowering people through raising awareness, and counselling governments, NGOs and corporations on polices with a specific focus on the Sustainable Developments Goals. As a Global Citizen, she believes in proactively pursuing the necessary goal of peace.

Heather Wokusch

Heather Wokusch is the Director of Development for the International Forum for Understanding and the Executive Director of its SDG2030.me and MESPERO: Impact for Resilience projects. Her career in organizational development, human resources, education, cross-culture, and media has spanned five continents and multiple fields. After completing an advanced degree in Clinical Psychology in her native USA, Heather carried out development work in the Philippines, then spent decades in Japan and Europe consulting academic institutions and international business groups. A firm believer in Impact Tech and the democratization of knowledge, she is an expert in virtual learning. Heather also provides consultation on topics connected to organizational development (including digital transformation, leadership development, employee engagement, change management, strategy, and globalization).

Les Simm

Les Simm founded the International Forum for Understanding and serves as its Executive Director. Les works in the business sector, with governments, the UN, INGO’s and other entities in areas ranging from security risk management and business resilience to humanitarian operations and disaster relief. He has expertise in nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons disarmament, non-proliferation, arms control and verification, security sector reform and countering transnational organised crime. Having trained as a psychiatric nurse in his early career, Les has long-term interest in mental health and wellbeing. Les is a passionate supporter of the SDGs with a particular focus on project implementation and making a demonstrable and direct impact on people’s lives.

Mădălina Bot

Mădălina Boț is an MA graduate of International Relations at Central European University in Vienna and supports the communications strategy and implementation of the International Forum for Understanding and its various projects, such as MESPERO: Impact for Resilience and SDG2030.me. She is interested in the specificities of lived experience and human rights, and how people’s life stories can better inform a human-oriented decision-making process.

Rania Ali

Rania Ali is an award winning journalist, public speaker, and human rights defender from Syria. Having made her first award-winning documentary with the Guardian in 2017, she works with several NGOs as a campaigner highlighting to governments the importance of protecting human rights defenders worldwide. She is an advocate for human rights generally and refugee and women’s rights specifically, engaged in that pursuit for the past five years. She has dedicated herself to speaking on many international platforms for said issues.

Currently, Rania Ali is pursuing a degree in international relations thus expanding her expertise in areas related to post-conflict peacebuilding and reconciliation.