Fault Lines Story Studio: Emerging Leaders Initiative
Wednesday, April 5, 2017
Session Description
The world’s growing divides require new viewpoints and solutions, now more than ever. This session features the next generation of social entrepreneurs, selected worldwide for the 2017 Emerging Leaders Initiative. Hear their powerful and authentic voices, as they share their inspirations and unique perspectives on the fractures and fissures we face today.
Time & Location
Time:
11:45 AM - 1:00 PM, Wednesday, April 5, 2017
BST
Location:
Classroom 2 (WW)
Speakers
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Speaker
Head of Community Impact, United Way of India
I am a development sector professional with over seventeen years of experience of working with various stakeholders and beneficiaries in the areas of Education, Life-Skills, Gender Equity. I constantly upgrade myself through studying and reading which enables me to bring in newer ideas and approaches to my work. I also have a zeal for volunteering, training and public speaking which keeps the passion for 'making a difference' alive in me.
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Speaker
Executive Director, B Lab East Africa
Olivia is the Executive Director and founder of B Lab East Africa. In her role, Olivia is working on building a community of people using business as a force for good in the region; from recruiting B Corps to capacity building for organisations in the region. Prior to this role, Olivia was the Global Partner Manager at B Lab supporting its network of regional partners. She also worked as a Standards Analyst helping companies going through the B Corp Certification process, and supporting impact investors to measure and report their social and environmental impact.
Prior to joining B Lab, she worked at Microfinanza Rating (MFR) as a Social Rating Analyst in their African Regional office. During her time with MFR, she worked with Microfinance Institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa in rating their social impact and running target client focus group discussions.
Olivia was recognised in 2017 as an Emerging Leader by Skoll and Mastercard Foundation and 2018 Top 40 Under 40 Women in Business in Kenya. She serves in the B Lab East Africa Board and is part of the Sustainable Inclusive Business, an arm of Kenya Private Sector Alliance Foundation, Circle of Influencers.
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Speaker
Founder & Executive Director, Sani Foundation
Through the Sani Foundation, Michelle seeks to facilitate the full inclusion of individuals with intellectual disabilities into Zambian society. A cornerstone of its work is the Sunshine Zambia Project, which provides holistic, relevant training to prepare adolescents and young adults with intellectual disabilities for employment and independence within their community. While employment training services in Zambia typically segregate individuals with disabilities, with few trainees ever graduating to mainstream jobs with fair wages, Michelle pursues a person-centered model that assists those with disabilities in securing and maintaining jobs in the open labor market. Michelle was motivated to research international best practices for addressing the needs of the people with intellectual disabilities as a result of having a brother with Down Syndrome. Through the Sani Foundation, she also advocates for the adoption of more inclusive job market policies, while promoting to employers the commercial benefits of a diverse and inclusive labour market.
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Moderator
Senior Manager of Philanthropy, Rosewood Family Advisors
Philanthropy professional with grants, finance, and operational expertise across the non-profit, corporate, and foundation sectors. Currently the Senior Manager of Philanthropy at Rosewood Family Advisors.
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Speaker
Managing Director, Disa Energy Management Ltd
Fhazhil is a passionate educator and a budding social entrepreneur in Information Technology and energy systems. He is currently the partnership director of M-Soma Institute, a social venture preparing young people in East Africa for successful careers in Information Technology and entrepreneurship. M-Soma Institute offers pre-university training in computer programming and software development and general technical entrepreneurial training to high school graduates through boot camps as well as through its online and mobile platforms.
Fhazhil is also the founder and managing director of Disa Energy Management (DEM), a start-up in renewable energy systems. The current work of DEM is design and installation of renewable energy systems (majorly solar and wind) and offering consumer education on energy efficiency with a focus on efficient technologies, efficient energy system operations and energy behaviour change. The objective of DEM is to promote access to clean energy in rural Africa and spur economic growth.
Besides his professional engagements, Fhazhil is also a passionate youth mentor with a focus on education and holistic development. He is an Equity Leaders Programme (EPL) alumnus and currently mentoring with Wings to Fly programme (an education and leadership programme run by the joint partnership of Equity Group and MasterCard Foundations) in Kenya, Mamelodi Initiative in the Mamelodi township of South Africa and Stars EBIT mentors at the University of Pretoria. Fhazhil is a MasterCard Foundation Scholar at the University of Pretoria; currently writing a thesis on optimal control of renewable energy systems.
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Speaker
A descendant of refugees that survived genocide, Antranik Krikor Ozanian, 27, Switzerland, was born to Armenian parents in Bulgaria, as the cold war was ending in 1989. Blessed with new opportunities, Antranik grew up in U.K. with a strong desire to pursue a career helping to prevent future violations of human rights. He completed a Bachelors and Masters in Laws at the University of Manchester, followed by both working in Atlanta, USA protecting prisoners’ rights on death row and working in The Hague assisting the prosecution of war crimes at the UN ICTY. In 2014, Antranik was called to the Bar of England and Wales at Middle Temple, receiving the Dean’s List Award for highest score in advocacy. Drawing on his advocacy skills and armed with creative ideas for justice reform, Antranik immediately began working at International Bridges to Justice where, in addition to fundraising, events management and programme monitoring and evaluation, he is currently spearheading the IBJ JusticeHub, an innovative technology platform that supercharges networks of justice stakeholders around the world.
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Speaker
Postgraduate studying Africa and International Development, Edinburgh University
Dorcas Amoh-Mensah
Curious about why Africa is still wallowing in poverty and under-development, I decided to pursue a Masters’ degree in Africa and International Development to uncover the puzzle and figure out how I can contribute to the change I want to see on the continent as a child of the land. I am a Ghanaian with an undergraduate degree in Business Administration obtained from Ashesi University College. My time at Ashesi, liberal arts college, unlocked unparalleled opportunities for me which helped me build enormous passion for Africa and its development as well as heightened my interest in social impact.
Over the past four years, I have been involved in innovative activities aimed at improving rural education (Starfish Aid) and eradicating child poverty and streetism in Ghana (Future of Africa). With exposure to the business and impact worlds through internships with Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Camfed Ghana respectively, I seek a career which would combine business with impact to create sustainable solutions for societal problems. I am also very interested in the economic transformation of Africa, transformational education as well as creating integrity-driven and gender-equal societies. Additionally, I would love a career that provides an opportunity for traveling all over the world as a medium of learning how various societies are internally solving global challenges.
My time here in Edinburgh has made me realize I am a foodie and has exposed me to the essence of celebrating diversity in the midst of the world’s uproar against immigration and migration. Here, I co-run a mini food-tasting and fund-raising event aimed at introducing the university community to foods from different cultures and various countries each month. It’s my dream that this would enhance collaboration, mutual-respect and love across all cultures and nations. I love arts and craft and have a special attraction to origami.
