ADEL Bios

Nicola Bilotta is currently researcher at IAI where he works on international political economy, digital economy and geo-finance. 

Chiara Cocchiara is a System Operations Engineer at EUMETSAT, preparing future Earth Observation Space Missions to monitor weather and climate. She was awarded the MIT Innovator Under35 and the ESNC Prizes for a new drone technology design to help saving human lives, especially the immigrants in the Mediterranean Sea.

Ritika Passi is Fellow at ORF. She works on connectivity, tracking developments across Eurasia and the Indo-Pacific, the changing global economic order and its geopolitical impact, and Indian foreign policy

She ROARs is empowering female leaders across Africa. Having lived and worked across 5 continents, Chidiogo speaks 7 languages (Chinese, English, French, German, Igbo, Italian and Spanish). She is a World Economic Forum Global Leadership Fellow; and Associate Fellow of Nigerian Leadership Initiative.

Katrina Amupolo is the Business Development Coordinator for the Swakopmund Community Skills Development Centre. She has experience in empowering youth and women through entrepreneurship, skills training and mentorship.   Katrina founded the Empowering Erongo Young Women Project, a  project which offers job readiness training, mentorship and career guidance to unemployed  young women in the Erongo Region, Namibia.

Asim Ali has an extensive background in the Middle East, human rights, countering violent extremism, and public private partnerships. Asim is currently working as a Foreign Affairs Officer in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor of the U.S. Department of State.

Eric Asmar is the CEO of Happy Smala, a consulting firm and startup studio in Rabat, Morocco specialized in innovation and collaborative finance. Prior to this, he served as Director of Programs at the Moroccan Center for Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship, where he launched Dare Inc., Morocco’s first social enterprise incubator.

Foster Awintiti Akugri heads a non-profit organization, focused on preparing the youth for future jobs. Impacting over 3000 youth since its inception and through its partnership with IBM, Hacklab Foundation hopes to reach over 100,000 youth by 2021.

Hanae is an impact tech entrepreneur and certified international project manager with 10 years of overall professional experience, including 5 years in social impact stewardship at a multi-award non-profit and 2 years of operational stewardship at a high growth tech startup.

Jihad is a Moroccan American Psychologist and CEO of InspireCorp, the first prevention-focused mental health social enterprise in the MENA region and Africa. 

Benjamin Bocio Richardson is a humanitarian, health activist, and dentist. At the age of 14, he co-founded a charity with his family named FUMEBO, which is dedicated to supporting underserved communities in the Dominican Republic. Benjamin earned his degree in Dentistry from La Universidad Iberoamericana (UNIBE) in the Dominican Republic and Boston University. 

Max Bouchet is a researcher with the Metropolitan Policy Program and the Global Economy & Development Program of the Brookings Institution in Washington.

Chaimae Bourjij is currently the national project coordinator of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom in Morocco. In parallel, she is founder chairwoman of the International Youth Council – Morocco chapter and MENA regional director for the International Youth Federation.

At CEBRI, she is responsible for coordinating the think tank’s Environment and Climate Change Program.

Charlotte Brandsma is a political scientist and activist with an interest in security, civic engagement and women’s rights. Her geographic focus is Europe, the United States and the Mediterranean region.

Jessa Coleman is a seasoned director with a decade of experience in public-private partnerships, climate finance, decarbonization, resiliency, and sustainability across three continents. She has demonstrated a strong ability to manage high-stakes projects, foster strategic relationships with key partners, and drive significant financial and environmental impact.

CEO of NaaS, transforming companies in fintech, Innovator under 35 by MIT, Master at University College London, Business Administrator, Founder Institute Mentor. Co-founded Wesend in Singapore (Blockchain-based app) and Seed Software in Colombia (Content management system). Global Shaper alumni from the World Economic Forum and Fellow at the Westerwelle Foundation, Edmund Hillary Fellowship. Author of the book ´beat the robots´ and presenter of #PachoenVivo

Teresa Danso-Danquah is the Manager of NextGen Initiatives at Disability:IN, where she leads career development programs for U.S. college students with disabilities

Bushra Ebadi is a social innovator, interdisciplinary researcher, storyteller, and global strategist committed to advancing peace, justice, and the agency of marginalized communities globally. She serves as a Global Advisor (Sherpa) to Aya Chebbi, analyzing policies and supporting the development of strategies to support systems change as it relates to communication, community engagement, governance, and the socio-economic impacts of health emergencies.

Adil El Madani is a Belgian federal civil servant currently serving with the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He has a proven track record of designing private sector development programs in collaboration with diverse public entities and international organizations.

Adil holds a Master's degree in Management Engineering from the Solvay Brussels School, where he is achieving a Ph.D. in Economics. He is passionate about diplomacy and public policy making.

Iskander Erzini Vernoit currently works full-time as a founding director at the Imal Initiative for Climate & Development, a non-profit climate think-tank based in Morocco. As part of his work, Iskander advises a range of governments, civil society and non-state actors on issues relating to climate change and finance.

GLOBSEC is an international think-tank based in Bratislava, Slovakia. Roger has previous experience as a strategic communication analyst at the NATO Rapid Deployable Corps-Greece (NRDC-GR) and with the delegation of the Kingdom of Belgium at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

Meriem is a communication expert with an international perspective. She is a Senior Account Manager in the Corporate and public affairs Team at Edelman Montreal, where she leads and supports numerous strategic communications campaigns on an international scale. She was recently named in Infopresse’s «Top 30 under 30 leaders» in the marketing and communication industry in Quebec.

Omayra Issa is a journalist and news anchor with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation/Radio-Canada, where she covers breaking news and investigates a wide range of stories. Her reporting focuses on the justice system.

Naimah Jabali-Nash is a freelance Producer who recently co-produced a feature-length, historical documentary slated to air on Netflix in 2020 about the crack-cocaine era in the United States. 

Ramy Khoriaty is currently the Political Attaché and Director of Operations for Peter Schiefke, Member of Parliament for Vaudreuil-Soulanges and Parliamentary Secretary to both the Prime Minister of Canada and to the Minister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction.

Kwamboka Kiangoi is a Legal Counsel at the Office of the Chief Justice in Kenya. She is a Law and Development practitioner with extensive experience in private practice advising on a broad range of commercial transactions and property acquisitions, and in the public sector advising senior government officials, policy formulation and organizational development.

Jordan Kronen is currently legislative assistant to Washington State Senator Liz Lovelett in Olympia, Washington. Prior to this, he completed his M.A. in Global Affairs as a Schwarzman Scholar from Tshingua University in Beijing, China.

Emmanuel Lubanzadio is a German Public Policy professional with roots in the DRC. He is currently employed as Manager for Global Government Relations in the healthcare industry and will be transitioning to the Technology Sector in the capacity of Public Policy Manager for the region Sub-Saharan Africa.

Doreen is a social entrepreneur passionate about realizing Africa’s agriculture potential. She started her career in Accounting & Finance, advising clients on fund-raising and other matters in New York, Lagos and Abidjan with top global companies: PwC and Ernst & Young. She then founded The Good Heritage, a B2C venture aimed at making healthy products from Africa more accessible to global consumers.