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Class of 2018

Dorcas M. Abbosey, Ghana was engaged with advocacy and education for women’s reproductive health and rights in Ghana. She initiated a skills training project in her community to train young girls to learn how to crochet and sew thus increasing their economic power. Dorcas is earning a Master in Cultural Diplomacy and International Relations from Furtwangen University in Germany. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Development Studies from Valley View University in Ghana. As a Young Global Changer, she aims to advocate for citizenship engagement and behaviour change communication strategy.

María Belén Abdala, Argentina Belén is a Political Scientist (Universidad de San Andrés) and MA candidate (Universidad Torcuato Di Tella). Currently, she works as a Senior Coordinator at CIPPEC, one of the most prominent think tanks in Latin America, where she leads applied research projects on political innovation and institutional reform. She is also a member of the T20 Task Force on Social Cohesion, Global Governance and the Future of Politics since 2018. Previously, Belén has worked as a consultant in public management, monitoring the implementation of public policies, coordinating research projects, collaborating with local and international academic referents and providing technical assistance to governments of various political parties.

Olukayode Alao, Nigeria is Founder & CEO of SusCrete Infrastructure Consulting. Olukayode is a vibrant and passionate civil engineer and procurement specialist with an eye for entrepreneurship, sustainable development strategies, technical engineering consulting and empowering those in need specifically focusing on the African continent. He is currently involved in supporting capital infrastructure projects in the EMEA region where he had developed core skills in project management, data analytics, strategic consulting and engagement. He is also a member of the United Nations Major Group for Children and Youth with a focus on SDG 9 (Industry, innovation and infrastructure). He has a BSc & MSc in Civil Engineering from the University of Cape Town and a Master’s in International Construction Management from the Politecnico di Milano.

Francisco Javier Ardila Suarez, Colombia is a doctoral candidate working on inequality and marginalization at the Humboldt University of Berlin. He also has a master in Global Studies from the same university and a Bachelor in economics from the Universidad de los Andes in Colombia. He has been an active organizer at the Young Scholars Initiative from the Institute of New Economic Thinking since 2017 and was an habitual contributor to the el Espectador's mal economista Blog in Colombia. Has worked in the Colombian diplomatic mission as well as in the Argentinian Chapter of Transparency international.

Oyuna Baldakova, Russia is a PhD Candidate at the Graduate School of East Asian Studies at the Free University of Berlin and a fellow of the German Research Foundation. Her research focuses on China’s Belt and Road Initiative and its potential consequences for sustainable economic development of Central Asia. Before her PhD, Oyuna worked in international development interning at UNESCO Bangkok, managing an EU-funded project for Central Asia, and running communications as vice-chair of the International Organization of Folk Art (IOV) Youth Committee for a two-year term.

Bilge Bingöl-Schrijer, Turkey her PhD in public law from Ankara University and is working as an assistant professor at Akdeniz University Faculty of Law in public law department. Her research focuses on state theory, human rights, experimental legal education, education and higher education law. She is working on several projects that are about integrating university research findings in to social development planning. As a young global changer she aims at creating solutions for achieving sustainable development goals by designing university-city-government interrelated programs.

Kapal Dev, Pakistan recently graduated from Politecnico di Milano, Italy in the field of optical wireless communication for 5G backhauling. He is currently Working as a Junior Consultant and Engineer at Altran Italia S.p.A. on 5G use cases such as Connected Healthcare, Augmented Reality Projects, etc. Also, working on building a online Job portal customized for pregnant women through which they can practice their skills, earn money and take care of their children too. This would benefit country economy as women is effective part of the society.

Cetin Didem Fulya, Turkey is currently a Senior Consultant at PwC Turkey's Economics & Policy Consulting team, where she undertakes data-driven policy analyses intended to act as compelling drivers for the transformation agendas of the public and private sectors. She has taken part in various donor-funded international development projects focusing on a variety of topics such as fiscal policy, capital markets, and agriculture policy. She has also recently been engaged in projects related to sectoral competitiveness and global value chains (GVCs). She holds an MSc in International Political Economy from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), and a BSc in Economics, Politics and International Studies from the University of Warwick.

Linda Du, United Kingdom is a graduating MBA candidate at the Yale School of Management. She also holds a BA and MEng degree from the University of Cambridge in manufacturing engineering. She has defined her career at the intersection of business, technology and international development, having held positions at the United Nations World Food Programme and Kiva. In 2019 she was a semi-finalist at the St. Gallen Wings of Excellence award for an essay on remittances, and she has also written about the role of technology in international development.

Heba Elhanafy, Egypt, an urban researcher, her center of interests lies in research studies in particular about human settlements, arts, heritage, community and urban development. Have a bachelor degree in architecture and planning currently doing her Master’s degree in urban development at TU Berlin. She is a main associate at Ecumene studio for integrated urban development and sustainable architecture where she coordinated many development projects in Egypt and in MENA region focusing on the integration of youth, women and refugees in cities for clients and partners of the caliber of UNHCR, Terre Des Hommes and Sadat Foundation.