A dedicated Libyan Board-certified surgeon with advanced specialization in Vascular Surgery, Dr. Eshtiwy brings expertise and precision to her practice. Beyond the operating room, she is an ambitious professional balancing her roles as a proud mother to her daughter and advocate for women in surgery, both in her native Libya and throughout the region.  She is passionate about both patient care and medical education, thrives in mentoring the next generation of surgeons. She also is deeply passionate about getting creative to combat health and hygiene disinformation shared online using social media.  

Dr. Maryam was among a number of courageous Libyan doctors that provided critical care, emergency care, and coordination in her hometown of Benghazi during the 2011 Libyan Revolution that helped keep the city’s public health infrastructure afloat and saved numerous lives.   

She believes in lifelong learning and empowering others through the sharing of the knowledge and lived experience she’s acquired over the years.  

Aaron has spent over 13 years in SWANA (Jordan, Libya, Lebanon and Palestine) and 4 years in North America working in the humanitarian, organizing, media, research, and rights advocacy spaces.

Most recently, he co-founded, led, scaled, and eventually ceded power to Sawiyan, a now entirely locally and refugee-led organization in Jordan that works in solidarity with marginalized African-origin refugees to advocate on their behalf and incubate community-led programming tackling their most pressing issues. While with Sawiyan, he also chaired/was a founding member of the pioneering One Refugee Approach Working Group, which is responsible for successfully achieving unprecedented reform to humanitarian approach, policy towards underrepresented refugees. After stepping down from Sawiyan in 2021 he founded Locally Led, a new collective created by and for those who believe in a more ethical, efficient, and relational way to finance, accompany, and support community-based organizers, activists, and movement leaders around the world.

Aaron deeply believes in a philosophy of ‘building to cede power’, and passionately works to position the communities he accompanies and communes with as the drivers and central stakeholders of the policy, planning, and spaces that will directly influence their lives and futures.

Randa Tawil is an author and interdisciplinary scholar studying migration, history of empire, and Arab American racialization. She teaches at University of Washington in the Jackson School of International Studies. She is a member of the Palestinian Feminist Collective, a body of Palestinian and Arab feminists committed to Palestinian social and political liberation by confronting systemic gendered, sexual, and colonial violence, oppression, and dispossession. Her public writings have appeared in The Washington Post, Margins, Open Democracy, and Palestine Square.

A native of Somalia, Hassan is a freelance interpreter, community organizer, and tireless advocate for refugees seeking refuge around the region. While living in refuge in Jordan, Hassan helped found and build a transformational community-language program for Sawiyan (a Jordanian NGO), an organization he now co-leads. With over 8 years of experience in community development, advocacy, and organizing, he dedicates most of his time supporting and advocating for refugees and marginalized populations in Jordan. Hassan has degree in Civil Engineering from Jordan University of Technology & Science.

Hassan has collaborated with UN, humanitarian, and Embassy Delegations on initiatives that seek to better understand the needs of refugees. He has led numerous successful community-led initiatives ranging from impactful advocacy efforts to educational and research initiatives.

Noor is a scholar, researcher and aspiring filmmaker based in Brooklyn, NY. She currently serves as a Graduate Teaching Fellow at Hunter College and is pursuing her PhD in Anthropology at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY). Her research sits at the intersection of visual culture, migration, and science and technology studies (STS). She has also served as an Executive Director for the Center for Arabic Culture in Somerville, Massachusetts, curated artists in residences and public programming at Doris Duke Foundation’s Islamic Art Museum in Honolulu, Hawai’i, and served as a legal intern and advocate for immigrant rights at Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project (ILAP) in Portland, Maine. She holds a B.A. in International Relations and Political Science and a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from Tufts University.

Noor values and practices an empathic and creative approach to her advocacy and research drawing on her professional background across academia, advocacy and the arts. You can often find her in Brooklyn telling strangers how cool her hometown city of Pittsburgh is over many cups of tea – an ode to her Libyan heritage.

Mubarak Adam (Ricky) is an educator, community organizer, researcher, and advocate for the rights of refugees.

He was born and raised in the Darfur region in Sudan and earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Al Neelain University in Khartoum. In 2019 he attended LOA - Leadership, Organizing, and Action: Leading Change from Harvard University. Since 2013, he has lived in Amman, Jordan. Despite legal and societal restrictions that have kept him away from working in the field of business where his passion lies, he found an avenue for self-growth through community and social work.

Over the last seven years, Mubarak has been actively developing educational opportunities as a way of giving back to his community, along with the help of volunteers and grassroots organizations. He has also collaborated with numerous researchers, both as a participant and a fellow researcher, with the aim of raising the voices of community members. Mubarak is a firm believer in the nurturing power of education and leadership in amplifying the voices of members of silenced communities.

Tasneem is an educator, writer, and community advocate passionate about education and cultural preservation. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a certification in Teaching English as a Foreign Language from the University of Central Florida. Recently, she completed her Master’s in the Art of Education with a mathematics endorsement from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington. She currently works as a mathematics educator in Southern King County, Washington.

Throughout her career, Tasneem has served in several education-based roles with a focus on student success through holistic approaches — recognizing the importance of supporting both academic growth and overall well-being. Her work centers on creating spaces where students feel seen, supported, and empowered.

Beyond the classroom, Tasneem is deeply connected to her Sudanese roots. She is passionate about poetry and advocacy for the Sudanese cause, both within the diaspora and back home. Through her work, she strives to bridge the gap between the Sudanese diaspora across the US and abroad by preserving history, uplifting culture, and exploring how education can be a powerful tool in sustaining identity and community. Her mission is to help build meaningful connections that support Sudan’s future while honoring its rich traditions.

Jacqueline Sofia (Jackie) is a documentarian and producer focused on stories of community participation and building community power. She is a senior officer of the learning agenda at Namati and the Grassroots Justice Network, and co-creator of the podcast A Common Pot: Stories and Recipes of Grassroots Justice. Previously, she co-founded a women-led social enterprise in partnership with the Palestinian refugee community of Jerash Camp in Jordan. 

Risho is the Executive Director of Mother Africa, an organization she founded in 2004 because of her passion to serve her community and expand opportunities for African refugee and immigrant women. By putting the needs and aspirations of the community first, Mother Africa has been able to create jobs, advocate for community inclusion and racial equity, connect community to valuable resources and influence systems and decision-makers to positively affect African refugees and immigrants in Washington State. 

Risho was born and raised in Sudan. She has over 20 years of extensive experience working with local and international nonprofit organizations operating in the field of International development, social change and humanitarian services. Prior to Mother Africa, Risho worked with the Sudan National Committee on Harmful Traditional Practices, Sabah for Street Children services, Canadian Save the Children’s Fund in Khartoum, Oxfam America in Boston, YWCA-South King County, Refugee Women’s Alliance (ReWA) and Lutheran Community Services NW.  She is a community organizer, a health educator, an advocate for victims of domestic violence, a Certified Mental Health Processional (MHP), and a member of the community first and foremost. 

Risho is also a volunteer with many organizations that further advance social justice for African women and their families. She is one of the founders of the Washington State Coalition of African Community Leaders and its former Vice President, co-founder of Living Well Kent, and former board member of the Washington State Coalition against Domestic Violence. She served as an Advisory Board member of the Youth Executive of King County, and currently serves as a Community Advisory Board for the Center for Adjustment, Recovery and Resilience (CARRE) as well as the Seattle Foundation N2N Advisory Committee. Risho holds a Masters Degree in International Development and Social Change from Clark University. When she is not working, Risho enjoys family and friends and likes walking in nature, sewing and cooking..

Elena is a PhD candidate on the project, "Forced Migration and the Politics of Borders in the Middle East and North Africa" at the University of Glasgow. Her research looks at how Sudanese individuals in Cairo negotiate physical, symbolic, and bureaucratic borders in Egypt. She is also a project development consultant for Tafawol, a Sudanese Refugee-led Organization in Cairo, Egypt, a Research Affiliate for the Refugee Law Initiative, and a PhD Representative for the IMISCOE Working Group: Forced Migration and Refugees.

Prior to coming to Scotland, she worked for six and a half years at the Center for Migration and Refugee Studies at the American University in Cairo as a Research Manager. Her prior research has looked at EU border externalization to Egypt, the impact of Refugee-led organizations in Cairo, and the legal rights and entitlements owed to refugees and asylum seekers in Egypt.

She has also held positions at IOM Egypt and Collateral Repair Project, a grassroots NGO working with urban refugees in Amman, Jordan. Her work has been published in academic journals, peer-reviewed book chapters, popular websites, and academic reports. She received her MA in Migration and Refugee Studies from the American University of Cairo and her BA in International Studies from the University of Scranton.

Hira Aftab is the Founder of Our World Too, an organisation dedicated to re-humanising the narrative surrounding refugees and displaced communities around the world. She is also the Co-Founder of The Hybrid Tours, a travel company that aims to decolonize the travel and tourism sector by curating immersive experiences led and guided by activists, organizers, artists, and tour guides local to the countries they take you to.

In addition to this, Hira is a communications specialist in the humanitarian/international development sector and was most recently the Strategic Communications Lead for Diaspora Audiences at the British Red Cross. She has experience working in Pakistan, Bosnia, Saudi Arabia, and the UK on projects ranging from refugee support to access to justice.

Growing up in both Pakistan and the Gulf before traveling the world to pursue her passion projects, Hira brings a true transnational perspective to all she pours into. She holds two Master’s degrees. A MA in International Relations from the University of Nottingham and an MSc in Humanitarianism, Conflict and Development from the University of Bath.