Global Engagement Fellows

Zarlasht Sarmast

GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT FELLOWS PROGRAM COORDINATOR
American University of Central Asia (AUCA)
  Zarlasht Sarmast is a recent graduate of the American University of Central Asia, Department of International and Comparative Politics. She has previously served as the Spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Kabul, Communications specialist for GIZ in Central Asia. Zarlasht is currently working for OSUN as a Program Coordinator for the Global Engagement Fellows program. She is the Director and CEO of the project “Afghanistan Politics on the Verge of Transformation.” Zarlasht recently finished her first MA in the department of International Relations and Security at the OSCE academy in Bishkek and is currently doing her second Masters Degree in applied psychology at AUCA. 

Vũ Đức Huy

LEAD GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT FELLOW
Fulbright University Vietnam (FUV)
Huy is the founder of YUU Organization, a youth-led non-profit organization working to empower ethnic minority children and youth in the Central Highlands of Vietnam through education, employment, and cultural conservation since 2017. Huy follows the servant leadership model, inspired by Mother Teresa, and focuses on work with the Indigenous community in his hometown. In his third year with the Global Fellows Program, Huy aims to amplify the voice of youth in civic engagement across the network.

Mikelison Womack 

GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT FELLOW
Bard College
Mikelison is the C.E.O. and founder of the Earth's Tomorrow Foundation and a Junior at Bard College Studying Environmental and Urban Studies. He is a Posse Scholar and Public Policy and International Affairs Fellow from Atlanta, Georgia who started The Earth's Tomorrow Foundation to assist K-12 students in becoming more environmentally conscious through hands-on sustainability projects. Mikelison's research has been displayed in the T.E.L.L.U.S Museum of Science and internationally recognized at the Genius Olympiad International Science Fair. He aims to make change by using collaborative education methods to encourage young minds to become innovative thinkers and the world's next generation of leaders. As a Global Fellow, he plans to encourage those who want to create positive, sustainable change to get engaged in their communities and guide them in developing projects that will ultimately help better the world.

Henry Mielarczyk

GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT FELLOW
Bard College
Henry runs the Bard chapter of Our Revolution, a political organization dedicated to electing progressive politicians who work for the people. He also serves as a member of the Morris County Democratic Committee, and as Sergeant at Arms for the Pequannock Township Democratic Committee. Henry believes that being politically active is an essential part of democratic civic life, and as a Global Fellow, works to promote political civic activities. 

Emilia Cooper

GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT FELLOW
Bard College
During her gap year, Emi, a first-year intended Economics major at Bard College, initiated a community development project in a rural village on the Coast of Kenya. The project is centered around education and addresses issues of food insecurity. Emi built a library for a local primary school, delivered food and supplies to local community members, and created income generating programs to help the community sustain itself. The future of the project is focused around building sustainable infrastructure and educating local farmers to help them increase agricultural productivity. As a global fellow, Emi is committed to mobilizing Bard students to participate in civic engagement. Emi is hoping to bridge the connection between Bard students who feel passionate about social and environmental justice and opportunities to get involved with advocacy and mutual aid.

Srijan Banik

GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT FELLOW
BRAC University
Srijan Banik is a senior studying Computer Science and Engineering at BRAC University, Bangladesh, a creative thinker, and a youth advocate. He is also a Millennium Fellow at UN Academic Impact and is skilled in Programming, Computational Thinking, Robotics, and Strategic Development. He is passionate about solving real-life problems and tries to share his knowledge with his peers. He is the founder of the Social Impact Lab at BRAC University and runs a podcast called "Social Impact Stories" that lets Young Leaders from all over the world share their stories. He is also co-founder at KriShop, an urban-centric traceable food supply ecosystem providing fresh vegetable and fruits directly from growers to consumers and pioneer urban agro-entrepreneurs.

Aleksandar Vitanov

GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT FELLOW
Bard College
Aleksandar Vitanov is a sophomore international student from North Macedonia at Bard College studying Political Studies and Trumpet Performance at the Bard Conservatory of Music. He came to Bard after spending his junior and senior years of high school at the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan. He is on Bard’s Student Honor List, founded a Trustee Leader Scholar initiative called Musical Mentorship Initiative which provides free music education to families that cannot afford it, serves on Bard’s Student Government as the chair of the Pier Review Board, he is the Co-Chair of the Constitutional Court at Bard, and is the founder of the Alexander Hamilton Society Bard College Chapter. His goal as a Global Fellow is to increase awareness of the importance of civic engagement on campus, serve as a resource to fellow students, and connect with other Global Fellows around the world.

Lara Habboub

GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT FELLOW
Bard College Berlin
A liberal arts student double majoring in Ethics and Politics and Literature and Rhetorics, Lara's main goal is to encourage an approach to life that emphasizes the importance of students’ participation in civic life. As a Global Fellow, she wants to help provide students with the tools they need to take an active role in their community and work with others to help make the change they want to see happen.

Rokhila Saidasanova

GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT FELLOW
American University of Central Asia (AUCA)
Rokhila is the founder of social non-profit projects such as "No to bullying in Tajik schools," as well as co-founder of the Sociological Club AWAKE at AUCA. As a Global Engagement Fellow, I am committed to helping and guiding emerging and future leaders in building structures, organizing ideas, and developing their own projects. She wants to raise awareness and engage bright new minds in civic engagement both on campus and across the network.

Aidin Turganbekov

GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT FELLOW
American University of Central Asia (AUCA)
As a Global Fellow, Aidin strives to build a strong and proactive community at AUCA that will be passionate about improving local societies. He has been working at the National Democratic Institute and American Councils for International Education as a community mobilizer and coordinated several volunteering clubs with 40 and 80 club members. Through his “Basketball for All” project, he seeks to create an inclusive space for children with autism and Down Syndrome and spread the spirit through AUCA students who volunteer and work one-on-one with children on campus.

Sayed Anwar Ibrahimi 

GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT FELLOW
American University of Central Asia (AUCA)
Sayed Anwar Ibrahimi is a second year Software Engineering student at the American University of Central Asia. He built his first website when he was in 10th grade and then started to build websites and do back-end programming for different companies.  As a Global Fellow he wants to be more active civically, create and implement projects that focus on issues that the community of Afghan students face and experience while integrating into new institutions and societies, in particular the evacuated students from American University of Afghanistan (AUAF) now at other OSUN institutions. 

Sitora Sufijonova

GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT FELLOW
American University of Central Asia (AUCA)
As a social activist in her community and beyond, Sitora joined the OSUN Global Fellowship Program to contribute to society's development by helping students at the AUCA campus and implementing her project in the near future. Having an enriched experience in community service and project implementation, she hopes to gain valuable experiences and contribute to the development of the OSUN Global Fellowship Program.

Mihail Mishev

GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT FELLOW
American University in Bulgaria (AUBG)
Mihail is a student of political science at the American University in Bulgaria. He is a co-founder of the Roma grassroots organization Foundation Opre Roma for Community Empowerment (FORCE) in Sliven, Bulgaria. Based on the concept of community self-organization, FORCE aims to foster political capacity in young Roma, to serve as a bridge between local authorities and local Roma communities, and to engage Roma communities in the opportunities and challenges they are facing.

Patricia Nae

GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT FELLOWS
Central European University
Patricia is the co-coordinator of CEU Debate Society and the President of the CEU Student Union in Vienna. Her aim as a Global Fellow is to motivate not only students, but every member of the community to make their voice heard.  Patricia plans to take the position of a “bricoleur,
who aims to bring together the ideas and initiatives of every student both in CEU and across OSUN in order to build a sustainable channel of communication, debate and solutions.

Chinenye Ejereonye

GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT FELLOW
Ashesi University
Code4All is a foundation Chinenye co-founded with five Ashesi University seniors in 2020, and she currently serves as president. The project seeks to empower young students aged between 10-15 years from unreached communities in Ghana, with ICT and programming skills. She wants to see civic engagement on campus reach an optimum high, and also expand the reach for the Code4All project. As a fellow, she expects the qualities instilled from the fellowship will go a long way in assisting her in implementing current and future project ideas and sharpening the way she understands and cooperates with the communities she hopes to transform.

Samantha Mavunga

GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT FELLOW
Ashesi University
Samantha is the Founder of Aim To Shine, an initiative that seeks to empower primary students in Chitungwiza community in Zimbabwe through teaching and mentoring. The long-term objective is to reduce the number of school dropouts, early child marriages, and drug and substance abuse by helping students excel in their academic and social lives. As a Global Fellow, Samantha hopes to dedicate time to nurturing student-led projects within the OSUN network and helping them create the change the world needs.

Freda Agyeman

GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT FELLOWS
Ashesi University
Freda Agyeman is the founder of Project Photo4her, a project dedicated to educating adolescent mothers about photography, how to take photographs, and how to run a photography business. The project was recognized as a model for removing cultural stigmatization of teenage mothers, gender inequality, lowering poverty in most households, empowering girls, and boosting employment opportunities for these teenage mothers, all of which are SDG targets 1,5, and 8. As a Global Fellow, Freda aspires to devote her time to assisting other student-led projects like hers in obtaining funding and, more significantly, developing their projects to the point where their overarching goal is to solve problems in society.

Yalda Negah

GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT FELLOW
American University of Beirut
Originally from Afghanistan, Yalda is a sophomore at American University of Beirut majoring in Political Studies with plans to minor in women's and gender studies. She is the prize winner of the AUB Founders Day essay contest. Prior to coming to AUB, she worked with several organizations dedicated to human rights, women's rights, and youth advocacy in Afghanistan. As a Global Fellow, she wants to promote and support civic engagement activities that not only empower and encourage young leaders but also allow her to learn from them. With launching her initiative "Equal World," she seeks to promote gender equality and build civic engagement opportunities for students, and support the discussion of such ideas. In brief, her goal is to work toward an equal and inclusive community.

Dareen Alhajaref

GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT FELLOW
Al-Quds Bard College for Arts and Science
Being a global fellow and a youth, Dareen aims to be a part of the process that breaks obstacles and builds bridges and connections. She hopes to reach students from different areas to prove that civic engagement and participation are worthwhile and one of the many ways to achieve global harmony. Through her project "Illumination," she aims to raise political awareness and mobilize students to be able to talk about their political situation on different levels while understanding foreign perspectives and learning to break oppressive cycles and propaganda.

Hala Alanani

GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT FELLOW
Al-Quds Bard College for Arts and Science
Hala is a junior at Al-Quds Bard and a Program Exchange Graduate from Bard Berlin. She is also the founder of AQB Mental Health Club and Project, which seeks to raise awareness about mental health among AQB students and to introduce students to the process of psychotherapy and mental healing. The project specifically sheds light on female students, abuse survivors, and refugee students through conducting special sessions for and with them under the monitoring of mental health experts. As a Global Fellow, she aims to create a space at AQB where students interact with and connect with the OSUN community, helping them build their own change-leading initiatives and provide necessary support.

Ahmed Omar Abdi

GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT FELLOW
OSUN Hubs Initiative

Mohamed Omar Farah

GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT FELLOW
OSUN Hubs Initiative
I am a teacher in the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya and my goal is to serve as an advocate for refugee children who need access to schooling. I look forward to interacting with other Global Fellows this year so I can gain from their experience. This will help me in my project “Children Out of School,” which promotes civic engagement activities that support vulnerable children in refugee camps or elsewhere who need schooling.

Robert Aharanya Claudio

GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT FELLOW
Hubs for Connected Learning Initiatives
As a Global Fellow, Robert's aim is to assist and support youth from his community in Kakuma Refugee Camp in an effort to prevent them from using harmful drugs, a problem that has affected many youths, causing them to drop out of school and engage in criminal activities. His long term goal is to enroll in a degree program in order to take youth empowerment at Kakuma Refugee Camp to a greater level.