Archives: Team

“My work is focused on programme design, proposal development and project management with BRAC teams and partners in Bangladesh, Nepal, Afghanistan, Myanmar and the Philippines. We work across a range of different sectors including adolescent empowerment, education, skills development, combating cross-border trafficking, disability inclusion and hybrid market systems-graduation.

I joined BRAC as an intern in 2015 while living in Dhaka, Bangladesh. I worked with the education team for 8 months on project reporting and proposal development, supporting the BRAC teams in Africa and Asia from the head office in Dhaka. After 14 months in Dhaka I returned to the UK to work in the BRAC UK London office. I studied for my BA in History at University in Bristol and completed a Masters in Medieval History at Oxford.”

“My role at BRAC UK is to engage with private sector stakeholders to generate new business opportunities for our global programmes. I work on programme development, build strategic partnerships across various sectors, and explore sustainable market-based solutions to strengthen local ecosystems. I am particularly interested in innovative financing mechanisms such as blended finance in the impact investment space. BRAC has achieved tremendous success building social enterprises and triple bottom line businesses in Bangladesh and we are now looking to raise their profiles and leverage that success in BRAC international programmes.

Prior to joining BRAC UK I developed the UK office for the largest public private education partnership in Pakistan. My role included fundraising, communications, programme management, new business and partnership development. Previous work experiences have also included environment and women’s empowerment programmes. I hold an undergraduate degree in Economics.”

I oversee the communications and influencing work of BRAC UK, supporting the engagement of important stakeholders and supporters of BRAC.

I joined BRAC UK in October 2016. Previously I was Marketing Manager at the International Children’s charity Hope for Children. I established the charity’s website and social media channels as well as overseeing their first major rebrand. I have a BA in Marketing and Advertising at the University of Hull. In my spare time I am a sports enthusiast, avidly following cricket, tennis and football. As a result of a diplomatic upbringing, I have been lucky enough to live in a number of different countries and so I love travelling and experiencing new cultures.

“After spending the last twenty years working in international development across the world I was thrilled to join the BRAC UK team in late 2014. My role is to lead the team based in London with BRAC UK’s work to develop partnerships and generate resources to help BRAC achieve its mission worldwide. I am particularly enthused with BRAC’s ‘hybrid’ approach to development, combining development impact with a hard-nosed business ethic. BRAC social enterprises and microfinance are outstanding examples of businesses that benefit millions of people by providing employment and income opportunities and also generating profits to enable BRAC to deliver its development services to the poorest.

I  am also a member of the Steering Committee of the Ultra Poor Graduation Initiative, which is taking a leading role in spreading the Ultra-Poor Graduation Approach, pioneered by BRAC in Bangladesh, across the world. By advocating for this approach BRAC is playing an important role in the eradication of extreme poverty.

BRAC has that rare track record in international development of having achieved a quite remarkable scale in its impact on the world’s poorest communities. There is still a huge amount to do and I feel privileged to be a part of BRAC’s efforts to rid the world of extreme poverty.”

As a Technical Officer for the Ultra-Poor Graduation Initiative, Shanti supports the delivery of high-quality technical assistance to government partners seeking to implement the graduation approach on a national level.

Prior to joining BRAC, she worked in strategic planning and business development at Trickle Up, where she supported graduation projects in Burkina Faso, Guatemala, and India. She previously interned at One Acre Fund and at the sub-regional office for Central Africa of the Food and Agriculture Organization (UN-FAO). Shanti has designed and led agricultural research projects in Colombia, Gabon, Madagascar, and Trinidad and Tobago. Her research focused on the obstacles farmers face in adopting sustainable methods and recommendations for improving training programs. She has facilitated trainings and supported Monitoring & Evaluation for projects that use innovative mobile technologies to better reach underserved populations.

Working to expand the graduation approach has instilled in Shanti a commitment to improving the inclusivity, adaptability, and scalability of development work. Shanti holds a Master’s Degree in Global Affairs from the Schwarzman Scholars program at Tsinghua University, and a Bachelor’s Degree in International Agriculture and Rural Development from Cornell University.

Sarah F. Cliffe is currently the director of New York University’s Center on International Cooperation. Prior to that, she was the Special Representative for the World Bank’s World Development Report on Conflict, Security and Development, and the Special Adviser and Assistant Secretary-General of Civilian Capacities to the United Nations.

Ms. Cliffe has worked for the last twenty years in countries emerging from conflict and political transition, including Afghanistan, Burundi, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea Bissau, Ethiopia, Haiti, Indonesia, Liberia, Mali, Rwanda, South Sudan, South Africa, Somalia, and Timor-Leste. At the World Bank, her work has covered post-conflict reconstruction, community-driven development, and civil service reform. Ms. Cliffe was the chief of mission for the Bank’s program in Timor-Leste from 1999 to 2002; led the Bank’s Fragile and Conflict-Affected Countries Group from 2002-2007 and was the Director of Strategy and Operations for the East Asia and Pacific Region from 2007-2009.

Ms. Cliffe has also worked for the United Nations Development Programme in Rwanda, the Government of South Africa, and the Congress of South African Trade Unions, as well as for a major management consultancy company in the United Kingdom on public sector reform issues.

Ms. Cliffe has a Bachelor’s degree in history from Cambridge’s University and a Master’s degree in international relations and international economic policy from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.

Shaila Rahman is a biotechnology executive and member of the Bangladeshi diaspora. She is currently senior director of corporate and business development of EQRx, a company committed to making innovative medicines at dramatically lower prices for the benefit of people and society. As a venture capitalist, Shaila was an investor at SV Life Sciences and focused on company creation at Flagship Pioneering. Shaila received her doctoral degree from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Harvard University, where her thesis work focused on protein interactors of HPV including seminal work on the BRD4 complex, and her undergraduate degree from Colgate University. She has published in Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science and Molecular Cellular Biology, as well as other journals.

Siraj Ali is vice president of clinical development at EQRx, a company committed to making innovative medicines at dramatically lower prices for the benefit of people and society. Previously, he led a translational research group at Foundation Medicine, a cancer genomics company. Siraj has co-authored >200 peer-reviewed publications in precision oncology and cancer biology. He is a graduate of the M.D.-Ph.D. program from Harvard Medical School and completed residency training at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School in Boston and is board-certified in Anatomic Pathology.

Recognized by the Obama White House as a Champion of Change and a Forbes Under 30 Honoree in Law and Policy, Jamira has made it her mission to employ her personal experiences as the driving force to advocate for those most vulnerable. From implementing anti-violence programs throughout the City of Philadelphia when she was just a high school student, she organized youth training around the world as an appointee to the United Nations Global Education First Initiative; Youth Advocacy Group, Jamira’s ardor for personal and social advancement is undeniable. Jamira leads with expertise on workforce development, social justice, youth engagement, education reform, and corporate social responsibility. In 2018, Jamira was the first United States citizen awarded the Global Leadership Award for Vital Voices and selected as an MIT Media Lab Fellow. Today, she works as a next-gen social impact consultant and Head of Youth Engagement and Skills for the Global Business Coalition for Education. For more information, follow her on Twitter/ Instagram @JamiraBurley or visit www.jamiraburley.com

Lauren is a manager at KPMG in their Deal Advisory practice. She is a Certified Public Accountant and focuses on technical accounting issues for global financial service companies. Lauren is a Colorado native and received her Undergraduate and Master’s degree from the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Representing KPMG US, she was selected to participate in the 2041 Foundation’s ClimateForce: Arctic 2019 leadership development expedition. Lauren has a passion for workforce development and poverty alleviation. She created an annual initiative focused on basic bookkeeping training for small business owners and entrepreneurs in Uganda. In addition, she is a member of the Board of the Directors for the Global Livingston Institute and on the Young Professional Board of the Denver Health Foundation. Lauren received the 2019 CPAs Make a Difference award for Colorado. She has traveled to over 50 countries on volunteer and backpacking trips.