Faculty

Julia Adams

Julia Adams is an educator at the Museum and the community organizations, Co-founder of SLIC Program and event activist, Survivor leadership mentor. She is an expert in tea culture, skilled in the subject of Chinese Tea Ceremony, Tang Dynasty Culture etc. Prior to relocating to New York, she held a permanent position in Human Resources Department (China), hosted and spoke at nationwide HR conferences as a public speaker and trainer. She is a Zither player, certified by Shanghai Conservatory of Music.

 

Marcelo Arroyave

Marcelo Arroyave is a researcher and counselor with 4+ years of experience in qualitative and quantitative research,  advising, outreach, and 3+ years of experience in postsecondary and K-12 education. He works with economically disadvantaged youth, low-income communities, and immigrants in vulnerable situations. 

 

Marcelo Arroyave

Marcelo Arroyave is a researcher and counselor with 4+ years of experience in qualitative and quantitative research,  advising, outreach, and 3+ years of experience in postsecondary and K-12 education. He works with economically disadvantaged youth, low-income communities, and immigrants in vulnerable situations. 

 

Safida Begum

Safida Begum holds two M.A.'s and has worked in education since 1987. She's worked as a school principal, project coordinator, and manager in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Tajikistan. She currently works as a group teacher in a Pre K school in New York City. She also serves as a volunteer for many international and national organizations 

 

 

Nadia Batool Bokhari

Nadia Batool Bokhari is a freelance journalist and TV anchor from Pakistan. She has over a decade of international reporting experience, often focusing on issues of social justice, human rights, and health. She's received fellowships from the U.S. on the multimedia web tools, health reporting, Census 2020. She has studied journalism in the USA, UK, India, and Pakistan. Follow her on Twitter at @nadiabatool. 

 

Nadia Bongo

Nadia Bongo holds a PhD in French Language and Literature from Aix Marseille Université. She taught French Language, French Literature and Research in the French Academy for six years. After publishing literary articles, she decided to focus on her creative work and attended a Cave Canem Workshop. She is working on a poetry collection in English.

 

Kinza Hilali

Kinza Hilali is a Doctor of Law. She earned her Ph.D in Law, and her Master's Degree in Civil and Business Law from Morocco. She is a Legal Professional with 5+ years of experience in the Judicial System (Ministry Of Justice and Liberties).

Mustafa Ibraheem

Mustafa Ibraheem holds a Ph.D. of Urban and Regional Planning with 12+ years of experience in community & spatial development, geographic information system (GIS), research, environmental planning, risk and disaster management, analysis and business development.

 

Pavel Ilin

Pavel Ilin is a philosopher of culture, musician, baker, and software engineer. Mr. Ilin holds a Master’s Degree in Philosophy of Culture. At the moment of his departure from Russia, he was enrolled in a PhD program in Philosophy of Culture. 

 

Sinan Kocaslan

Sinan Kocaslan graduated from Mimar Sinan University, Faculty of Fine Arts, Photography Department. A professional photographer with 25+ years of experience, he's worked on analog enlargement and chemical prints, large format digital printers, film developing, scanning, and film and paper print-out. Skilled in a wide range of studio, indoor and outdoor photography, he immigrated to the US at 2012 and joined the professional development program, Upwardly Global. Sinan provides quality customer service and is available for freelance photography and designing personal websites for creative development.

 

Dr. Chok Tenzin Monlam

Dr. Chok Tenzin Monlam is a long time practitioner of Buddhist meditation and Tibetan yoga after receiving intensive training on meditation, yoga and other healing methods from many great masters of the Tibetan Buddhist schools and also of the Bon and Indian traditions. He has traveled to over fifteen countries spreading this ancient knowledge. Additionally, he has over a decade of experience in Buddhist knowledge of physical and mental healing. Moreover, he has written two Tibetan language books and translated more than thirty books and many articles into English or into Tibetan. 

 

Alain Kamga Noubissi

Alain Kamga Noubissi is a Mechanical engineer with more than 10 years of experience maintaining industrial machines and overseeing manufacturing facilities. He has hands-on experience in metal fabrication and many years of experience designing projects for industrial use. With his experience as a design instructor, he can fluently read and interpret blueprints. 

 

Eugene Opoku-Mensah

Eugene Opoku-Mensah is a Computer Science educator & Researcher with over 6 years of experience in higher education level. Demonstrated skills in curricula development, tutoring, and data analytics using state-of-the-art tools to instruct both beginners and advanced learners. 

Eugene is an Assistant Professor at Felician University’s Department of Computer Science. To his credit, he has taught a diverse pool of students in Mathematics, first in Ghana; then continued in China; and now in the United States. Dr. Opoku-Mensah takes an interactive approach while teaching by employing practical illustrations that help students grasp complicated concepts. His interests are in Data Science and Information Security in Healthcare Systems.

 

Nichola Ramchurjee

Nichola Ramchurjee is a biodiversity/natural resources activist. With determination, she pursued her passion at the University of Mysore, India earning a Ph.D. in Environmental Science. She has more than 10 years of experience in research, biodiversity and natural resources conservation, remediation and data analytics. She explores social aspects in her environmental work and has published numerous research articles and books.

 

Nazia Roushan

Nazia Roushan loves creating and designing with people and is a strong advocate for the other 90%. Passionate about participatory and social urbanism, she believes in the empowerment of people through creating better living spaces and cities. She recently started her journey in UX Design and her interests include civic and humanistic technology. In her free time, she explores ways to make the open-source house accessible to the underserved and to those on the other side of the digital divide.

 

Sajana Suwal

Sajana Suwal is a researcher in geotechnical earthquake engineering and a lecturer with more than 6 years of experience in teaching civil engineering subjects in the Department of Civil Engineering in Khwopa Engineering College, Nepal. She holds a Ph.D. in Structural Engineering from Sapienza University of Rome, Italy. In Nepal, she also has 3+ years of experience working as a structural engineer in a wide-range of reinforced concrete and masonry structural engineering projects.

 

Stephen Tekpetey

Stephen Tekpetey holds a BSc (Honors) Degree in Natural Resources Management and Doctor of Philosophy in Wood Science and Technology from Ghana. He has over 6 years of experience as a lecturer and research scientist in Public Tertiary research and educational Institutions in Ghana. He has worked extensively on sustainable utilization of bamboo resources in climate risk environments and currently is an ISO technical committee member on bamboo and rattan standardization.

 

Asma Thabet

Asma Thabet is an actress, dancer, theatre teacher, director, and psychodramatist. She graduated from The High Institute of Dramatic Arts in Tunisia. She has over twelve years of experience working in professional theater, TV and cinema productions as an actor and director, and over six years of teaching theater in the Arts Centres and public high schools. ​ As an art activist, Asma is committed to promoting empathy and investigating social, political, and human rights issues through theater, and founded the non-profit organization Espwart, where she worked for five years as a volunteer psychodramatist and director with teenagers surviving domestic abuse.

 

Brikena Xibinaku

Brikena Xibinaku holds a B.A. and M.A. from the University of Tirana, Albania in Italian Language and culture. She has worked for more than 5 years as an Adjunct Professor at the Faculty of Foreign Languages at the University of Tirana.  She has taught Italian language, culture and Italian Literature to Albanian students. For more than 15 years, she’s worked at RTSH (Albanian Radio and Television) as an editorial archivist and translator. She is knowledgeable about Italian culture and its influence on Albanian Culture.

 

Ayoub (Yubi) Zareie

Ayoub (Yubi) Zareie has been doing research and data analysis in different settings for 20 years. He has a doctorate in Anthropology and Sociology and has worked with policy agencies, universities and research institutes in Iran, Malaysia and US. Since moving to the United States, he's volunteered with Unicef, NYC Department of Social Services, and has worked as a data analyst with Columbia University.