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Content Curation Advisory Board Member

Regional Specialist: Egypt & Middle East

Yasmin Helal

Senior Business and Operations Strategist, National Basketball Association (NBA); and Founder, Educate Me Foundation Egypt

Connect with Yasmin on social media :

Connect with  Educate Me Foundation on social media :

Yasmin is an Athlete, Entrepreneur and Activist. She is currently co-leading the National Basketball Association (NBA)’s newly established office in Egypt as a Senior Business and Operations Strategist. In the 12 years prior to that, Yasmin was dedicated to impacting her community through improving the quality of education. She established and led the award-winning Educational nonprofit Educate Me for 10 years before transitioning to its Board of Trustees (to date Educate Me has served over 100,000 beneficiaries across several Egyptian governorates). She also advised the Egyptian Minister of Education on Community education and managed to impact public spending and legislations around that.      

In parallel, Yasmin has spent over two decades as a professional basketball player in the Egyptian first division league and National team and received 40+ medals along her journey.

Yasmin received her Masters degree in International Education Management at the University of Education in PH-Ludwigsburg, Germany, and her Bachelor’s Degree in Systems and Bio-Medical Engineering from Cairo University.

Throughout her entrepreneurial journey, Yasmin received several awards and fellowships, has been featured in national and international media including BBC UK and ESPNW, and her start-up story with Educate Me has been published in “Finding your element” by Sir Ken Robinson and “Arab Women Rising” by Wharton. Among Yasmin’s awards and fellowships are King Abdullah II Award for Youth Innovation and Achievement, Synergos Fellowship, 50 most impactful social innovators (World CSR Congress, India), Best Woman in Nonprofit in MENA region (Amcham). Yasmin was also named among the 40 most influential Arabs under 40 (Arabian Business).

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Regional Specialist: India

Smarinita Shetty

Cofounder and CEO, India Development Review (IDR)

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Connect with India Development Review on social media :

Smarinita is the cofounder and CEO of India Development Review (IDR), Asia’s largest media platform focused on the development sector.

She has more than 25 years of experience leading functions across strategy, operations, sales and business development, largely in startup environments within corporates and social enterprises. Her core expertise and skills lie in building new markets and ecosystems; she has done this successfully with knowledge process outsourcing, low-income housing and adolescent girl empowerment.

Prior to IDR, Smarinita worked at Dasra, Monitor Inclusive Markets (now FSG), JP Morgan and The Economic Times. She also co-founded Netscribes – India’s first knowledge process outsourcing firm. 

Smarinita’s work and opinion has been featured in The Economist, Times of India, Mint and The Economic Times, among others. She has a BE in Computer Engineering and an MBA in Finance from Mumbai University.

Learn more from Smarinita ShettyLearn more from Smarinita Shetty

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Content Curation Advisory Board Member

Regional Specialist: Africa

Melissa Wainaina

Former Feminist Republik Creative Facilitator, Urgent Action Fund Africa

Connect with Melissa on social media :

Connect with Urgent Action Fund Africa on social media: :

Melissa Wainaina is a Kenyan feminist activist who has served as the Feminist Creative Facilitator at Urgent Action Fund Africa (UAF-Africa). Prior to that role, she led programmatic work in Africa for the feminist international human rights organization CREA. She has been involved in supporting African womn’s rights movements for almost fourteen years, working to address unjust power structures and systems. Since 2006, she has focused on promoting a more feminist approach to addressing the intersection between gender and sexuality rights, particularly among womn and girls with disabilities, LBTQ+ individuals, and rural-based women collectives.

Melissa has played a key role in building transnational and intersectional feminist networks in the Global South and beyond. She is passionate about ensuring that feminist and activist movements prioritize well-being and healing as they pursue liberational and transformative justice. Her work at Urgent Action Fund-Africa includes running the Feminist Republik Platform, a platform that solely aims to foster cultures of care for African womn’s human rights defenders, groups, organizations, and movements.

As an ‘artivist’, Melissa uses the power of art to nurture creative expression as a way for people to explore healing and processing inner wounds and trauma. She enjoys writing, poetry, designing jewelry, handmade crafts, and photography. Her photography was featured in the Global Fund for Women online exhibition ‘MAMA’, focusing on Motherhood Around the Globe.

Melissa has published work under various aliases, including Sikiliza, Mūthoni, Imani Kipepeo, and Kamanzi Wainaina. Her personal blog, ‘Sikiliza Speaks,’ has been running since 2007.

On a personal level, Melissa co-owns a small organic farm in rural Kenya with her partner, and they both advocate for food sovereignty, agroecology, and food justice.

IN MELISSA'S WORDSIN MELISSA'S WORDS

How do you think individual, collective, and planetary wellbeing are connected?

The interconnectedness of wellbeing spans across our bodies, communities, land and territories. Thriving on this planet requires us all to prioritise collective care and healing as a strategy for regeneration, vitality, and flourishing.

What do you hope the outcomes are from the global Hearth Summit?

More thinking and acting to normalise wellbeing and placing collective care putting people and the planet over profits and productivity.

WHAT MELISSA IS READING, LISTENING TO, AND WATCHING

“We Carry Generational Demands for Healing That Will Not Rest”: An African Feminist Exploration of Healing Justice (Urgent Action Fund Africa, 2023)

“Phodišo ka pele – The 2nd Feminist Republik Festival Reflection Video”

Dreams of Transformation: Healing Justice as Feminist Practice. Urgent Action Fund Africa 2022 Annual Report (Urgent Action Fund Africa, 2022)

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Regional Specialist: Hong Kong

Josephine Woo

Head of Holistic Education, Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden

Connect with Josephine on social media :

Connect with Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden on social media :

Josephine is an avid nature lover, passionate educator, and certified Mindfulness Teacher. This combination of passions has formed her unwavering dedication to educating others on the well-being of mankind and the important role of mother nature. 

Being a mindfulness practitioner, Josephine believes in the multifaceted benefits that a mindful study of nature can bring to the public. Josephine advocates that by observing nature closely, we can gain a sense of self-awareness and a deeper understanding of the inter-relating nature of compassion –as humans inter-relating with the world around us. In essence, she believes that a deeper study of nature nurtures a more spiritual understanding and respect for both the wider natural world and us. 

Apart from this, Josephine has extensive experience in commercial and non-profit organizations, working primarily within communications, operations, and the strategic development of education initiatives in her career. In 2022, she had the privilege to join Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden (KFBG) as the Head of the Holistic Education Department, where she designs and delivers innovative and transformative programs for the Hong Kong public to restore their connection with nature. Through her work implementing holistic learning opportunities at KFBG, Josephine has helped current and future generations nurture a deeper respect and appreciation for the impact their actions can have on the greater ecological environment.

KFBG, a sanctuary for animals and plants native to Hong Kong, is situated in the Tai Po district. It is a place where rigorous science-based species conservation and ecosystem restoration have been an ongoing effort since the 1990’s. During this time, KFBG has also educated the public on new ways of thinking regarding low-carbon living in response to the ecological impacts of resource usage within the day-to-day lifestyle of Hong Kong residents. By closely collaborating with the public, government, academia, NGOs and businesses, KFBG has remained devoted to protecting the common future of Hong Kong’s diverse ecosystems.

IN JOSEPHINE’S WORDSIN JOSEPHINE’S WORDS

How do you think individual, collective, and planetary wellbeing are connected?

I first began learning mindfulness practice from Plum Village: a community of mindfulness practitioners with yearly retreats held around the world. As a student of Thich Nhat Hanh, the concept of  “we inter-are” particularly resonated with me in relation to the inter-connected nature of this topic. One specific quote from Thich that stood out to me is as follows, 

“When we look at the Earth and at ourselves, we see that human beings are made of non-human elements. Looking into our body, we see minerals, animals, plants and other elements. We can see the whole evolution of life and the human species. If we were to remove the non-human elements, human beings would disappear. So, to protect humanity, we must protect the non-human elements.”

I believe this quote explains – likely in more graceful prose than I myself could write – my view of how myself, us, and the wider natural world intrinsically connect and interact with one another.

What do you hope the outcomes are from the global Hearth Summit?

I hope that more people will not only learn more about the work we do at KFBG, but also how we strive to practice and promote individual, collective, and planetary wellbeing based on an ecological worldview. Through this, we hope that attendees will be able to act on the lessons learned within this summit and bring this shared worldview into fruition.