Shahzad Shakeel is an avid traveller and explorer who loves to connect with young people and helps them to bring their ideas into reality using digital solutions. Currently, he is Data and Insights Analyst at Oxfam International Secretariat specialized in Big Data, knowledge management, designing and co-creating systems that work for people. He presents analysis that helps decision makers to make sense of global data and publish it for external audiences. He has studied Management Sciences and did his thesis in Social Marketing and Community building that gave him the lens to look at the social problem as an opportunity to improve and contribute to the society. He has been working with young people to train them on business functions, social innovation, community and network building. In addition, he has been part of EYW E-Motive program where he had the opportunity to organize a group of learners and work on their learning questions followed by building local solutions.

Maartje Willemijn Smits is a gender and diversity expert with a specific interest in learning and education. She is based in Sweden where she is currently studying educational theory to expand her knowledge. Maartje has been involved in the E-Motive programme since 2015, mainly as a researcher from Utrecht University, The Netherlands. Together with her colleagues she evaluated the possibilities of bringing E-Motive to an online learning environment. Independently she evaluated the peer-to-peer learning of the E-Motive methodology in two projects (Bangladesh and Pakistan respectively) within the Empower Youth for Work project. Maartje sees great potential in E-Motive as a methodology to solve pressing issues by sharing existing knowledge and resources among peers.  

Bushra Ahmad a young activist and enthusiast for innovation & Youth’s socioeconomic empowerment currently works as Programme and Information System Advisor with proficient knowledge of compliance and operation management skills in Oxfam Great Britain. She comes with an extensive dexterity of cocreation, innovative design thinking, Human centred design approach and Social Innovation knowledge from University of Cape Town. With more than 6 years of experience in social & entrepreneurial development of rural and urban youth of Pakistan and Small Medium Enterprise (SME) she was able to lay the foundation of Rural Innovations Hubs in Pakistan to support young social entrepreneurs. She also formed the National Youth Advisory Board for social injustice. As an activist from the platform of Oxfam Novib in the Netherlands she was able to carry forward the debate internationally around creating more spaces for Youth as key for Social Change. She has completed her Master’s degree with distinction in Media & Mass Communication from reputed International Islamic University, Islamabad Pakistan along with other academic knowledge and skills in French language from National University of Modern Languages (NUML) in Pakistan. Currently she is based in Pakistan. Her motivation to join E-motive stems from creating and supporting grass root solutions for Youth of Pakistan by connecting them with well-established global enterprises and social movements thus furthering her goal and mission to support knowledge without borders.

Position: trainee at Gender Justice TU of Oxfam Novib Prior to her current role in Oxfam Novib I worked as a lawyer for almost six years in Peru. She decided to have a career shift to contribute to make the world a more just place. On that search she did a Masters on International Development at Utrecht University and started working in the Gender Justice team of Oxfam Novib. As part of the Empower@Scale project she participates in two E-Motive processes: one in Uganda and one in Nigeria. She is interested on learning about peer to peer learning dynamics that change and challenge the way in which development is traditionally understood and practiced.

Busara Clemence is a youth gender expert based in Tanzania. He has spent most of his time in East Africa, mainly in Tanzania leading implementation of youth development programs on economic empowerment, Gender and Skills Development. He enjoys Reading, Travelling, Hiking and occasionally works as tour guide in Tanzania during his spare time. Busara graduated with B.A. in Cultural Anthropology (Tumaini University), Bachelor of Laws (Mzumbe University) and MBA Candidate (Mzumbe University). He has worked closely to Government of Tanzania with three International Organization (ILO, Action Aid-Global Platform and Technoserve). Busara ha reliable experience at field implementation and Management roles.

Position: Jr. program officer Empower Youth for Work, Oxfam Novib As Jr program officer for Empower Youth for Work, I am interested to learn about successful models on youth participation and youth advocacy models in the rural context in India. I will ensure learning from the peer visit will be transferred to other Empower Youth for Work countries and to Oxfam in general, especially in my role as webmaster for the E-motive website.

Nimesh Ghimire is currently a Senior Fellow at the Lang Center for Civic and Social Responsibility, housed within Swarthmore College -- one of America's most prestigious liberal arts colleges. Prior to his current role, Nimesh served as Renewal Manager (Changemaker Campus) for Ashoka, a global organization that identifies and invests in social entrepreneurs globally. Nimesh has over 8 years experience in being deeply involved in experimenting with – and learning from – grassroots engagement and innovation models, having been a part of Nepal's National Innovation Center and co-led the design and implementation of two Innovation Labs in rural Nepal – a collaboration and resource space for community members to come together to design their own solutions to pressing local challenges.

works at the intersection of participatory design, technology innovation, and Global South-South collaboration. She spent 5 years building ecosystems for inclusive innovation at Twende - a Tanzanian grassroots social innovation center where Tanzanians are empowered to design and make their own technologies to solve community challenges. She sits on the Steering Committee of the International Development Innovation Network, a network supporting 1000+ innovators, mostly based in the Global South, and is a CoFounder of IDIN-SADC, a regional consortium of grassroots innovation centers in southern Africa. She holds a Masters of Management Science (Public Policy) from Tsinghua University, China, where she studied as a Schwarzman Scholar, and a BA from Wellesley College, USA, where she majored in astrophysics. Currently she is based in Australia. She is motivated to join the E-Motive Think Tank because she believes well-curated Global South peer-to-peer exchange is one of the best ways to solve problems.