FEATURED EVENT: Ahla Fawda

Ahla Fawda is an NGO created in 2014, in Beirut Lebanon, that addresses all aspects of community welfare; humanitarian, cultural and environmental, and aims to provide a support framework for communities in need. What started as an NGO in beautifying community space, creating street events and festivals, distributing food items and clothes, has grown mainly into a platform for humanitarian services. Since the Beirut Port Explosion, and the drastic decline of Lebanon, our Humanitarian relief work has increased tenfold. From rebuilding and fixing homes, feeding and providing the bare necessities to the suffering community, providing medical support to fight the COVID19 pandemic, and assisting in all the unfortunate and tragic circumstances that are occurring in Lebanon.

Speakers:

Imane Assaf – Imane believes that generosity and kindness are powerful tools to be implemented into our personal growth. To be able to spread that to the community is an amazing thing.
She founded the Beirut, Lebanon-based NGO Ahla Fawda in 2013 with the goal to support, provide for, assist and sustain basic necessities for Lebanon’s most vulnerable communities. Ahla Fawda organizes cultural festivals, environmental protection projects, and provide much needed food, clothing and medical aid.
In 2019, she co-founded the NGO Art of Change, also based in Lebanon. Art of Change promotes hope by beautifying communities through creating breathtaking murals, and turning the streets into large public galleries. So far, they have created over 200 murals across Lebanon.

John Rbeiz – John is transformation maestro focusing on systems and process improvement. He is passionate about all things related to people, planet and business. After 8 years in Australia, working in and with a wide range of purpose-driven organisations, John is back to Lebanon, keen to channel his energy into projects that accelerate the transition to a circular economy.

Ziad Daouk – Ziad Daouk is an accomplished operations manager with over a decade of experience in social and impactful work. He began his journey with Ahla Fawda as a volunteer in 2013 while studying graphic design. Over the years, Ziad has developed a passion for management and operations, which has led him to excel in his current role. As the operations manager at Ahla Fawda, Ziad plays a vital role in ensuring that all operations run smoothly and efficiently. His dedication and expertise have made him an invaluable member of the team.

Mona Hallak, Director of Neighbourhood initiative – The mission of the AUB Neighborhood Initiative is to mobilize the full power of American University of Beirut for the public good in Ras Beirut, promoting the neighborhood’s livability, vitality, and diversity through innovative outreach activities and multidisciplinary research. Our work encourages critical citizenship, giving AUB faculty and students the opportunity to apply critical thinking through practical problem-solving. We have coordinated and implemented several tactical urban interventions and projects to address social and environmental issues, activate public space and engage the community in reclaiming their neighborhood, bringing together community leaders, designers, artists, NGOs, public and private institutions. We rely on participatory design processes to involve the community members in making their city more sustainable and improving their quality of life. We hope to serve as a model of place-based engagement for universities in Lebanon.

Effat Ammar, We Deserve Better Foundation – Born the next day after Beirut explosions, We Deserve Better Foundation has been a much-needed supporter, parent, backbone to a lot of families in Lebanon in need since August 2020. From supplying food boxes, hygiene products, medicine & medical equipment, to rebuilding workshops and houses, WDBF team has been on the ground to help.The three main pillars of the organization are crisis relief, education and empowerment. For the past three years all the projects conducted by the teams and volunteers have been around these pillars. WDBF is also working on an empowerment project connecting talents from the USA with ones from Lebanon.

Guglielmo Mazzà, ReFuse – Guglielmo is an environmental engineer and social entrepreneur. He is the co-founder and CEO of ReFuse, a social enterprise based in Beirut that offers community-based solid waste management services. Guglielmo worked in development initiatives and humanitarian response in the field of water, sanitation, and hygiene and financial inclusion. Projects implemented reach Italy, Kosovo, Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda. As a member of the Green Inclusive and Climate Smart Finance Action Group of the European Microfinance Platform and working with Microfinanza Srl, Guglielmo focused on the development of sustainable microcredit strategies and products for microfinance institutions in Africa and the MENA region. His passion is combining equitable access to resources with ecosystem justice and restoration.