Meet the Alumni Board.

Ajauwa Ifedayo, professionally known as Iffective, is a KECTIL Alumni Board Member, creative entrepreneur, musician, and emerging technology and cybersecurity professional based in Glasgow, Scotland. As a KECTIL alumnus and Alumni Board Member, Ifedayo is passionate about youth leadership, community development, and creating opportunities for young people to connect, collaborate, and make meaningful impact. He has contributed to the development and coordination of KECTIL Alumni initiatives, including essay competitions, cultural exchange programmes, and community engagement activities. Ifedayo is also a recording artist whose music blends Pop, Soul, Folk, Rock, and African influences. His creative work focuses on storytelling, cultural connection, and inspiring positive change. He is also the writer of the KECTIL Theme Song, contributing his musical and creative talents to the wider KECTIL community. Beyond his work with KECTIL and music, Ifedayo has a growing interest in technology and cybersecurity, reflecting his broader passion for innovation, digital skills, and lifelong learning. He remains committed to strengthening the KECTIL Alumni community and supporting initiatives that empower young leaders to transform their communities and contribute to positive global change.

Azeem Yousaf is a dynamic and accomplished individual whose journey reflects an unwavering commitment to education, youth empowerment, and social welfare. Azeem is a Textile Engineer by profession and a postgraduate scholar in Business Administration, blending academic excellence with a deep passion for community service and leadership. Currently, Azeem serves as the Manager Distribution Sales at Lucky Core Industries, where he utilizes his business expertise to drive organizational success. His professional pursuits, however, are complemented by a profound dedication to public service and community development. Previously, Azeem was elected as a Youth Counselor in the Provincial Government of Punjab, Pakistan. In this role, he championed various initiatives focused on enhancing youth education and employment opportunities, believing strongly in the transformative power of knowledge and economic empowerment. Beyond youth-focused efforts, he has been a fervent advocate for women's empowerment, actively promoting equal opportunities and striving to dismantle barriers that limit women's participation in society. Azeem’s dedication to social welfare is particularly evident in his work supporting orphaned children. He has led initiatives to secure educational funding, provide family assistance, and facilitate technical education programs designed to equip young individuals with vital skills for their futures. On a global stage, Azeem has made significant contributions through his longstanding involvement with the Kectil Program, an international youth leadership platform. After being selected to attend the Kectil Youth Leadership Conference in Atlanta, USA, in 2017, he went on to serve as a mentor for the 2019 Atlanta Youth Conference. His commitment earned him successive leadership roles as a Regional Coordinator and Youth Mentor, and he now serves proudly as an Alumni Board Member for the Kectil Program. In 2023, Azeem demonstrated his commitment to global leadership by participating in the Kectil Global Youth Leadership Conference in Atlanta. Additionally, he attended the Kectil Regional Conference in Papua New Guinea, strengthening his resolve to empower youth across diverse cultures and regions. Azeem is recognized as a youth advocate for excellence, inspiring young leaders to pursue educational, professional, and personal growth with passion and integrity. His multifaceted contributions reflect a deep belief that education, empowerment, and active community engagement are the cornerstones for creating lasting, positive change.

Edvard Grigoryan is a conflict analyst and policy professional working at the intersection of diplomacy, peacebuilding, and regional security, with a particular focus on the South Caucasus and European foreign policy. He holds a Master's degree in EU International Relations and Diplomacy from the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium, which he completed on a full European Commission scholarship, and a Bachelor's degree in International Relations and Diplomacy from Yerevan State University. His work combines rigorous, conflict-sensitive analysis with hands-on peacebuilding, informed by firsthand experience of conflict in his own region. Edvard trained inside the Council of Europe's Directorate of Political Affairs and External Relations in Strasbourg, where he drafted political briefings and analytical notes supporting the Secretary General's reporting on European security, and followed the work of the Parliamentary Assembly and the Committee of Ministers. As a Future Leaders Fellow at the Hungarian Institute of International Affairs (HIIA), he researched post-conflict connectivity in the South Caucasus and co-authored a policy analysis on the Armenia–Azerbaijan peace process. He currently serves as a Policy Analyst with the Centre for International Security and Economic Strategy (CISES) in London (on a remote basis). Edvard has represented Armenian youth on European and international platforms, including as a Youth Delegate to the Council of Europe's Congress of Local and Regional Authorities and as a Young European Ambassador with the EU Neighbours East programme. He has also contributed to national policymaking through his work with the Office of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, supporting the Government's long-term transformation and governance agenda. He is the Co-Founder and Programme Coordinator of Kectil Armenia Educational and Cultural NGO, leading initiatives at the intersection of peacebuilding, intercultural dialogue, youth leadership, and civic participation. Within the wider Kectil community, he serves as a Global Board Member of The Kectil Program, where he authored the programme's Conflict and Peace curriculum and helps steer and mange Kectil Community Projects, the YouTube channel, and Alumni Network. His peacebuilding training includes fellowships and programmes with CMI – Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation, the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), the Imagine Center for Conflict Transformation, and the Hansen Leadership Institute at the University of San Diego. Working across Armenian, English, French, and Russian, Edvard's work brings together conflict analysis, diplomacy, peacebuilding, and youth leadership, with a particular commitment to inclusive, locally grounded approaches to peace and cooperation. He believes the most consequential change begins where it is hardest — in divided communities, fragile regions, and local realities that rarely make the headlines.

Goharik Grigoryan is an educational leader and researcher with a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and a strong professional focus on education policy, governance, youth development, and international educational cooperation. She is currently pursuing the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree in Research and Innovation in Higher Education (MARIHE), an internationally oriented programme delivered across Austria, Finland, China, and Germany, focusing on higher education policy, governance, management, research, and innovation. Goharik recently completed a one-year research programme in Poland under the Lane Kirkland Scholarship, hosted at Jagiellonian University, where she conducted research on governance and policy in early childhood education. Her academic interests focus on strengthening education systems through effective governance, evidence-based policymaking, and international cooperation. She currently serves as a Researcher at the 405 Educational Alliance, contributing to research and strategic initiatives aimed at strengthening Armenia’s education ecosystem and supporting evidence-informed education policy. Goharik has professional experience in Armenia’s public sector, including work at the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia and an internship at the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Republic of Armenia, where she gained practical experience in policymaking and public administration. She is the Founder and President of the Professional Orientation Center NGO, dedicated to supporting young people in making informed educational and career choices. She is also the Founder and President of Kectil Armenia Educational and Cultural NGO, leading initiatives at the intersection of education, cultural heritage, youth empowerment, and international cooperation. Throughout her academic, professional, and civic engagement, Goharik has represented Armenia in more than 30 countries through international conferences, educational programmes, youth initiatives, and intercultural exchange opportunities. Her international experience has strengthened her commitment to fostering intercultural dialogue, global citizenship, and meaningful international collaboration in education. Goharik’s work brings together education policy, research, youth development, intercultural dialogue, and international cooperation, with a particular commitment to contributing to more inclusive, innovative, and evidence-based education systems in Armenia and beyond.

Hein Htet Oo is a strategy and policy executive with extensive experience spanning government, UN, and nonprofit settings — from leading operations of New York City Department of Small Business Services Career Centres in Manhattan to serving as Advisor to the Ambassador at Myanmar's UN Mission. He holds an MBA in Sustainability from Bard College.

John Jawara is a Kectil Alumni Board Member from Sierra Leone. He assists Kectil with West African engagement and issues. His professional specialty is healthcare. He holds a Master’s degree in Healthcare Administration from Grand Valley State University in Michigan and a Bachelor of Science in Community Health from Kenya Methodist University.

Mridul Upadhyay is a youth peacebuilding and inclusive governance practitioner from India, and a Kectil Alumni Board Member (2018 Colleague). He is Co-Founder and Chief Advisor of Youth for Peace International. He currently works as a Programme Management Specialist — Youth at the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT).

Ronald Barzola is a Kectil Alumni Board Member from Lima, Peru. Between 2018 and 2021 he was a Hult Prize Winner and served as a Peru Community Builder. In 2023 he became a Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative alumnus. He currently works as Program Manager for the Impact Startup Competition and as Director of Innovation at the Impact at Scale Incubator in Lima. He is an international speaker on innovation and entrepreneurship. With Kectil he has also helped organize in-person Latin America gatherings, including the 2025 conference in Lima.

I am a communications professional and Master’s student with a background in Journalism and Mass Communication. I am passionate about storytelling and social impact, using communication as a tool to amplify voices, inspire young people, and create meaningful connections across communities. My journey with KECTIL began as a participant. I later served as a Regional Coordinator and currently serving as a KECTIL Alumni Board Member, collaborating with a global network of young leaders committed to innovation, leadership, and positive change. Beyond KECTIL, the intersection of communication, multimedia storytelling, digital media, and leadership lives at the heart of my interests. I believe in the power of stories to shape perspectives, empower communities, and inspire the next generation of changemakers.

Sherry M. Knowles is the Founder and Executive Director of the Kectil Program and the Malmar Knowles Family Foundation. An intellectual property attorney with more than 30 years of experience in global corporate and private practice, she created Kectil to connect high-potential young people in developing countries with mentors, peers, and practical training in leadership, innovation, and entrepreneurship.

Wycliffe Guguni is a Kenyan Senior Manager in social innovation, impact management, and the building of entrepreneurial ecosystems. His management work sits at the intersection of sustainable development, research, entrepreneurship and innovation, youth leadership and policy. His recent thinking emphasizes the importance of sound policy, community-led research and effective innovation processes in creating enabling environments for entrepreneurship and development. His focus has expanded beyond individual projects and organizations toward the systems and ecosystems that enable innovation and entrepreneurship to flourish. Over the course of his career, he has evolved from a youth and community leader into an increasingly influential ecosystem builder, connecting entrepreneurs, young leaders, researchers, policymakers, development organizations, government, and the private sector to advance developing solutions to complex social, economic, and environmental challenges. Guguni serves as the country director for the KECTIL Program in Kenya, where he oversees program implementation on public policy debates, training on innovation by design thinking, intellectual property workshops and entrepreneurial mentorship events for networking and partnerships development. He has served for 5 years as Africa’s Program Coordinator for Fast Forward 2030, an initiative of the University College London hosted by the Institute for Global Prosperity, where his work focused on fostering impact entrepreneurship for sustainable development, building partnerships and coordinating interactions among actors in the Fastforward2030 entrepreneurial ecosystem. He is also chairperson of the KECTIL Alumni Board and a board member at Empower Her Initiative. His earlier work includes grassroots environmental initiatives such as Kibra Green, where he coordinated youth and women in solid-waste-management activities involving waste collection, recycling, drainage, community sensitization and training. He subsequently worked in social innovation and impact management through the KTH Global Development Hub, where his work brought together innovation, development, sustainability, impact and multidisciplinary collaboration. His KTH experience included a multidisciplinary water-quality project involving KTH, Stockholm Vatten and Ericsson, demonstrating his exposure to human-centered design and cross-sector innovation. He has led research and impact initiatives focused on women's economic empowerment, inclusive growth and Kenya's informal economy. Guguni has over his career, established a strong global network of youth leaders, innovators, institutional partners, community leaders and impact investors. His professional roles repeatedly place him in the space between institutions and communities—helping different actors understand one another, collaborate around shared challenges and translate ideas into initiatives capable of generating measurable impact.