Grace has extensive experience in the education and development sector having worked on projects in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, France and the Netherlands. She previously focused on utilizing digital technology to help the underprivileged to access university by co-founding the two country offices of Kiron Open Higher Education, where her most  recent role was MENA Regional Director. Grace has a Master degree in International Relations from Sciences Po Paris and a Bachelor degree from Leiden University. In her current position as Executive Director, Grace has oversight of the different programs run by Jusoor, including; global scholarships, education in emergencies, career development and entrepreneurship programs, all empowering Syrian youth for a brighter tomorrow.

Professor, Department of Political Sciences, Hasan Kalyoncu University Gaziantep. A resident of Germany for fifteen years, Emel Topçu has specialised in topics such as Syrian refugees, volunteerism, adult education, human rights, women’s rights, minority – majority relationships, multi-culturalism and integration of migrants into European societies. She has published numerous articles, conducted research, training and consultancy both within and outside the EU. She has carried out this work with several organisations including the Council of Europe, Ministry of National Education, Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education Project, which aims to foster a more democratic society in Turkey by strengthening democratic citizenship and human rights education. Currently she is researching into the impact of the influx of Syrian refugees on Turkey and the effect this has on communities and social cohesion. Emel Topçu is also the General Manager of KaLMIREC (Migration, Education, Population and the Employment Research Centre) at Hasan Kalyoncu University.

Dr. Nabil is the founding CEO of “Zitouna Tamkeen”, the first and sole Islamic Microfinance/Economic Empowerment Institution in Tunisia. He is also the Founder of the International Center of Economic empowerment and the Founding President of “Tamkeen for Development”; an NGO specialized in the Economic Empowerment of disadvantaged people. He was Senior Investment Manager at the Investment Department of the Islamic Development Bank and Vice Chairman of the Investment Technical Committee at the same Bank. He was also the Senior Executive Advisor of the Mayor of Medina in charge of investments and Founding Member of Medina Municipal Investment Council. Dr. Nabil is also a Board member of several Islamic financial institutions. Dr. Nabil has held academic appointments as an Instructor at HEC Montreal (Canada), as a Visiting Professor at the International Management School, Paris (France) and as an Assistant Professor at King Fahad University of Petroleum and Minerals Dahran (KSA), where he was a cofounder of the mega-center of excellence in Islamic Finance. He has presented and published his research papers at top international finance conferences. Dr. Nabil holds a Ph.D degree in Finance and a Master’s degree in Financial Engineering both with honors from HEC Montreal, Montreal University. He is recipient of several honors, awards and grants. The mission of “Zitouna Tamkeen” is to contribute to the economic inclusion of disadvantaged people through promoting the entrepreneurship and supporting self-employment projects. Poverty alleviation coupled with job creation remain the ultimate goal of “Zitouna Tamkeen”. The institution enjoys the strong presence of reputable local and international partners.

Founder of Smart Marionette. Juman Sakkar is 27 years,  she has studied computer engineer and graduated on 2017. She started her project Smart Marionette on 2018. She was able in this project to combine between safe and interesting method in a technology way for giving a message to the children in a positive way. She was able to register it to reserve property and patent it is about a real smart theater that can be controlled on a web app.

Dr. Al Mahrouq holds a PhD degree in Industrial Economics/ Small Firms Policy, from
Newcastle upon Tyne Business School, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom.
Dr. Al Mahrouq currently works as the Director General of Jordan Chamber of Industry. He
has previously held several positions in government, private and academic organizations. He
has worked for more than 10 years as a consultant in the fields of economics,
managements, and SMEs for several national, regional and international institutions. Has
also worked as a trainer assisting various institutions nationally and regionally in capacity
building efforts on various topics, on top of which come SMEs development, development
policies, competitiveness, gender and employment.

Tariq Cheema is a renowned social innovator and philanthropist. He is the founder of the World Congress of Muslim Philanthropists, a global network of affluent individuals, corporations, foundations, governments and academia, dedicated to advancing effective and accountable giving. His trendsetting efforts towards institutionalising Muslim Philanthropy in recent times have earned worldwide acclaim.

Strategy and Business Development Director at Gaziantep Chamber of Commerce. After graduating from Ankara University, Business Administration Department she has been
working in Gaziantep Chamber of Commerce ( GCC) for 23 years. Coordinator of EU
Public Information Relay and EU Information Network, Deputy Secretary General ,
President of EU Business Development Center Co., Business Development and
Strategy Director are her main task fields in that period.
Project preparation and management, Strategy Planning, SME Support, , regional
development, culture and tourism, economic and social cohesion of immigrants,
Entrepreneurship and Start ups are key topics of her task. The activities of the
Chamber in these fields are mostly funded by EU, UNHCR, UNDP, EBRD, and
development agencies. Her main responsibility is the development of strategy and
also coordinate all projects of the Chamber.

Farooq Burney is the Executive Director of Al Fakhoora and Together, programmes of Education Above All. Al Fakhoora works to promote the right to education in conflict and post-conflict states by providing opportunities for marginalized youth to become educated, professionally skilled and inspirational leaders of the future.  The programme provides comprehensive scholarship and empowerment packages, focused not only on quality education but also on student services, leadership development and economic empowerment, currently in six countries: Palestine, Syria, Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and KRG. Together, an exciting new programme of Education Above All, works to provide access to education for marginalized children and youth in Qatar. Farooq has over 20 years of experience in the NGO sector in North America, Asia, and the Middle East.

Graduated from TED Ankara College (’91) then finished Gazi University Management Department
and has a Master Degree from Hacettepe University Management Department. He spends more than 15 years in Human Recourses Sector. He was the Sales Director of Kariyer.net between 2004 to 2008 and worked 4 years in Adecco. He also has an experience in Education sector and worked in Wall Street English as Assistant General Manager for 2 years. He established United Work as a General Manager in İstanbul/Turkey in the beginning of 2017 which is founded by Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and still working at the same role with almost 30 colleagues in 3 Cities of Turkey with 5 offices. United Work focused on providing legal jobs for the refugees who lives in Turkey as a non-profit organization.

Co-founder of Migport: Online Sharing Platform for Refugees
2018 Young Transatlantic İnnovation Leaders Initiative Turkey Fellow at German
Marshall Fund of U.S. and State Department of U.S.
Berat Kjamili is co-founder of Migport, online knowledge sharing platform for refugees
which aims to connect refugees with locals. He is graduated from Middle East
Technical University, Economics Department as well as University of San Diego. He
has launched digital appointment “e-residency” system that over 10 million foreigners
used in Turkey. He served as associate expert / expert at University of San Diego,
The Institute for Future Research and European Commission programs.
Berat has established Migport in 2016 inspiring by his own migration journey. Today,
the platform serves as a mobile app as a meeting point between locals and refugees.
Its hybrid structure identifies the problems of refugees by giving them a chance to talk
about themselves and ensure social integration with solutions. Migport has 10.000
users in 100 countries and it has more than 10 awards.

Basak Saral is a Chief of Party at Building Markets. Besides, she is a Co-founder of DCUBE and she is currently responsible for the Systems Lab of SDG Impact Accelerator. Building Markets is an INGO that creates jobs and encourages economic growth in crisis-affected countries by connecting local small businesses to capital and supply chains. DCUBE is an R&D cooperative that facilitates circular economy solutions. SDG Impact Accelerator is a global accelerator built by a multi stakeholder platform focusing on empowering systems entrepreneurs and innovators who are providing impact at scale.

Başak has worked towards sustainable development for the last fifteen years. Her work aimed to empower individuals as well as communities to actively participate in social, economic and political life as change makers. Thus, she has always prioritized capacity development for resilience, as well as sustainability and development.

Turkish lawyer, registered to Ankara Bar. During his undergraduate studies in Bilkent Univeristy, he was the coordinator of a project called Citizens of Hope for the benefit of refugees in Turkey which were mostly war victims from Syria. While working in coordination/cooperation with Turkish Red Crescent and various local NGOs as well as organizing events with UNHCR, the project made efforts to improve their living standards by organizing various campaigns to provide their needs. Besides those direct efforts, it also worked for their integration into society, raising awareness and advocacy. After his graduation, he played an active role in Ankara Bar's social responsibility projects. He worked in TUSIAD (Turkish Business & Industry Association) EU Representation in Brussels as a researcher for almost a year while doing his master’s degree in VUB there. He is also the assistant coordinator on Turkey in Amnesty International Belgium-Francophone and volunteer for various local NGOs working for refugees. Now, he is working on a project to create an international network of know-how exchange/instant communication between relief and development actors working for refugees.

Expert at KOSGEB Cooperation Supports Development Department, FRiT, Project-SME. From Feb. – March 2010, was engaging with training and continued education on Electrochemical Methods, TÜBİTAK Project, Heidelberg University (Germany). From Jun. 2006 till present moment, is enrolled in the Doctorate Programme at Anatolian University, Department of Chemical Engineering (Eskisehir).