Our People
A team of people driven to change world
Our Board of Directors
Finding Refuge is led by a board of young women-identifying change-makers
Co-Founder & Co-Executive Director
Ghania Chaudhry
Ghania Chaudhry is a graduate of New York University where she received a Masters in International Relations and a Bachelors in Global Liberal Studies. She has extensive experience working in the non-profit and public sector, including positions at the Brennan Center for Justice, The Permanent Mission of Pakistan to the UN, The NYC Mayor’s Office for International Affairs, and Karam Foundation. Her interest in migration and refugee issues stems from her background as an immigrant to the United States. Her father came from Pakistan to the United States seeking refuge and many of her family members are migrants in Europe, including Greece. Ghania has in-depth research experience on migration, displacement, and humanitarian aid provision particularly in Greece and Syria. In her undergraduate career, she has conducted extensive research on the development of the international refugee regime and its implementation in the local context specifically in relation to service provision to displaced communities in Athens. She is currently researching the nexus between forced displacement, conflict, and demographic engineering in Syria.
In her free time, her free time she enjoys reading political commentary, traveling, and watching Bollywood movies!
Co-Founder & Co-Executive Director
Lena Azzouz
Lena Azzouz is a graduate student at San Francisco State University, studying social psychology and conducting research on racism, ethnic identity, and time perspective. Lena is currently employed as a research assistant for the Mellon/American Council of Learned Societies Fellowship, studying the experiences of Arab immigrants and refugees in the Bay Area, California.
She is also a board member of the General Union of Palestine Students at San Francisco State University. Lena has led and participated in service trips to Greece through another student organization, Service Through Faith, where she volunteered with teaching English and providing translation services. Lena is passionate about community organizations and is committed to fighting against injustice both locally and internationally
In her free time, Lena enjoys exploring the San Francisco Bay Area and learning how to cook traditional Palestinian and Tunisian foods to connect with her roots.
Co-Founder & Board Memeber
Ruth Dingle
Ruth is a graduate of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. During her studies she focused on intercultural community music programmes with displaced people in the UK. For over a year, she has volunteered for several grassroots organisations in Athens, predominantly as a caseworker for Khora Asylum Support Team. Ruth has been pivotal in launching our Duniya project and legal support initiative.
In her free time, Ruth enjoys exploring the countryside surrounding Athens, and learning Farsi and Dari.
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Board Member & Director of Public Relations
Cheree Ciara Scott
As an undergraduate film and television major at New York University, Cherée aspires to document the life of misrepresented peoples affected by immigration and/or incarceration by empowering them to tell their own stories through film rather than the exploitative nature by which film currently acts.
Board Member & Director of Finance
Aalya Surti
Aalya is a graduate student at New York University studying comparative politics. Her research focuses on ethnic conflict, migration, and statelessness in South Asia. She is especially interested in the processes by which stateless people become such within the bounds of the nation-state model, as well as what they signify for our modern conceptions of citizenship. She is currently researching the nexus between climate-induced displacement of local populations in Bangladesh and Myanmar and the Rohingya crisis.
Board Member
Alexandra Tarzikhan
Board Member
Rebecca Dharmapalan
Rebecca Dharmapalan is a filmmaker, legal scholar, and activist. Her passion lies in human rights and justice for underrepresented and marginalized groups. Dharmapalan is Glamour’s College Woman of the Year 2017, awarded Teen Vogue’s 21 Under 21, and an OZY Genius Award winner 2018. Dharmapalan received her MA of Human Rights Law at SOAS University of London, and her BA in Sociology at University of California Berkeley.
Board Member
Tara Ansari Esfahani
Rama Hilouneh
Rama Hilouneh is originally from London and a student of Law with International Relations. She founded a group/foundation called ‘Wings for Syria’ which creates projects to support and uplift the generation of women and children who were impacted by the war. She volunteers with an organization called ‘Friends Without Borders’ as a translator and caseworker for many asylum seekers who reach the UK. One of her proudest projects is starting a BAME (Black, Asian, Minority, Ethnics) scheme which employs students to tackle the racial inequality gap in education. Through this, she was able to write and formalize a ‘Zero Tolerance to Racism’ Policy at her University.
Board Member
Rummi Khan
Rummi Khan, Chief Operating Officer for the Muslim Public Affairs Council, is an experienced campaign manager, project manager, and strategist at the intersection of culture, faith communities, and politics.
He has over a decade of experience in public affairs, political campaigns, community engagement, and event management. Prior to MPAC he co-founded an international arts and culture initiative and served in leadership roles on Presidential, Congressional, and Federal Policy campaigns.
Our Staff
Our staff consists of a driven team of students, community members, and professionals dedicated to ending the homelessness experience by refugees. At the moment, almost all of our staff members are volunteers.
Director of Onsite Operations and Programs
Issa Coulibaly
Issa has joined our team as Director of Program Operations. Previously, he has worked with a number of organizations supporting the refugee community around Athens. Issa works diligently to ensure that Finding Refuge’s programs are running smoothly on the ground, from attending to resident’s needs to implementing and executing community events. Besides his work with Finding Refuge, Issa is an aspiring business man, working to bring the flavors of Africa to Greek households. Thank you for all that you do!
Director of Partnerships
Monira Malak
Monira has joined the Finding Refuge Team as the Director of Partnerships. Utilizing her experience and network from working with a number of refugee-supporting organizations around Athens and her talent of communication, Monira develops partnerships with organizations to secure a plethora of resources for the individuals Finding Refuge supports. Besides her work with Finding Refuge, Monira is also a university student and a mother to two kids. Thank you for being a super human and a part of our team!
Logistics Coordinator
Yazan Al Khadra
Percent Women
70% of our team is women-identifying
Percent Refugees
refugees or people with refugee backgrounds comprise 35% of our team.
Team members base in the US
A little over half of our team is based all over the US including Chicago, New York, New Jersey, California, and Texas
Team members based in Athens
Five members of our team are onsite in Athens.
Percent People of Color or other marginalized identities
We take pride in the fact that our team is diverse, consisting mostly of people of color and other minority identities.
Cities
Our team members are spread across 8 different cities all around the world. These cities include Chicago, New York, New Jersey, Dallas, San Francisco, Berlin, Athens, and London.
Stipended Staff Members
Our organization is mostly volunteer run! We only have three staff members in Athens that receive small monthly stipends to help us implement our onsite programs.
Percent Are Passionate about reducing homelessness
All of our team members are dedicated to our mission!
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Finding Refuge is a registered 501 (c) (3) organization in the United States our EIN number is 84-2009994