Samra Sheikh

Co-Founder and President

Samra Sheikh (pronounced Summ-ra Shayk) has extensive international experience and witnessed first-hand the impact of violence, displacement, and trauma on the lives of war victims — which guides her work on women, youth , education, reconciliation and empowerment, specifically in post-conflict countries. Samra has over seven years of experience working internationally and in Canada in various sectors, including not-for-profit, NGOs, think tanks and higher education institutions. She has served with the Royal Canadian Airforce and has recently received many awards for her leadership and dedication to advancing economic resilience and women’s empowerment. She has received the Changing Lives award from Royal Roads University, recognizing her academic excellence, leadership, and outstanding contribution to the international and Canadian community.

Samra has collaborated and worked on further research and policy development projects and has published a thesis titled “Empowering Women through Microfinance in Post-conflict Bosnia and Herzegovina”. Using a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach, the research examines the impact of microfinance on women and empowerment, the alleviation of poverty and the contribution that women make in reducing poverty levels and bringing socioeconomic change to borrowers in post-conflict BiH.

Samra’s Doctorate thesis will examine peace education in Rwanda, how it decolonized the previous education system and how the role of women in advocating for and participating in the decolonization of education played as an effective tool in participating in reconciliation.

Samra holds a Master of Arts in Human Security and Peacebuilding from Royal Roads University; and is currently a Doctoral (EdD) student in the International Educational Leadership and Policy program at the OISE University of Toronto. She holds a Business Analysis post-graduate certificate from the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) and a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from York University.

Samra has over ten years of experience in not-for-profit management, operations and research and has made significant contributions to emergency relief in Canada and led the COVID-19 response during the pandemic in Toronto for the Canadian Red Cross in collaboration with the government of Canada (PHAC). Her experience in international development as a minority woman in Canada inspired her passion and work with many refugees (especially women and youth) and immigrant communities through education.

Mark Schemeit

Co-Founder and President

Mark Schemeit has long worked with local NGO’s and faith-based organizations in Toronto to bring aid and sustainable development projects to villages in northern Burkina Faso, where he first went with the Canada World Youth program at age eighteen. Life-long friendships and community bonds have brought about projects that have included a market gardening program, artisanal wells, food aid and school sponsorships. Working in close collaboration with two NGO’s in Burkina for over a decade, he has witnessed firsthand how these communities have gradually become affected by conflict. The conflict has forced villages to host internally displaced people from neighbouring areas, affecting the growing and harvesting of food staples and threatening social cohesion. Closer to home, Schemeit has worked with extensively to sponsor Syrian families fleeing civil war and supporting them during the challenging phase of resettlement.

Mark studied social anthropology at the Free University of Berlin where he returned again to West Africa to conduct ethnographic research for his master’s degree. He also holds the Research Analyst Certificate from Humber College, which has led him to work in the non-profit and market research sectors. In the last few years, he has collaborated closely with co-founder Samra Sheikh in her post-graduate work, editing and providing analytical assistance with her research.

Gabriella Harris

Director​

Gabriella Harris is from Brighton in the UK and has worked in education for 11 years. Before and during her BA in Classics at the University College London, she taught music at a homeschooling group, interned with the Centre for Transnational Development and Collaboration and volunteered at refugee camps and in detention centres. She was a primary school teacher in Khartoum, Sudan. Gabriella worked with the Barwaaqo University (BU) in Somaliland, setting up the all-women’s teacher education college in its new campus, which became 4.5 years with Abaarso Network (AN). After 2 years at BU, as a teacher and in various roles she completed her MPHIL at the University of Cambridge in Knowledge, Power and Politics in Education. She returned to the Somaliland community as a Director of Missions and Student Services at the women’s college followed by Head of Upper School at Abaarso School. She is now pursuing her PhD in Educational Leadership and Policy at the University of Toronto specializing in Comparative, International and Development Education while continuing with AN remotely as a Teacher Alumni Coordinator. She has also shifted into the gender-based violence prevention space and is working locally again as a Coordinator for Halton Violence Protection Council. She is committed to and inspired by education and development projects that engage with power and that are decolonial and transformative for a local population. She speaks French and continues to learn Somali. Gabriella assists with Peaceforward’s Africa projects.

Tavila D. Haque

Senior Education Officer

Tavila Disha Haque is a doctoral student in Educational Leadership & Policy, specializing in Comparative International Development Education at Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) in University of Toronto. She holds a Master of Education (MEd) degree from OISE and has completed her Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from the University of Toronto. Born in Bangladesh, Tavila was raised in Botswana and Canada, which engrained in her the desire for learning, exploring culture and respecting individuals from all walks of life. Tavila has over 10 years of experience extensively working in various non-profit sector including the Toronto International Film Festival and international non-governmental organizations such as Plan International Canada.

Through her academic endeavor, Tavila explores social justice education and refugee education, and is passionate about working towards policy changes for displaced children around the world. Tavila’s research focuses on educational needs and policies of children currently living in the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazaar, Bangladesh. Through her research, she aims to work with local non-governmental organizations in Bangladesh to ensure children living in statelessness, are receiving their rights to education and are being given the right opportunity to succeed. Tavila is a strong advocate for decolonizing refugee education, and human rights, and through her work she is committed to providing a voice for those who need it.

Yara Abdelaziz

Senior Researcher

Yara Abdelaziz is a Ph.D. candidate in the Education Leadership & Policy program at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, the University of Toronto with over 6 years of research experience in Germany and Canada. She specializes in Comparative International and Development Education (CIDE), where she has previously served as a co-chair of its student association. Recently, she co-authored a paper with Dr. Elizabeth Buckner published in Educational Researcher, exploring Global Wealth-Based inequality in higher education access. She is currently working on a co-authored publication with Dr. Francine Menashy exploring racial inequities in the humanitarian aid sector. Yara is an active board member of the Association for Middle Eastern Women’s Studies. Her research focuses on investigating international organizations’ educational policies and their implications for teachers’ work in the Arab world. She has extensive experience working in several non-profit organizations in the Arab world.