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Board and Team Members

Be a part of our Success

We are proud of our committed and diverse staff driven by our common goal

Board of Directors

Dr. Abed Ayoub
President & CEO

Samer Darwish
Chairman of Trustees

Dr. Ismail Mehr
Board Member

Dr. Muhieldin Salih
Chief Operating Officer / Treasurer of the Board

Mohammad Ahmad
Board Member

Dr. Wedian Eltom
Board Member

Executive Team

Dr. Abed Ayoub
President & CEO

Dr. Muhieldin Salih
Chief Operating Officer / Treasurer of the Board

Managers & Strategic Advisors

Habib Rajeh
Program Manager

Jason Matechak
Legal Advisor

Caroline Evashavik
Marketing & Social Media Manager

Our Team

Ammar Aqlan
Domestic Program Coordinator

Ebrahim Ayalew
Senior Accountant

Hind Kamal
Executive Assistant

Mojeed Ajadi
Fundraising & Donor Care Coordinator

Radwan Chanawani
Event Planner & Major Gifts Officer

Shahjadi Zaman
Program Partnership Officer

Our International Team

Abdul Ghani Ismail
East Africa Regional Representative

Caleb Ouma
Program Manager, East Africa

Mohand Elnimr
MEAL Coordinator - Jordan Office

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Dr. Abed Ayoub

President & CEO

Dr.Abed Ayoub has decades of experience in the relief sector. Dr. Ayoub holds a PhD in International Development. He is a former CEO for Islamic Relief USA. In 2010, he was appointed to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to serve on its Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Aid (ACVFA), and was reappointed in 2013, concluding two terms. Dr. Ayoub provided advice, analysis, and recommendations to USAID on the most pressing developmental issues in the world today. He also served a second term with the U.S. State Department’s Religion and Foreign Policy Working Group. Dr. Ayoub is an adjunct faculty member of The Fund Raising School at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University. In addition, he serves on the Advisory Board of the Center on Muslim Philanthropy; as well as a member of the Board of Trustees, and faculty member, of the Nonprofit Management Department at The Islamic Seminary of America in Dallas, TX. He is certified as an Executive Director, Master Business Coach, and Professional Coach. He is also a Certified International Professional Trainer for German Jordanian University (GJU). Finally, he is a lecturer/trainer for Cambridge International College, U.K.

Samer Darwish
Chairman of Trustees

Samer Darwish has decades of experience in non-profit organizations. Back in college Samer served as the MSA chapter president. After moving to Santa Clara he served as a volunteer in a number of grass root organizations as a board member twice (Executive Board Public Relations Officer and later in 2013 to 2015 as Board of Directors member) in the San Francisco Bay Area. Also in Santa Clara he served at the Muslim Community Association of the San Francisco Bay Area in different capacities. From 2009 to 2012 Samer held the Vice President and President position at the Muslim Community Association, a non-profit organization founded in 1981 to serve the community in the San Francisco Bay Area. Samer is also a volunteer with the Girl Scouts of the USA, and Boy Scouts of America.
Samer holds two Master degrees, one in Electrical Engineering and the other in Engineering Applied Science, both from UC Davis. He is licensed as a professional engineer (PE) by the State of California board for professional engineers & land surveyors. Samer works in the Silicon Valley, where he held different positions as a design, and applications engineer. Samer also held the position as an Account Executive, and currently works as a Senior Sales Manager reporting to the CEO.

Dr. Ismail Mehr
Board Member

Dr. Ismail Mehr is an anesthesiologist in Hornell, New York and is affiliated with St. James Mercy Hospital. He received his medical degree from Universidad Iberoamericana (UNIBE) and has been in practice between 11-20 years. Dr. Mehr became involved with IMANA while in his final years of residency and upon completion of residency began to increase his involvement. At the time IMANA was beginning its role of becoming an internationally respected medical relief organization. Dr. Mehr also served on the IMANA executive committee in various capacities becoming IMANA President in 2013.

Dr. Muhieldin Salih
Chief Operating Officer / Treasurer of the Board

Muhieldin Salih is a high-profile business expert based in the Washington D.C. Metropolitan area. He is the Founder and Chairman of American Trading, Management, and Consultation Corporation; the Founder and Executive Director of a leading diaspora radio station, Hona Radio; and the Executive Director of ITC Group, LLC. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Islamic Sciences, and a Master’s degree in Administration Sciences. He hold Special Diplomas in Publication and Information Authentication from Great Britain. His work is focused on administration, finance and media research.

Mohammad Ahmad
Board Member

Mohammad has over a decade of experience in building enterprise products, business development and marketing in the software business sector. He is currently serving as President of a software company. He is also involved in various non profit organizations in the local Bay Area community in California. He holds a Business Economics degree from the University of California, Davis.

Dr. Wedian Eltom
Board Member

Wedian Eltom is a medical professional currently working as a general practitioner registrar in East England. She has previously worked as an SHO in general medicine and elderly care medicine in London. She earned her MBBS degree from Ahfad University for Women in Sudan where she worked for a few years before settling in London with her family. During her time studying medicine in Sudan, she gained experience in voluntary health campaigns to raise health awareness in rural areas.

Habib Rajeh
Program Manager

Dr. Habib has over 13 years of experience designing and overseeing high-quality programming in countries including Yemen, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Sudan, Turkey, and Jordan. In addition, he has written proposals resulting in over $150 million in funding for humanitarian assistance, stabilization, and development programming from donors, including USAID, BHA, PRM EU/ECHO, SIDA, SDC, DANIDA, and various UN agencies.

In his most recent position before UMR, he was a humanitarian technical advisor based in Washington-DC, responsible for supporting humanitarian programs, including the new business development process across Blumont’s Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Afghanistan, and Columbia portfolio. During his career, he has held multiple Senior Management positions and has actively led designing proposals, strategies, and annual operations plans by providing political, contextual analysis, and technical support.
 
He has an MSc. in Project Management from the University of Salford Manchester – the UK, where he focused on lean management in a non-profit organization working in war zones, and a BSc in Medical Science from Sana’a University. 

Jason Matechak
Legal Advisor

Jason Matechak has served as the outside Legal Advisor to UMR since 2015. Mr. Matechak is a Founder and Principal at the Impresa Legal Group. He focuses his practice on Government Funded Programs, NGO-Non-Profits, Governance and Compliance and International Matters. He serves as the Director for the Center for International Procurement Law and Policy at the International Law Institute. He has served as the General Counsel of International Relief & Development, the Legal Advisor to the International Development Law Organization, and as a Partner in the Reed Smith Firm. As a civil servant, he served as a contract negotiator and legal reform officer for the U.S. Agency for International Development.
He has served on the Council and Administration Committee, and as the Technology Officer, and Rule of Law Officer for the American Bar Association Section of International Law, and has served as a Delegate to the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Working Group on Public Procurement.
He earned his Law Degree from the George Mason University School of Law, his Masters in International Commerce and Policy from the George Mason University School for Policy, Government, and International Affairs, and his Bachelors in Political Science, with minors in Russian Studies and Economics from James Madison University.
He is a member of the Bars of Virginia and the District of Columbia.

Caroline Evashavik
Marketing & Social Media Manager

Caroline received her Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Creative Writing from the George Washington University in 2019. Prior to joining UMR, she worked as a Media Outreach Intern at PEN/Faulkner, a literary nonprofit in the DC Metro area. Caroline also spent time as a Writing and Editing Intern for a magazine in the Czech Republic.
Caroline is passionate about helping others and making a difference in the world. Outside of work, she likes to spend her time writing, reading, and talking to anyone who will listen.ary nonprofit in the DC Metro area. Caroline also spent time as a Writing and Editing Intern for a magazine in the Czech Republic.

Ammar Aqlan
Domestic Program Coordinator

Ammar Aqlan is a program manager with 10+ years of experience in the global education and development sector, with a focus to empower local communities through sustainable solutions. Ammar has trained over 1,000 youth from Argentina, Caribbean, Chile, Iraq, the U.S. and Yemen, on a variety of soft skills including leadership, dialogue, and entrepreneurship.

Ammar obtained a Bachelor degree in English literature and MA in International Relations and Development. He has worked with Relief International, Oxfam America, and World Learning. Throughout his years of service, Ammar has developed a comprehensive understanding of program management, M&E, translation and youth engagement.

Ebrahim Ayalew
Senior Accountant

Ebrahim has over 14 years of accounting experience working with NGOs, microfinance institutes, and private construction companies. He received his BA in Accounting from Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia, and certificates in Development Economics and Accounting from Matrys University and Mekele University respectively.
Ebrahim has been with UMR since 2017, and remains an important figure in the Finance Department. His main responsibilities include verifying and entering source data into prescribed computer databases, files, and forms.

Radwan Chanawani
Event Planner & Major Gifts Officer

A globally-oriented strategic thinker and planner, Radwan Chanawani organized the Syrian Turkish forum with the presence of the Turkish Prime Minister as well as coordinated the International Conference for Investment and Financial Markets in Damascus, Syria for four consecutive years ultimately resulting in the launching of the Damascus Securities Exchange.

Mr. Chanawani has also successfully launched, managed, and operated over 70 global events, executed event fulfillment for B2C events, coordinated the largest global insurance conferences (The Arab Insurance Conference, the 26th GAIF General Insurance Conference, and The Third Damascus Insurance Forum), and much more.

A graduate of University of Detroit Mercy, where he received a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering, Mr. Radwan Chanawani has a Minor in Computer Information Systems from Humboldt State University, as well as a Certification in Exhibition Management.

Shahjadi Zaman
Program Partnership Officer

Shahjadi Zaman has six years of experience working with non-governmental organizations and academic institutions. She did bachelors and master’s in International Relations from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, and earned another master’s in Political Science from the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico. As a woman, her experience spurred her interest to work for marginalized and underserved people in society. Prior to joining UMR, she worked with WASH, human rights, refugee’s health, and anti-trafficking issues in Bangladesh. Being an optimist, she dreams of an exploitation-free world where every individual is treated with respect and dignity.

Abdul Ghani Ismail
East Africa Regional Representative

Abdul Ghani Ismail serves as UMR’s Regional Representative in East Africa. After receiving his degree in LLM Master’s Degree from Metropolitan University in London, he began his journey in the Humanitarian work serving as Middle East Desk Manager with Muslim Aid UK. Abdul Ghani worked in the Arab League for a short period as one of the Arab League observers at the beginning of Syria war. In the past decade Abdul Ghani has mostly focused on helping refugees, orphans, destitute and vulnerable communities in different parts of the world.

Caleb Ouma
Program Manager, East Africa

Caleb Ouma has over 10 years of professional experience, 9 years of which have been at the project/programme management level. He has played a leading role in the implementation of key processes that produced operating government and regional partnership instruments and programs. In 2012 while working for Fafi Integrated Development Association (FaIDA), Caleb was part of a team that designed a USAID-funded WASH project in Kambioos. In 2016, he joined Muslim Aid, a UK-based international humanitarian and development organization as the Programme Officer for a Kenyan program where he designed a primary healthcare project to address the healthcare challenges in Wajir County. The project was later adopted and taken up by County Government of Wajir.
Before joining UMR, Caleb was working with FaIDA as a Project Coordinator and Team Leader for the World Bank Funded Kenya Development Response to Displacement Impact Project (KDRDIP). KDRDIP is a 5-year project that seeks to address the Socio-economic and environmental challenges caused by years of hosting refugees in Northeastern Kenya.

Mohand Elnimr
MEAL Coordinator - Jordan Office

Mohannad Alnimer brings in a decade of with solid knowledge ,
technical expertise & background in the dynamics of
humanitarian assistance while working in UN Agencies, INGOS,
NGOS supporting their programmes and interventions in
different contexts and in multi thematic areas of : Child
protection, Education, Youth, Health, and with a significance
focus on MEAL operations , remote crisis operations in a quest
to ensuring that our support reaches all beneficiaries especially
those who are most vulnerable through maintaining and
working on further improving effective relief and sustainable
system.

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