Participants

• Alicia Herbert OBE Director, Education, Gender and Equality; and Gender Envoy, FCDO
  

  Alicia Herbert OBE

  Director, Education, Gender and Equality; and Gender Envoy, FCDO

  Alicia Herbert, OBE, has more than 20 years’ experience in international development. She has worked with a range of organisations including multilaterals, academia and since 1999, the Department for International Development (DFID) now, the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO). She has extensive experience in the field – in Sub Saharan Africa as well as Asia – including in fragile countries. Alicia is currently Director, Education, Gender, Equality and Special Envoy on Gender Equality at FCDO. She is also Head of Abercrombie House, FCDO’s joint headquarters in East Kilbride, Scotland. She is one of the FCDO’s Senior Race Sponsors.

• Dr. Matt Reed Global Director of Institutional Partnerships, Aga Khan Foundation and Chief Executive Officer, Aga Khan Foundation (United Kingdom)
  

  Dr. Matt Reed

  Global Director of Institutional Partnerships, Aga Khan Foundation and Chief Executive Officer, Aga Khan Foundation (United Kingdom)

  As the Global Director of Institutional Partnerships for the Aga Khan Foundation, Matt coordinates all of AKF’s work with bilateral, multilateral, foundation and corporate partners worldwide. This includes resource mobilisation, relationship management, partner communications, grant management, and talent development to advance strategic priorities of the Aga Khan Development Network. He has been CEO of AKF in the UK since 2016.
  Between 2013 and 2016, Matt led the Foundation’s work in India as its CEO, focusing AKF on the needs of marginalised communities, establishing significant new relationships, and launching multi-state programmes in education, financial inclusion, livelihoods, and water and sanitation. Earlier, Matt held the position of Director of Programmes for the Foundation in the UK. Previously, he worked at the Getty Research Institute, the Salzburg Seminar, the MacArthur Foundation, and Keck Graduate Institute at the Claremont Colleges.
  As CEO in the UK, Matt has the additional responsibility for the Aga Khan Centre in London and building greater public awareness about the work of the broader Aga Khan Development Network.
  Matt has a Ph.D. and M.A. in European History from Claremont Graduate University in Los Angeles and a BA in English, summa cum laude, from the University of Oklahoma.

• Mariella Ruiz-Rodriguez Education Office Director, USAID Afghanistan
  

  Mariella Ruiz-Rodriguez

  Education Office Director, USAID Afghanistan

  Mariella Ruiz-Rodriguez is a Supervisory Education Development Officer with USAID; currently serving in USAID/Afghanistan as the Education Office Director. She has been with USAID for thirteen years supervising teams and managing integrated portfolios inclusive of basic and higher education, technical and vocational education, youth positive development and employment, workforce development, Orphans and Vulnerable Children, violence prevention and public-private partnerships. Prior assignments with USAID include Honduras, Uganda and the West Bank and Gaza.
  Mrs. Ruiz-Rodriguez has a BA in International Studies from Washington College and an MA in Quantitative Methods in Education from the University of California at Berkeley. While completing her PhD coursework in Psychometrics, she worked as a researcher with the Berkeley Evaluation and Assessment Research Center (BEAR). She brings over 28 years of professional experience including teaching at primary, secondary and university levels, development work in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bangladesh and Peru, as well as five years as a programmer/analyst with the private banking sector in California. Mariella is married to a Foreign Service Officer and has five children.

• Ms. Rangina Hamidi Acting Minister of Education, Ministry of Education of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
  

  Ms. Rangina Hamidi

  Acting Minister of Education, Ministry of Education of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

  Ms. Rangina Hamidi was born in Kandahar, Afghanistan. In 1981 she emigrated to Pakistan and then to the USA with her family. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia in Religious Studies and Women & Gender.
  Ms. Hamidi returned to Afghanistan in 2003 and took up residence in Kandahar. For two decades, Ms. Hamidi has worked tirelessly to better the lives of Afghan citizens through development projects, advocacy, and, most importantly, education. Examples of Ms. Hamidi’s accomplishments include the establishment of a full value-chain model of an all women’s social enterprise in Kandahar whose products have reached Europe, the Middle East, Americas as well as other parts of the world. In this endeavor, Ms. Hamidi designed and implemented a holistic and full-environment approach to bring value to Afghan women at each part of the value chain. Most recently, Ms. Hamidi successfully led the Mezan International School to integrate and implement a world-class and internationally accredited curriculum with a solid foundation of Islamic education, Afghan history, Afghan values, and multi-lingual education.
  Ms. Hamidi is well versed in child development, educational psychology, educational management, Islamic pedagogy, curriculum, business administration, development in conflict-affected countries, and gender issues from an Islamic perspective.
  Ms. Hamidi has spoken about Afghanistan in numerous national and international forums that include universities, schools, conferences, and other special events.
  She has been recognized internationally for her work with women. She was selected as one of 18 finalists for the CNN 2007 Hero Award and chosen as a “Personality of the Week” by Radio Free Europe. She has contributed to numerous publications and radio programs, including TIMES Asia Magazine, The Globe and Mail, Der Spiegel, Business Week, The Guardian, The Telegraph, NPR, BBC, and Voice of America. Her latest publication is a book that she has co-authored entitled “Embroidering within Boundaries: Afghan Women Creating a Future.”
  Ms. Hamidi serves on the advisory board of Open Society Afghanistan (OSA), Afghan Women Chamber of Commerce & Industries (AWCCI), and is a council member of the US-Afghan Women’s Council.