Team Bios
Nagla Rizk
Founding Director
Nagla Rizk is an experienced and competent scholar with diverse professional experience as a:
- Professor of Economics and Founding Director of the Access to Knowledge for Development Center (A2K4D) at the School of Business, the American University in Cairo (AUC)
- Founding member of the Access to Knowledge Global Academy
- Faculty Associate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University, an Affiliated Faculty of Harvard Law School's CopyrightX course
- Affiliated Fellow of the Information Society Project at Yale Law School
To visit Rizk's website, click here.
Nadine Weheba
Associate Director for Research, Global North and South
Nadine Weheba’s research interests are the political economy of Information communication technologies, innovation, and development.
As part of the Open African Innovation Research project, of which A2K4D is the North African hub, she is engaged in research on knowledge governance, openness, collaboration, and alternative metrics for innovation in Africa. Weheba's also studies the sharing economy and issues of artificial intelligence and inclusion in the context of Egypt, Africa, and the region.
She received her MSc in development studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London in 2013 and holds a BA in economics from The American University in Cairo.
Nagham El Houssamy
Associate Director for Research, Middle East and Africa
Nagham El Houssamy is working on research on the intersection of knowledge, technology, entrepreneurship and development. She joined the Center in June 2012, serving as the North Africa Hub coordinator for the Open African Innovation Research Partnership (Open AIR).
Prior to joining A2K4D, El Houssamy was an Economic Researcher in the Macro-Fiscal Policy Unit at the Egyptian Ministry of Finance. She interned at the ICT Policies Unit of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for West Asia in Beirut. El Houssamy graduated from The American University in Cairo with an MA in economics in international development and a BA in political science, specializing in international law and International relations, with a minor in economics.
Gina Alaschkar
Administrative Affairs Manager and Outreach
Gina Alaschkar manages the operations at A2K4D and is the core focal point internally for the center's activities at AUC and externally. Liaising with collaborators and institutions within the center’s regional and international networks. Prior to joining A2K4D, Gina worked for Oracle Systems Ltd as a senior partner business consultant, covering Saudi Arabia, Middle East, Africa, UK, and Ireland. Alaschkar earned her BA in economics and political science from Cairo University.
Dana Elbashbishy
Research Assistant and SSHRC Fellow
Dana Elbashbishy is a member of The Open African Innovation Research Partnership’s (Open AIR) New and Emerging Researchers Group (NERG). She assists in center research on alternative knowledge and innovation metrics. She is also a Teaching Assistant at AUC in the digital economy: information technology, knowledge and intellectual property course.
As a member of New and Emerging Researchers Group (NERG) in The Open African Innovation Research Partnership, Elbashbishy is engaged in the research on finding alternative knowledge and innovation metrics in an attempt to better capture and represent the informal innovation in Africa. She also examines different other topics such as The Sharing Economy in Egypt, Artificial Intelligence, and development. She is also a Teaching Assistant of the digital economy: information technology and inclusive development economics course at the American University in Cairo. Elbashbishy holds a BA in economics from the American University in Cairo.
Khadiga Hassan
Researcher
Khadiga Hassan completed her undergraduate studies at Suffolk University in Boston, Massachusetts with a Bachelor of Science in economics with honors. She moved back to Cairo and joined Access to Knowledge for Development as a researcher. Prior to her move back to Cairo, Hassan was an international market researcher at the Massachusetts Export Center located in Boston. She developed an interest in econometrics, data analysis, market research, and economic theory for development. She is aiming to pursue her master’s degree in development economics.
Haya El Zayat
Research Assistant
Haya El Zayat is a recent graduate holding a BA in economics with the highest honors from The American University in Cairo, with a double minor in development studies and business administration. She joined Access to Knowledge for Development over the summer of 2021. El Zayat's research interests align with the center’s work and include development studies and policy, feminist economics, gender theory, and technology for development. She is aiming to pursue a master’s degree in development studies next fall.
Batoul Al Mehdar
Senior Researcher
Batoul Al Mehdar recently joined the Access to Knowledge for Development Center in February 2022. Her research interests include "digital era" governance, empirical methods for policy analysis, behavioral economics for social impact and innovation in public services delivery.
Prior to joining, Al Mehdar was global partnerships manager at Riseup and managed the Hajj Hackathon in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. She also worked on several research projects at the Department of Political Science at the American University in Cairo (AUC).
Al Mehdar graduated with a Master of Public Administration from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in 2020 and holds a BA in Economics and Politics from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS).
Rolane Eissa
Project Officer
Rolane Eissa has been the Center's Project Officer since March 2022. She is responsible for designing, planning, and reporting on several research projects about data, artificial intelligence, new forms of work, technology, and inclusion in the MENA region. She also oversees the implementation of these projects' activities and leads the communication with their respective partners and stakeholders.
Eissa was previously the program associate of Peacekeeping (and Peacebuilding) at the Cairo International Center for Conflict Resolution, Peacekeeping, and Peacebuilding (CCCPA). In that capacity, she was part of the organization of the first and second editions of the Aswan Forum for Sustainable Peace and Development.
Eissa holds a dual Bachelor’s degree in Political Sciences from Cairo University and Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University (2016). During her undergraduate studies, she was a column writer for an "Egyptian Story" at The Insider, an independent student-run newspaper in Egypt.
Eisha Afifi
Research Assistant
Eisha Afifi recently graduated from The American University in Cairo (AUC) with a Bachelor of Arts in economics. She joined the center as a research assistant and has since worked on several projects related to the gig economy, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and new forms of work. Her work at the center has allowed her to develop an interest in the gig economy, labor law, and unionization.
Alia Shaddad
Researcher
Alia Shaddad is an anthropologist based in Cairo and recently joined the Access to Knowledge for Development Center in September 2022. She obtained her Master of Arts in sociology-anthropology from The American University in Cairo (AUC) in 2021. Shaddad holds a Bachelor of Arts in honors political science with minors in economics and anthropology from AUC. She believes in the necessity of interdisciplinarity and often works with different media to express her work. Her work often explores space, time, subjectivity, relationships, alternativeness, affect, and potentialities. She has more recently explored these themes within the context of tech, data, and AI in Egypt and the Middle East and North Africa region.
Nada Nassar
Research Assistant
Nada Nassar earned her undergraduate degree from The American University in Cairo (AUC) with a Bachelor of Arts in economics with honors. She recently joined the Access to Knowledge for Development Center during the fall of 2022. Her research interests include global and human development, policy, technology, and innovation for development. She aspires to pursue a master's degree in developmental economics.
Farah Galal
Researcher
As a researcher, Farah Galal joined Access to Knowledge for Development Center (A2K4D) in March 2022. Her research interests include gender, arts and culture; civil, human, and digital rights; and socioeconomic justice. Before joining A2K4D, Galal worked in the gender and human rights unit at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR). In the context of her work with EIPIR, she worked on several research projects and wrote reports on gender and sexual and reproductive health and rights. Additionally, she has also worked for the Nadim Foundation, where she led a research project on alternative cultural heritage narratives. Galal holds a Bachelor of Arts in anthropology with a minor in economics from The American University in Cairo.
Farah Elbehairy
Researcher
Farah Elbehairy is an interdisciplinary urban planner and researcher. She holds a master's degree in Integrated Urbanism and Sustainable Design (IUSD) from Ain Shams University and the University of Stuttgart, Germany. Her master's thesis, ''Knowledge co-production: An innovation model towards institutionalization for the case of Cairo (Rethinking the relationship between knowledge and action through the case of Cairo Urban Initiatives),'' discussed knowledge co-production and urban knowledge systems in Egypt. She holds a Bachelor of Science in architectural engineering, urban planning, and design from Ain Shams University, Egypt. Elbehairy is interested in working on research on the intersection of knowledge, power, and justice. At A2K4D, she is currently working on the responsible governance of data and Artificial Intelligence for development towards (knowledge and) data justice in the context of Egypt and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.