About
Amal Alliance
We believe that we are all global citizens with a social and moral responsibility to ensure that all children have access to the fundamental skills needed to reach their full potential. We seek to engage systems that affect displaced and disenfranchised children by offering holistic, evidenced-based interventions. Our whole child approach stimulates the mind and body through education and integration programs that focus on social emotional learning and address trauma at its root cause. These programs allow children to find inner strength and resilience despite their challenging circumstances.
Our Name
Amal embodies our essence with multilingual meanings that include "Hope" in Arabic, "Action"
in Urdu, "Work" in Hebrew, and "Charity" in Malaysian.
Our Philosophy
We believe in advancing quality holistic learning to empower children to become global learners. Realizing that issues do not occur in a vacuum, we engage the macro structures to ensure the sustainability and effectiveness of our micro interventions. Engaging different system levels increases the effectiveness and ensures the sustainability of our work. Through our strategic partnerships, Amal Alliance advances whole child development, educational equity, gender equality, conflict resolution, and peace-building.
-
We believe in the inclusion of innovative Psychosocial Support and Social and Emotional Learning (PSS/SEL) for whole child development.
-
We provide social and emotional learning and psychosocial support programming to enhance mental health and wellbeing of children regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, ability, status, or any other identity.
-
We produce quality educational content and tools under open access learning to reduce inequalities and serve the most marginalized.
-
We prioritize and support the wellbeing and professional development of teachers and caregivers.
-
We advocate to transform systems that reflect more equity and inclusiveness for children to learn the skills necessary to flourish in life.
Core Values
Respect & Dignity
Education is a Human Right
Upholding Childhood
Social Inclusion
Hope, Happiness & Opportunity
Thoughtful Advocacy
Loving Kindness
Integrity, Honesty & Transparency
Board Of Directors
DANIELLE DE LA FUENTE
FOUNDER & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
-
Danielle De La Fuente has vast experience in peacebuilding and diplomatic efforts stemming from her work at the US Department of Defense and multiple Embassies. Her passion for achieving sustainable development, led her to form the Amal Alliance. Amal is a non-governmental nonprofit organization that provides displaced and disenfranchised children worldwide with social development programs that help cope with the invisible scars of trauma, and the learning fundamentals that guarantee them future opportunities to succeed. As a passionate advocate for childrens’ rights to education and to play, she specializes in social emotional learning. Bridging policy and practice, she sits on the Advisory Board of Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center, a G20Y committee, and forms part of numerous international coalitions and UN task teams for early childhood development and inclusive education. Her work has received many accolades including winning UNHCR’s Humanitarian Education Accelerator COVID 19 Challenge, being a Top 3 Nominee for 2020’s Crisis and Conflict Response, and featured for her COVID-19 Leadership Response in Vulnerable Settings.
Like her work, Danielle’s own background is rich in culture as she was born in San Diego to immigrant parents from Mexico and Iran, is multilingual, and has lived in 5 countries. She obtained her BA in International Relations from Boston University’s Pardee School of Global Affairs and MLitt in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of St Andrews in Scotland. Danielle is a Kids Yoga Instructor, and Mindfulness Educator.
ROBERT JONES III
DIRECTOR
-
Robert has more than 27 years of experience in corporate and technology transactions. His practice focuses on transactional matters including technology, software, and cloud licensing (from both the customer and the vendor sides), outsourcing, consulting and professional services, and software systems acquisition, integration, and implementation. He provides advice to clients regarding service level agreements, data security/privacy, software-as-a-service (SaaS), and cloud-computing services. Robert has broad experience in the software, retail, travel, logistics, hospitality, transportation, consumer products, electronics, payment card, satellite, cable, and online services industries.
PARISA ELAHI
DIRECTOR
-
Parisa is Business & Human Rights counsel at Cisco. Prior to joining Cisco, Parisa worked on corporate, commercial and Business & Human Rights issues at various in-house roles. Parisa has also worked at an international human rights NGO. Parisa started her career at international law firms working in London and New York. Parisa graduated from NYU Law and has a Masters in International Relations from the London
ANIL KHURANA
CHAIRMAN
-
Dr. Anil Khurana is an experienced business executive with a proven track record in strategy, operations, digitization, sustainability, M&A, and transformation across various industries. He has held executive leadership roles and advised numerous public and private businesses and PE investors, and is currently a board member of multiple organizations. Anil has started and scaled multiple businesses and has worked with senior executives, private equity investors, and government leaders across the world. He received his education from the University of Michigan and is certified by the National Association of Corporate Directors. Anil is passionate about supporting important causes, including sustainability, education, children’s causes, homelessness, and equity.
Advisory Board
Listed by Order of Country Affiliation
MS. GIORGIA NAGALLI
Associate, Kirkland & Ellis LLP
Brazil
MS. ANDREA GORDILHO
Co-Founder & CEO, Fintech Startup
Brazil
MS. CATALINA MARTINEZ
Attorney Advisor, US Small Business Administration
Colombia
DR. SHANE SZARKOWSKI
Executive Director, World in 2050
Croatia
MRS. MARIE-SOLENE PRUDHOMME
Director, Kantar Public
France
MRS. NELE FELDMANN
Associate Director - PSR for Refugee Students, Community Sponsorship Hub
Germany
MR. THEODORE BATIS
Finance Associate, Davis Polk
Greece
MS. SOUZANNA KLIMENTIDI
CEO, A.A.K. Law Firm
Greece
MS. ANA ROCIO MONZON WOC
Associate, Eversheds Sutherland US LLP (New York)
USA / Guatemala
DR. TARA RAAFAT
Semantic/Metadata Architect- CTO Office, Bloomberg LP
Iran
MS. MONICA KINYUA
Deputy Director, Children Peace Initiative Kenya
Kenya
MS. AIZAT ZHAKYBALIEVA
Advisor, Aretera Public Affairs
Kyrgyzstan
GENERAL (RET.) HANY NAKHLE
Lebanese Army
Lebanon
MR. MAURICIO TORRES
Director, Regulatory & Quality Affairs, Suneva Medical
Mexico
MRS. VANESSA RINGEL
Founder, Gravitas
Mexico
MRS. BERTHA DE LA FUENTE
Philanthropist / (Ret.) Primary Teacher
Mexico
DR. NISHCHAL PANDEY
Director, The Centre for South Asian Studies (CSAS)
Nepal
DR. ELOR NKEREUWEM
Adjunct Lecturer/ Project Supervisor, The Johns Hopkins University - Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS)
Nigeria
AMBASSADOR (RET) HUSAIN HAQQANI
Director for South Asia and Central Asia, Hudson Institute
Pakistan
MR. FAHD BASIR
Managing Director, Capital Markets
Pakistan
MRS. CYNTHIA GUYER
Senior Advisor, Global Dignity
Portugal / USA
DR. ASMAA E. AL-FADALA
Director of Research, World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE)
Qatar
MR. EDUARDO JOSE CARRILLO MARQUEZ
Senior Manager, KPMG
Spain
MR. MARCELO GARCIA
Founder, Broadlights & Wisdom Accelerator
Switzerland
MR. ALP ARMUTLU
Agency Director, Active Events Istanbul
Turkey
MR. DOMINIC REGESTER
Director, Salzburg Global Seminar
United Kingdom
DR. MARGARET SINCLAIR
Co-Convener, NISSEM
United Kingdom
MRS. PARISA ELAHI
Human Rights Counsel, Cisco
United States/Iran
MR. JUDSON DEAN
Director of Development, S2 Global
United States
MS. LINDSAY HOLLIDAY
Analyst, The Walt Disney Company
United States
MRS. CHRISTINA BARBARIN
VP Sales & Operation, Heartland Meat Co., Inc.
United States
MRS. JOANNE MYERS
Fr. Director of Public Affairs, Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs
United States
MS. ERIN ROBERTSON
Public Affairs Attache, US Department of State
United States
MRS. JOANNE LLOYD, LICSW
Clinician, Therapeutic Kids Yoga Teacher, Yoginikids!
United States
MS. DIANE KALDANY
Co-Founder / Chief Strategy & Relationships Officer, Capitalism & The Social Good Group
United States
MR. RASHAUN WILLIAMS
General Partner, The All-Star Fund, Managing Partner, Value Investment Group, Inc.
United States
MR. JEFFREY HADDAD
Director, Cost & Pricing and Company, Winrock International
United States
MRS. ANNIE McGINNITY KUBES
Executive Director, McGinnity Family Foundation
United States
MRS. ANN RAKOFF
Certified Human Potential & Accredited ACC Coach in the Non-Profit Sector
United States
MS. MARY SHACKELTON
Research Specialist, Kirkland & Ellis LLP
United States
MR. ROB NOVEMBRE
Founder & CEO, Clarity Market Holdings LLC
United States
MS. PANKTI VORA
Associate, White & Case LLP
United States
DR. JANE McCALL POLITI
NGO Committee on Migration, Subcommittee for Children
United States / Italy
MRS. THELMA ROCHA
W South Beach Director of Revenue, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.
USA/Mexico
Team
REA HYSTUNA
Program Coordinator
MEGAN ZAGORIC
Policy & Programs Associate
RENEE VARGA
Accounting
MICHELLE PATTERSON
Bookkeeping
BONK CUSHMAN EAGLE
External Audit