Ibrahim Alaboud is a Syrian lawyer and holds a master's degree in criminal law. He is also a student at Edinburgh Business School. Over the last five years, he has worked in the field of humanitarian development, particularly in education. Ibrahim joined Paper Airplanes in 2018 as a student and later volunteered to support students and help the organization accomplish its mission. In 2019 he was a student coordinator, in 2020 the admissions and enrollment coordinator, in 2021 the English program coordinator, in 2022 the English program manager, and now, in 2023, he is the executive director of Paper Airplanes. His key strengths are patience, communication, and the ability to remain calm in any storm.

Margaret Greco is an experienced director of development and fundraising with seven years of experience helping nonprofits serve their communities. Specializing in grants, donor relations, and fundraising campaigns, Margaret is determined to use these experiences to help Paper Airplanes grow and make an impact by providing opportunities to people worldwide. Margaret has been able to put the English, theater, and organizational leadership degrees she earned to good use. Over the years, Margaret has helped over ten nonprofits, and her passion for helping others makes her an invaluable asset to our cause. When she's not campaigning or writing, Margaret spends her days being a full-time mother to her daughter, volunteering with her local woman's club, impacting her community as an active community board member, horseback riding, blogging, and working on her new podcast.

Manar graduated from Damascus University with a master's degree in periodontology. She is currently pursuing an MBA degree at Nexford University, a scholarship she gained as part of her participation with Paper Airplanes. Manar has been involved with Paper Airplanes since 2018 in different capacities, starting as a student in the English program, as a student coordinator, and since 2021 as the admissions and enrollment coordinator. On top of working with Paper Airplanes, Manar works as a dentist and volunteers with different NGOs that focus on providing education and health services for marginalized communities in Syria. Her favorite hobbies are learning languages, listening to music, and watching her favorite movies and TV shows.

Ghofran joined Paper Airplanes in 2019 as a student and graduated with honors in 2022. Then, she immediately started volunteering as an English tutor and now she joined our team as the new admissions and enrollment coordinator. Ghofran has a bachelor's degree in project management in addition to a degree in prosthodontics from Damascus University. Ghofran was a committed student and tutor. She describes her journey with Paper Airplanes as one of the best. Ghofran has a long career background with more than ten years of work experience. She is passionate about learning and education and hopes to pursue her master's degree soon.

Sarah Faron is an English program facilitator and a therapist. She first joined Paper Airplanes in 2019 as an English tutor. She is interested in voluntary and humanitarian work. In her free time, she likes to read, write, and learn new things.

Muhammad is an agricultural engineer. He has been involved with Paper Airplanes since 2018 as a student, then as a tutor coordinator in 2021. He is now working as an English program facilitator with Paper Airplanes. Besides working with Paper Airplanes, he works as an executive administrator at a lubrication company. He is so grateful for being with Paper Airplanes because he wants to help raise the educational level of conflict-affected individuals.

Baraah is a Syrian Turkish woman in tech. She started her journey in education when she was in Syria and studied information system engineering. She had to drop out for about six years because of the war, where she was displaced several times with her husband and three children. When she arrived in Turkey, she learned Turkish, completed her university degree, joined a boot camp supported by the World Food Programme in web development, and started her career as a web developer with Turkish and international companies. She joined Paper Airplanes as the program coordinator for one year, then became the program manager in the fall 2022 semester. She would like to inspire and encourage women to learn to code and get into the tech field.

Rama is from Syria and graduated from university in 2015. However, she didn't have a chance to start working because she had to improve her English.

Joining the English program in Paper Airplanes helped develop her English skills, and from student to volunteer, she has gotten the chance to be the Women In Tech program facilitator.

As a facilitator, Rama assists the Women in Tech program manager in most of the tasks related to students' enrollment in the program. She also follows up with mentors, tutors, and students.
In her free time, Rama loves reading, practicing English conversation with her friends, and playing sports.

Sara Hawchar is a Lebanese English instructor at the Lebanese University. She holds a master’s degree in English language and literature with a focus on linguistics from the Lebanese University. Sara has helped different NGOs in many ways, including as a mentor, teacher trainer, professional skills trainer, business English teacher, and subject coordinator. Sara joined Paper Airplanes as a program manager for the Professional Development program in January 2023. With over ten years of experience as an educator, she has developed a wide range of skills that make her an effective program manager, including the ability to organize, plan, lead a team, and solve problems. When she’s not working, Sara spends her days being a full-time mother for her three kids, taking new courses, listening to music, and surfing through social media.

Aamal Alshihawi is from Syria. She is a graduate of the Asian University for Women in Bangladesh, where she studied public health and minored in psychology. She works virtually as an internship coordinator at Dr. Myatt Academy of Learning. This is Aamal’s first time working with Paper Airplanes as a Professional Development program facilitator. She likes to learn new things everyday, especially languages.

Ammar has a bachelor’s in Civil Engineering from the University of Al-Baath. He has completed Masters of Building Information Modeling and Management at the Syrian Virtual University. Before joining Paper Airplanes, he worked as a volunteer at Syrian Arab Red Crescent’s Water and Rehabilitation Department.

Hajra Chaudhry joined the Paper Airplanes team as the communications and social media coordinator. Hajra is a writer and a social media and public relations professional with a master's degree in international relations and a bachelor's degree in media and mass communication. She has worked as a visiting lecturer where she taught politics courses.

Amer Kattan is a 30-year-old Syrian refugee currently residing in Turkey. He is currently pursuing a degree in public relations and advertising. In 2019, he joined the organization as a student in the English program, and has since become a junior graphic designer. Amer is dedicated to contributing to his community, and he sought to volunteer with the organization to further improve his skills and learn from the talented team. He is committed to making a positive impact in his community and beyond.

Seedra is a media student at Damascus University. She is passionate about everything related to media and education. She is currently a communications intern and an English tutor at Paper Airplanes.

Joelle Mulzac has been a volunteer copyeditor with Paper Airplanes since February 2023. Joelle is responsible for copyediting Paper Airplanes’ written content, including its web pages, brochures, and social media posts.

Joelle has always been a grammar nerd. Before joining Paper Airplanes, Joelle was an ESL teacher, but is now transitioning to a career as a copyeditor and pursuing a copyediting certificate at the University of California, San Diego.

Other than copyediting, Joelle enjoys traveling, swimming, caring for animals, and learning about history and geography. Joelle also enjoys helping others, and has a lifetime of experience doing volunteer work in the US and other countries.

Aya Hamzeh is a 22-year-old Palestinian who lives in Damascus, Syria. She has a bachelor’s degree in media specializing in public relations and advertising. In 2021 she started her journey in graphic design, and since then she has been active in her community as a volunteer by using her creativity and strong work ethic. She joined the organization as a student in the Women in Tech program, and after that became a graphic designer on the team. Aya feels responsible for the development of her community and devotes her time to helping others progress. She wants to have good outlets during her work with the organization to improve herself and gain new experiences.

Mahmoud graduated with a degree in informatics engineering. He works as a front-end developer and as a graphic designer. He studied English with Paper Airplanes for more than two and a half years and graduated in the spring of 2023. Currently, he is volunteering as a designer with Paper Airplanes. Mahmoud suffered from the long-term war in Syria, but he was able to continue his education and benefited from the Paper Airplanes English program.