Our Team
A’laa Hemdan
Co-founder
Yasmeen Aladdin
Gender Advisor
Walaa Farid
Partnerships Manager
Nourhan Shawky
Project Coordinator
TEAM
A’laa Hemdan is a social activist from the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Commerce with a specialization in Business Administration from Arish University 2023. Currently, she is the Co-founder of Daughter of the Mediterranean .
Over the past three years, she has participated in a series of capacity-building programs in the fields of sustainable development and climate change, contributing to several initiatives aimed at empowering youth and women in the region. She played a key role in programs such as the ``Mediterranean Women Ship Program`` and the ``Mediterranean Youth Academy.``
She also had a groundbreaking opportunity to participate in a cultural exchange program in Cyprus, becoming the first girl from her tribe to travel abroad despite the social restrictions imposed on girls in her community. Additionally, she was granted the opportunity to travel to Sweden for a month to participate in the ``Mobility for Creativity`` program, which aimed to promote gender equality by increasing awareness through interactive and non-formal educational activities.
In addition, she participated in the final event of an Entrepreneurship program in Italy to present the idea of Daughter of the Mediterranean, which was part of a K220 project funded by the European Union to support young youth in rural and border areas.
Yasmeen Aladdin is an activist and a feminist-political scholar. She holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Political Science from the Faculty of Economics and Political Science at Cairo University, where she currently serves as an Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Political Science.
She also holds the position of Gender Advisor at the Daughter of the Mediterranean. Additionally, she received the Erasmus Mundus scholarship for a second Master's in Women's and Gender Studies, and she is the only Egyptian to receive this prestigious fully-funded scholarship for 2023-2025, funded by the European Union.
Her academic and activist work focuses on the intersection of feminism and political science, particularly in film studies. Her first Master’s thesis explored feminist cinema, analyzing how feminist cinematic narratives intersect with gender structures. Over the past five years, she has been deeply engaged in this field.
She has worked as a gender expert with various organizations, contributing to numerous international, regional, and local projects, reports, and research focused on women’s rights and gender equality, particularly in the Southern Mediterranean, the Middle East, and North Africa. Additionally, she has organized and managed several workshops addressing issues such as gender-based violence, feminist approaches to film analysis, and gender equality.
She has volunteered over 4,000 hours in the fields of civic education, women’s issues, feminist cinema, visual storytelling narratives, and feminist criticism.
Nourhan Shawky is a translator and project coordinator at Daughter of the Mediterranean. Born in Suez, Egypt, she graduated from the Faculty of Arts, majoring in Philosophy. Her academic background has shaped her critical thinking skills and provided her with a deep perspective on analyzing complex issues.
She is passionate about designing and implementing initiatives and projects that empower women and youth, while supporting local and regional communities. Her work focuses on building bridges of communication between cultures, fostering mutual understanding, and facilitating human cooperation.
With extensive experience in translation, project management, and youth empowerment, Nourhan excels in transforming ideas and visions into actionable steps that generate meaningful impact. She is dedicated to sustainable development and collaborative teamwork, believing in the importance of building relationships grounded in respect and shared goals. Constantly seeking innovative approaches, she strives to drive positive change and contribute to the growth and development of communities.
Walaa Farid is a passionate advocate for youth empowerment, cultural exchange, and international cooperation. As Youth Mobility Manager and European Solidarity Corps Mentor, Walaa plays a pivotal role in strengthening Egyptian-EuroMed partnerships, leveraging her expertise to foster collaboration, exchange, and mutual understanding across borders.
In addition, she is an EU Jeel Connector in Egypt. Graduated from ``Be Ambassador`` initiative - second edition from the Egyptian Ministry of Planning and Economic Development; for achieving the UN sustainable development goals.
Moreover, she got the Erasmus+ Virtual Exchange Dialogue program badge, as a participant in 2020, and European Solidarity Corps badge as ESC Mentor 2023. Participated in Erasmus+ Youth training courses: “Dialogue Ambassadors: Mediterranean Erasmus Generation'' in Jordan Aug, 2022, and “Fostering Peacebuilding, conflict resolution and employability skills” training course - Armenia Sep,2023. Beside cultural programs in the US Embassy and Institut Français d'Egypte in Cairo. Participated in “Med Youth Lab 2024” in Fes, Morocco, at Euro-Mediterranean University of Fes (UEMF).
Walaa was a team member in national and regional projects which brought together eighteen nationalities from the Mediterranean region in “Mediterranean Youth Academy- Second and Third Edition” Egypt and Spain, “Mediterranean climate initiative” project, El Alamein, Egypt. , “Mediterranean Women Ship” project, Beirut, Lebanon.And a rapporteur in “Dialogue on the Human Fraternity Document” and ``No One Behind`` project Third Edition, Dahab-South Sinai, Egypt.