Our Team
Leo Holtz
Co-Lead
Leo is a research assistant at the International Finance Corporation, the private sector investment arm of the World Bank Group. His interests include inclusive economic development, socioeconomic dynamics of technological innovations, and impact investing. He formerly worked at The Brookings Institution, a non-partisan think tank, primarily researching digital technologies for smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. Leo graduated from Saint Louis University with a Bachelors in Economics and History.
Mohammad Ismail Hafizi
Co-Lead
Ismail works in Corporate Strategy at the International Finance Corporation. He previously worked at the World Bank in the Kabul office in the Communications and Education sectors. Before joining the World Bank Group, Ismail was leading a non-profit organization in Afghanistan - Tolpalena - that helped women create small businesses. He graduated from American University of Afghanistan with a Bachelors of Business Administrative.
Hamayoon Behmanush
Mentor: Data Science
Hamayoon is a PhD (PP) student at Saarland University in Germany and working as a HiWi (Research Assistant) under the esteemed chair of Prof. Ingmar Weber, focusing on Societal Computing. He has a master’s degree in information technology from the Republic of India and a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Afghanistan. Before joining Saarland University, he had accumulated eight years of teaching and administrative experience at Parwan University and the Ministry of Higher Education of Afghanistan.
Ali Mousavi Nizhad
Mentor: Full Stack Engineering
Ali has spent a decade as a Full-Stack Engineer and tech educator, weaving technology and storytelling. As an educator, his passion lies in curriculum design and mentorship to teach and kindle the curiosity of the next generation of programmers, creators, and visionaries.