10 Billion Strong Team

Abby’s passion for environmental sustainability issues began as a simple curiosity during her undergraduate studies at University of Colorado Boulder. She didn’t know much about the environment, but was educated by her friends and her different communities throughout her studies. Most of these interests lay dormant until she was working in Vietnam for a year, observing the overwhelming amount of single use plastics and recognizing similar issues in the U.S. Returning to the U.S., Abby now works as an ICU nurse and is focused on understanding how to decrease the healthcare system’s environmental impact while maintaining standards of care and cleanliness. Abby has experience in project management, community development, international education, leadership, and healthcare. When she’s not working you’ll find her spending every free moment in the mountains- enjoying and appreciating the Rocky Mountain air!

Emadul is a social research and development expert and researcher. He graduated with high honors from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh with a concentration in Social Sciences. He has work experience in climate change and disaster risk reduction, sustainable disaster recovery, governance, community development in the research field. Emadul began his career as a young researcher in an International non-government organization called Transparency International, Bangladesh (TIB). He has also worked for the UK based international NGO Islamic Relief Worldwide, Bangladesh chapter, as a monitoring and research officer from 2014 until 2017. Currently, he is Yayasan Khazanah scholar and PhD student at the University of Malaya and a full-time Senior Analyst at at BRAC.

Patrick has been working at the intersection of international development and education for the last decade and finds the most inspiration when he's collaborating with emerging leaders who are trying to protect our planet. He has BA and MA degrees from American University's School of International Service in Washington, DC and has worked at a number of organizations ranging from the Peace Corps and Department of State to the International Crisis Group and the Corporate Council on Africa.

Prior to founding 10 Billion Strong, Patrick was the Director of Programs at a Stanford-founded social impact nonprofit with over 50 years of experience running experiential education programs in the U.S. and Asia. In this role he led an international team and managed programs for the Department of State, USAID, the Ford Foundation, the Luce Foundation, Stanford, Duke, and the University of California.

Patrick has spent much of his career working in Asia, but has also studied or worked in Africa, Europe, and South America.

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sylvia is a facilitator of, advocate for, and believer in peace leadership. For fifteen years, sylvia has participated in and facilitated talking circles in various communities across the United States, Latin America, and Asia. From these talking circles emerged sylvia’s commitment to and practices of nonviolent communication, community building, and conflict transformation. This commitment brought sylvia to obtain a BA in Peace Studies from Goucher College, and continue to Southeast Asia working with nonprofits across the region focused on youth-led peacebuilding. She is a Co-Founder and Board Member of Sarus, a peacebuilding nonprofit that inspires, equips, and accompanies peace leaders in Asia.

sylvia then deepened her studies by obtaining an MA in Coexistence and Conflict and MBA in Social Impact at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management, where she focused on peace leadership and organizational capacity building. Afterwards, she expanded to philanthropy as a Program Officer at the Island Foundation funding organizations supporting womxn and girls, youth, immigrants, and domestic and international communities. She currently serves as the Head of Programs and Strategy at the Euphrates Institute. sylvia holds a deep passion for building and nurturing communities that collectively transform conflict and systems with curiosity, connection, and courage.