Welcome the Newest Hello Future Board Members
At Hello Future, we simply cannot achieve our mission of bridging the education gap for adolescent refugees without the support and guidance of our talented and compassionate Board of Directors and Advisory Council. They are experts in their field, bring a wealth of experience, and will help move us closer to our goal of preventing a lost generation.
I am excited to introduce you to new members of our Board of Directors.
Aymen Taha
Aymen Taha is an international development practitioner with expertise in early childhood development (ECD), youth development, and livelihoods programming with demonstrated experience in high-quality delivery of projects in Iraq and across the Middle East.
Aymen is currently an Education and Youth Advisor with Sesame Workshop guiding programming and implementation in Iraq and the Middle East.
Previously, Aymen served as the ECD Coordinator for Iraq with the International Rescue Committee and subsequently as the ECD Advisor for Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan with a focus on meeting the learning and development needs of Syrian refugees.
Gail Wasserman
Gail is the former SVP of public affairs at American Express, where she spent most of her career launching programs like Small Business Saturday, Project (Red) and more credit card products than she cares to admit.
Currently Gail serves as communications consultant for social impact non-profits and for-profits. She also serves as Board chair of the Development Committee of the Ms. Foundation for Women, the oldest women’s fund in the U.S.—(founded by Gloria Steinem and a few other white ladies in the '70s) which now has a focus on BIPOC women and girls.
Gail also considers herself a potter, knitter, and still enjoy a 25-year relationship with my now-wife Ilene, a family law attorney, and sharing their life with a rescue terrier named Hazel.
Additionally, please join me in welcoming our newest Advisory Council members.
Hayes Raffle
Hayes Raffle is an award-winning innovator specializing in products that nurture learning, creative expression, and interpersonal communication. He is a Senior Staff Designer on Google's Learning and Education team, and is an Edmund Hillary Fellow developing new technologies for social impact.
Prior to that, Hayes served as the overall UX lead for Google's AR Devices program, and helped create consumer AR and VR products including Google Daydream VR and Google Glass.
Hayes has shown his work in Europe, Asia and the United States. Various projects have been featured by CNN, The Wall Street Journal, The NY Times, The Tonight Show, ID Magazine, and other major publications.
Lorin Thomas-Tavel
Lorin Thomas-Tavel is the managing director of boot camps at 2U, Inc., an industry leader in ed-tech. Lorin began her ed-tech career at Kaplan in 2007. In her 14 years at the company, she served as Chief Administrative and Chief Operating Officer for their test prep business, before taking on the role of Chief Experience Officer for Kaplan North America. In her leadership roles, Lorin led business transformation efforts, helped the business transition to a more consumer- and product-focused structure, and drove innovation efforts that diversified the company's product portfolio.
Before Kaplan, she held executive positions with Ann Taylor, where she helped the company grow from a small national footprint to more than 800 stores and launch its online presence. Lorin is an expert in future product innovations and is passionate about improving student experience that helps further drive program quality and outcomes.
Scott Warren
Scott Warren is a Youth Civic/Political Engagement and Leadership Specialist at USAID. He is also an Assistant Research Scholar at the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University, and a visiting fellow at the German Marshall Fund (GMF). He is currently organizing a global network of youth activists and scholars focused on promoting democracy, called Democracy Moves, investigating how cities can promote civic participation and democratic engagement.
Warren is the founder of the national civics education organization Generation Citizen, where he currently serves on the Board of Directors. He served as the organization’s CEO for more than 11 years, helping grow Generation Citizen to become one of the preeminent civics education organizations in the country. He published a book in 2019, Generation Citizen: The Power of Youth in Politics.
Sehreen Nor-Ali
Sehreen is a mom and former technologist who started building a children's health platform after struggling to get answers for her daughter's condition. Sleuth centers the expertise of parents in their child's health and shares insights between parents of similar children. Equity and inclusion are core values she holds, and she started her career as a civil servant with the U.S. Department of State. In 2015, she received SXSWedu’s first ever Change Maker of the Year Award for her equity-focused network, EdTechWomxn. She lives in NYC and is the proud mother of two little girls. She loves connecting with other parents on IG @sehreennoorali and @hellosleuth.