CELA Board of Directors

CELA possesses a combination of intellectual, human and material resources. Our VISION is to be the most trusted and useful professional and social network of leaders in the region. Our MISSION is to empower leaders who work together with integrity and fun to create value for the network’s members and the region.

Members of the CELA Board of Directors:

Afghanistan
Irshad Alamyar
Irshad Alamyar is working with the Danish Committee for Aid to Afghan Refugees (DACAAR) as an Administration Manager. DACAAR, an International Non-governmental Organization, has been supporting the Afghan people since 1984. In his capacity as Administration Manager, Irshad oversees the support functions of DACAAR including Logistics and Support, Human Resources Management, IT, Procurement and Stock and partly security, supervising altogether 125 staff members.  

In the past, Irshad also worked with the Aga Khan Foundation, the International Rescue Committee (IRC), Afghanistan’s Ministry of Telecommunications and AREA. This included assignments in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Sudan.  

Additionally, Irshad is a co-founder of Pioneer Training and Research Center (PTRC) which was established in March 2009 to provide capacity building and research services to the NGO and business communities in Afghanistan.  

Irshad has received his Masters Degree in Business Administration specializing in Finance and Accounting from Preston University in Peshawar Pakistan in 2002.  

Irshad can speak, read and write in Dari, Pashto, English and Urdu.  He also speaks some Arabic.

Armenia
Makrita Avjyan
Makrita Avjyan majored in Political Science and Public Administration from American University of Armenia, with MA in Public Administration. Her first educational background is in English Literature and Grammar, from Anania Shirakatsi University. She has also studied Russian Language and Philology at Yerevan State University. Currently Ms. Avjyan is involved in the MCA-Armenia Water-to-Market Activity, implemented by ACDI/VOCA, Mott Macdonald and VISTAA consortium. She holds the position of Training Adviser.  

Ms. Avjyan is also interested in the sphere of education administration and participated in a number local and international seminars, workshops and development projects in the sphere of adult education and administration, the most recent being one organized by the Cambridge Education in Cambridge, UK.
Professional career of Ms. Avjyan has started back in the university years, when she started teaching at Anania Shirakatsi University as a lecturer of English Grammar and Area Study. After 5 years of teaching she tried her skills in the sphere of translation and interpretation and worked for two years as Project Translator/Assistant for ARCADIS Euroconsult, IESC, World Learning and other World Bank and UN projects.  

She then obtained the position of Senior Program Officer for International Research and Education Board (IREX), under the US State Department and devoted 5 years to that organization, managing a number of educational exchange programs (Undergraduate Exchange, Edmund S. Muskie, RSEP, CI), Alumni Small Grants programs, as well as working intensively with the Alumni network. She also managed the CBT (Computer Based Testing Office), which was contracted to IREX.  

Ms. Avjyan is fluent in Armenian, English and Russian, as well as has some knowledge of French, which was her second language at University.
Beside her major job, Ms. Avjyan is also providing expertise for a number of Educational and Environmental Projects implemented by VISTAA Plus ltd.

Azerbaijan
Nigar Mammadova
Nigar Mammadova graduated from Baku State University with a major in History and Nottingham Trent University (UK) with a degree in Human Resource Management. She is a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute for Personnel Development (CIPD).
She currently holds the position of University Engagement Advisor with BP Azerbaijan. The scope of her responsibilities includes linking industry with higher education entities, identifying and developing top university talents for the industry.  

Before joining BP, Nigar worked for about six years as a Country Manager overseeing activities in Azerbaijan for IREX (International Research& & Exchanges Board), a US based NGO. She moved to IREX from Azerbaijan Private University where she was a director of the department for External Affairs and Bilateral Projects.  

Her professional career includes teaching at Baku State University, media analyst at Israeli Embassy in Baku, and volunteering for the Society for the Protection of Women’s Rights.
Nigar was a board member of OSI (Open Society Institute) – Azerbaijan for 4 years and a member of the expert committee of Caucasus Resource and Research Center, etc.  

Mrs. Mammadova has extensive experience working with education, civil society organizations, government bodies and business structures in Azerbaijan and oversea. She has strong managerial, project management, analytical and communication skills.
Nigar speaks three languages fluently (Azerbaijani, English and Russian) and has good level of Turkish. She has participated in a number of trainings and international conferences in Azerbaijan and overseas on conflict resolution, gender studies, organizational development, and education etc., including a research fellowship at Rutgers University (USA).

Georgia (Chair of the Board)
Tamuna Trapaidze
Ms. Tamari (Tamuna) Trapaidze is a Chair of the CELA Board of Directors. She is a trained physician having majored in General Pediatrics at Tbilisi State Medical University. She also has a Masters degree in International Public Health and Epidemiology from the University of Umea (Sweden).

Prior to obtaining her MPH degree, Ms. Trapaidze worked as a Pediatric Endocrinologist at the Tbilisi State Medical University Pediatric Clinic. Tamuna has extensive working experience as a project manager, lead researcher, monitoring and evaluation analyst from various spheres of development work, including working with most marginalized parts of Georgian society. She has solid experience and understanding of the situation at the grassroots level in Georgia due to her close and interactive working relation with IDPs, PWD and other vulnerable groups. Recently Tamuna worked as a project manager at Save the Children Georgia Country Office (SC).

Her current project – “Supporting Equal Opportunities for People with Disabilities” is a USAID funded project implemented by SC. As a project manager Tamuna’s core task is overall management of the project. She is directly responsible for the education component of the project, which implies promoting inclusive and special education for children with disabilities at regular/mainstream or special schools. She is alumni of CELA 6.

Kazakhstan
Bakhytnur Otarbaeva
Bakhytnur Otarbayeva began her career in the academic community as a research assistant, after graduating from Kazakh State University’s Department of History.  After two years of post-graduate study at Al-Farabi State University, she defended her dissertation and began to lecture at Almaty State University.  In 1994 she received a Fulbright fellowship and worked as a visiting scholar in Indiana University, Bloomington, USA.

In 1996 she won a scholarship from the Woodrow Wilson Center and worked at the Kennan Institute as a researcher. After returning back she issued a new curriculum of Kazakh history for university students of the department of history. In 1997 she participated in a research project of the Central Asian Research Forum of Harvard University, led by Dr. John Schoeberlein, entitled “Guide of scientific recourses in the study of Central Asia.”

She worked with the Soros Foundation, Kazakhstan as National Coordinator and then as an Executive Director of the Public Foundation “National Debate Center”, which has become one of the most prestigious and popular activities among the intellectual youth of Kazakhstan.  In 2003, she joined the board of the International Debate Education Association (IDEA), Netherlands. She has been President of the Fulbright Association of Kazakhstan (FASK). Bakhytnur Otarbayeva has attended different national and international seminars, courses and conferences on debate, management, strategic planning, fundraising, and leadership, including the Central European University in Budapest (Hungary) as well as programs in the Czech Republic, Croatia, Poland, USA, and Turkey. In 2005, she won the Joel Fleishman Civic Society Fellowship of Duke University (North Carolina, USA). In 2007, she worked as vice-rector for international relations in the Kazakh Economic University in Almaty.

Dr. Otarbayeva  speaks three languages - Kazakh, Russian and English, and she has a fair understanding of Turkic group languages. Today Dr Otarbayeva is teaching in the Kazakh-British Technical University. She has publications on history of Kazakhstan and civil society issues. She is a CELA 1 alumni.

 

Kyrgyzstan
Ksenia Barabash
Upon graduating from school, Ksenia Barabash engaged in a variety of professional fields ranging from teaching to interpreting. In 2000, she entered management as an administrator of a team responsible for the newly opened VIP lounge “RED CARPET ROOM” at the Manas International Airport. After 9 months in that position, Ksenia was offered the position of General Director. Ksenia has been working at RED CARPET ROOM for 8 years, and considers this period as a period of maturing – professionally and personally. In 2008 Ksenia took maternity leave and eventually resigned from her 24 hour - 7 days a week airport position in order to devote herself full-time to her daughter.

In 2009, she entered the ticketing and tourism business, starting “Travel Vision” as a partner and Business Development Manager. In February 2010, Ksenia accepted an invitation to join Surat Technology as an executive director, while still enjoying the ticketing business for her friends’ reservations as a part of Travel Vision. Surat Technology positions itself as a system integrator in informational technologies.

Ksenia majored in foreign languages and International Relationships in Bishkek, and continued her education specialization in Management at Business courses organized by JICA in Kyrgyzstan, and Business Course Practical Training in Japan, including Osaka and Tokyo. 

 

Tajikistan 
Rajabbek Sulaymonbekov
Rajabbek A. Sulaymonbekov attained a diploma in Law from the Tajik State National University, and a diploma in International Economic Relations from Khujand State University. Mr. Sulaymanbbekov is currently the Deputy Chairman of the Board of OJSC Orienbank, a post that he has held since 2007.  Previously, Mr. Sulaymonbbekov has held key positions with Orienbank, namely the Head of the International Trade Finance Department and the Head of the Representative Office in the Islamic State of Afghanistan.

Prior to joining Orienbank, he worked within the USAID Enterprise Development Project for Central Asia and at The Pragma Corporation, first as its Department Manager (Administrative, Logistic, and Finance), then as Regional Business Advisor / Trade Specialist, and finally as its Task Force Leader on Trade with Afghanistan.

Mr. Sulaymanbbekov’s began his career with the Tajik Social Investment Fund, where he provided assistance in organizing seminars and conferences as well as managing a range of related logistics.  Subsequently he joined the Department of Economic Security at the National Bank of Tajikistan as a Specialist of 1st Degree, where he monitored delinquent loans and credits and operated its Data Base.

Mr. Sulaymanbbekov is fluent in English, Dari/Persian and Russian. In addition, he has attended a wide range of national and international seminars, courses and training programs including Management of Banking Risks, USAID Project for Economic Reforms to Enhance Competitiveness Implemented by Deloitte Consulting Overseas Projects in Dushanbe; the Professional Development Training on Marketing, International Trade, and Business Consulting, a USAID Enterprise Development Project for Central Asia implemented by the Pragma Corporation, and the International Accounting Standards courses on FA, MA, T&L, and Audit sponsored by USAID, Kazakh Institute of Professional Accountants and Auditors, Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Over the past ten years Mr. Sulaymanbbekov came to be respected as a progressive leader in the finance and enterprise industry in Tajikistan and through his affiliation with the Orienbank, he has, accordingly, had the opportunity to contribute together with his colleagues at Orienbank, to further developing and enhancing the banking industry in Tajikistan.
 

Turkmenistan
Maya Meredova
Maya Meredova is Cultural Affairs Specialist in the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy in Ashgabat. She is responsible for speaker programs, educational exchanges, cultural activities (including archeological preservation and restoration projects), exchanges and partnerships between Turkmen and American museums, cross-cultural music and film festivals. One of her major goals is to expand educational outreach and cultural activities into Turkmenistan’s provinces.

Before joining the embassy, Ms. Meredova taught English at Turkmen State University and Turkmen-Turkish Girls’ High School in Ashgabat. Ms. Meredova graduated from Turkmen State University with a bachelor's degree in philology and English. She attended the teacher development program at Portsmouth Language School, England in 2000. She also took New York University's online course in advanced writing and American studies in 2003. The following year she successfully completed the Evaluation of International Education Projects distance-learning course offered through Columbia University. Just recently in 2010, she completed her graduate studies at the University of York as a Chevening alumna and received Master of Public Administration degree.

Uzbekistan
Kamil Khodjaev
Kamil Khodjaev graduated the faculty of oriental studies at Tashkent State University and spent a year practicing Chinese in Wuhu Normal University, Anhui province, mainland China. Presently he works as a new business development director with a group of companies he co-owns. Kamil has more than 15 years of working experience in the field of advertising and media throughout the region of Central Asia and the Caucasus, more than 8 years experience in restaurant and café operation, coffee equipments, beans and accessories import and sales, as well as 4 years of experience in construction and real estate development in Uzbekistan.

Kamil Khodjaev understands and speaks four languages - Uzbek, Russian, Chinese and English and has a fair understanding of Turkish/Uighur. Kamil is a CELA 1 alumni and CELA Honorary Counsel for Uzbekistan.