Team 

Soumaya Abdel-Rahman is a global citizen who spent her formative years in Europe, the US and Sudan. Growing up, her parents were ardent advocates for education who always pushed her and her siblings to spread their wings. Abdel-Rahman holds a PhD in immunology from the Imperial College of London and specializes in clinical drug development. She believes in the power of knowledge and its capacity to change lives, along with the impact of community and partnership to create change in our interconnected world.

The foundation is a tribute to the women of Sudan, who have played a strong role in their families and in governance since the Meroitic Period.

Leyden Lewis is the owner and creative director of the Leyden Lewis Design Studio, a multidisciplinary design practice focused on interiors, architecture, and art curation. His design aesthetics are a fusion of his Caribbean heritage (Trinidad and Tobago), and a classical European Modernist training that informs the studio’s design process.

Lewis received his Bachelor of Fine Art in Architecture from Parsons School of Design, The New School. He is currently adjunct faculty at Parsons, The New School, and The New York School of Interior Design.

Lewis is the architect for El Monadhama. He believes that the power of design and architecture can be a standing symbol of the foundation’s mission and permanence for the community it serves.

Adaobi Okereke has more than 25 years of professional experience as a Management Consultant. She has worked with clients from large global corporations as well as smaller technology start-ups. In her role as Strategic Advisor for the Foundation, she will ensure that the Foundation lays out and adheres to a flexible, pragmatic strategic plan and vision that allows the organization to make a lasting impact on many lives and communities in Sudan.

Adaobi relishes working with colleagues to devise and deliver creative solutions to large and small challenges for businesses across the world. She is looking forward to drawing on her personal and professional skills and experience to support the goals of the FAR Foundation. Adaobi is honored to be working with a diverse, talented team on such a worthy cause.

She has been active in voluntary and humanitarian work in Sudan for twenty years. She is a graduate of Faculty of Arts – Omdurman Al Ahlia University, Department of Translation, and she has a certificate from the Open University of Sudan, Faculty of Languages, majoring in English. This is in addition to receiving a number of French language courses at the French Scientific Unit of the University of Khartoum
She received a number of practical training courses inside and outside Sudan.
She worked in various voluntary organizations in several fields, especially the field of women’s education