The AANHPI Roundtable Series provides an opportunity for students and young professionals to learn from public service leaders in our community in an intimate and conversational setting for one hour. Each roundtable features public service leaders from one organization and accommodates 25-30 attendees. This year, CAPAL is launching a series of monthly Roundtable discussions. These events will be held on a virtual platform. Registration is FREE for all attendees.
This session will feature Chemonics International with Mary Christenson, Zohya Parmar, and Hasna Rizwan.
Chemonics International is an international development consulting firm. For more than 40 years, Chemonics has remained dedicated to helping people live healthier, more productive, and more independent lives. From our founding in 1975, we have worked in more than 150 countries to help our clients, partners and beneficiaries take on the world’s toughest challenges. Today, we reimagine global supply chains to deliver essential medicines to the right place at the right time. We take a promising new way of powering a village in Kenya and adapt it to a village in Colombia. We embrace project management as a discipline, not an afterthought, so our clients get maximum impact for minimum risk. And we think big, about applying lessons learned across all of our projects, about bridging the gap between segregated technical fields and about forging partnerships that unite the world’s best minds to solve its toughest problems.
Mary Christenson joined Chemonics International in 2016 as an Operations and Project Management Associate in the Asia Region where she supported projects in Indonesia, Pakistan, and Vietnam. After working in Asia, Mary moved to the Project Development Support Division as an Operations Manager. Currently, Mary is a Talent Manager, recruiting professionals for the US Government Business Line. Mary holds an M.A. in Asian Studies from George Washington University and a B.A. in Economics and English Literature from DePauw University. Between her degrees, Mary spent two years in South Korea as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant. Mary grew up as a third culture kid in various countries, in a Korean and American household. During her free time, Mary loves reading, yoga, plants, music, and the outdoors.
Hasna Rizwan joined Chemonics International Inc. as a Cost Editor/Publications Associate in March of 2022. She comes from a multicultural background. Hasna is mixed Pakistani Filipina Salvadoran American. She graduated in 2021 with a Master’s in Emergency and Disaster Management from Georgetown University. Hasna completed her Bachelor’s in Global Leadership in Disaster Response from George Washington University in 2020. Currently, she is pursuing a Graduate Certificate in Health and Society from Harvard. When Hasna is not working or studying, she is an active community member. She has been a volunteer at numerous organizations, including FAITH Social Services and INMED Partnerships for Children. Hasna is passionate about empowering, mentoring, and supporting underprivileged youth. Further, Hasna is the Founder and Coordinator of Mamdouh, a professional network in DC, Maryland, and Virginia. The network has rapidly grown to over 600 members. Hasna seeks to bridge generation gaps, empower early-career professionals, and foster community building through this initiative.
Zohya Parmar is from Los Angeles, California and pursued her BA at Boston University at the Pardee School of Global Studies for International Relations, concentrating in ethnic violence and sustainable development in Asia and Africa. She has spent 3 and a half years working in adult literacy curriculum development and teaching for Spanish, Arabic, and Somali speakers. She has also spent some time working in the private sector, briefly at a law firm, Latham & Watkins and then shifted to Chemonics International Inc. as an archivist in the East and Southern Africa division. She was able to gain project