Fellows Profile

Received Sylff fellowship in 2007.
Academic supervisor: Gloria Wekker (for part of my master)
Academic achievements, social engagement initiatives:
Member of the Dutch The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy; Fellow at International Visitors Leadership Program; Partner at The Dutch Coalition for Humanitarian Innovation; Founder of Lattice Consultancy Ltd.; Advisory Board member at Spark Amsterdam; Advisroy Board Member at Stichting Jeevan Jyot Nederland; Member of Advisory Committee of University College Fryslân.

Somaye is a natural networker and a connector with an entrepreneurial flair, affinity to building relations and connecting potential partners. With 15 years of experience in Public Relations, where 10 years of it has been related to Alumni Relations (as Alumni Officer or Chairing Alumni Association), plus 5 years of fundraising expertise under her belt, Somaye is well-equipped to advise and support academic institutes in their alumni relations and identifying potential fundraising opportunities. As a graduate in a diverse field of studies, Somaye can bring various perspectives to the sessions she moderates or to the events at which she presents: her associate degree in Applied Mathematics in Computer Sciences has advanced her analytical skills and sharpened her view on details. Her multidisciplinary under-graduate studies majoring in Social Sciences (a combination of Sociology, Anthropology and Psychology) equipped her with the ability to situate every problem and solution in different contexts and analyze them from different angles with an innovative and progressive approach. Moreover, her highly interdisciplinary post-graduate studies in Comparative Women’s Studies in Culture and Politics prepared Somaye to have an enriched understanding towards the position and status of different groups affected by similar interventions.
Somaye’s philosophy and life motto is “Sharing is Power”. She believes in the power of collective which can be channeled through sharing experiences and expertise. Somaye has concentrated her interest on issues related to her core values: equality, inclusion and diversity with a special attention to programs where transparency and sustainability are cross-cutting matters.

Somaye currently lives in a small town east of Utrecht, the Netherlands, with her two sons – Jeso (5.5) and Robert (4).
https://www.linkedin.com/in/somayedehban