Amira works at the United Nations Global Compact, the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative. There, she leads their engagement team on engagement and implementation strategies with companies in Africa, Middle East, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific and Oceania to align their business strategies and operations with ten universal principles for responsible business in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption and the sustainable development goals. Amira’s work entails guiding companies along their sustainability journeys, whether they are just embarking on the journey, or need enrichment in their current practices, to embed these ten principles and the global goals into their core business strategies, operations and stakeholder engagement.
Prior to this, Amira worked in the private sector for over 10 years, in technical consulting, business development and partnerships. Her recent work at FUJIFILM Irvine Scientific, a biotechnology company specializing in industrial cell culture and vaccine production, stem cell therapy, cytogenetics and assisted reproductive technology, has been instrumental in her professional growth, where she quickly rose through several challenging roles that caught the C-Suites attention and gave her a seat at the executive management table for her global expertise.
Amira is originally from The Gambia, West Africa, where she was born and raised, until she moved to the USA at the age of 17 to pursue her BS in Biotechnology, Neurobiology/Physiology at the University of Maryland. She also holds an MBA from Hult International Business School specializing in Disruptive Business Models and Entrepreneurship. She speaks six languages (English, French, Arabic, Spanish, Italian, Wolof) and has lived in 7 places (The Gambia, DC, Chicago, Los Angeles, Barcelona, Rome and New York City). She plays classical piano and is a big fan of the NBA (and sports in general).