Reham_Karram

Currently, I am working as the Co-Founder and Chairperson of Amal Qena Association for Sustainable Development (Amal-Qena). I am also working as a Senior Administration Officer at The Nile Egyptian Schools- Qena (NES). I used to be working as a Project Coordinator and Executive Assistant within different projects and programs funded by CIDA, USAID, GTZ, and EU. My responsibility includes writing proposals, preparing visibility studies, communicating with the funding organization and coordinating with them for the implementation of the projects. Recently, I have worked as a Project Coordinator with: A- Higher Education: - Establishing the Olympic Village at the South Valley University Campus (2010) - Strategic planning for Higher Education till 2022 (2009) - The Community College (2008) B- Pre-University Education: - Early Childhood Education Enhancement Project (ECEEP) at Redec Association, a project funded by CIDA (2009) - Bader, a project funded and adopted by YAPD Association (2007) In January 2010, I have finished the “external reviewers’ course” with the National Authority for Quality Assurance and Accreditation of Education "NAQAAE". By December 2010, I have been appointed as an external reviewer. My responsibilities involve: - Creating awareness of quality and accreditation culture at all different levels of pre-university education institutions, and preparing the society to ace pt the culture of assessment, measurement, reviewing, and supporting institutions. - Coordination with educational institutions to achieve a comprehensive system of standards and perform assessment mechanisms taking into consideration the international standards. - Capacity building to stakeholders of educational institutions to qualify them to conduct the self-study according to the resulting feedback. - Comprehensive evaluation of educational institutions and their programs according to approved reference standards for each level of education and all types of educational institutions. - Supporting quality assurance and control systems in schools for the purpose of assuring the continuity of the improvement process at educational institutions. - Conducting assessment visits such as support visits to help in developing the educational process and other accreditation visits to evaluate the eligibility of schools for attaining educational accreditation. - Encouraging community involvement, and sponsorship of educational institutions through the BOT activities in coordination with MoE. - Developing the capabilities of schools wishing to be accredited through preliminary visits and orientations. - Using all human and financial resources for offering a highly professional and technical service to improve and develop the educational process and the performance of schools. - Provide technical guidance and support for the student- the teacher- the school- the civil society so as to reform education and the Egyptian society. - Ensures that gender equity is addressed in all materials, trainings and community-school activities. - Reporting on schools with objectivity and accuracy based on scientific assessment methods. - Disseminating the reports and information in the Egyptian society with transparency, using the scientific reference methods. Meantime, I am a Technical Support Advisor within the Technical Support and Advisory Unit for Small and Medium Enterprises, funded by the Business Development Service Support Project (BDSSP, CIDA), and located within Redec Qena, (December 2007). My responsibility comprises the conduct of the following items:  Help in the development of non-financial services for SMEs in Qena.  Provide technical assistance, implement capacity building for SMEs staff, and monitor performance.  Support and respond to particular needs that will improve the SME environment.  Enhance the SME sector by supporting existing and new business development service providers.  Conduct regular field visits to the SMEs to ensure the quality of work and to provide support.  Facilitate training sessions to the SMEs and follow-up the training impact.  Provide oversight and guidance on the implementation of existing projects to ensure goals and objectives of projects are achieved.  Expand the market for business development services on a sustainable basis.  Focuses on the development of the clients' skills and knowledge by emphasizing the “learn by doing” approach.  Organize and facilitate orientation meetings on the unit’s services in cooperation with other programs.  Document the unit activities. Submit regular reports on progress and activities related to the academy work and assist with data collection.  Develop and submit monthly work plans in the light of the unit annual plan to guide the unit’s contributions to the BDSSP strategy.  Collaborate with the teamwork with specific emphasis on ensuring active participation by targeted communities, smooth implementation of the unit improvement plans.  Participate in the training activities and any other activities related to the unit component.  Participate in and contribute to cross-governorate meetings to share experience and information concerning successful activities, address common problems, and discuss initiatives raised by partners.  Establish strong working relationships with other partners and professional staff within other governorate offices.  Establish protocols with other partners and donors as well as governmental officials.  Manage Telecentre Academy courses and administrative work.  Design and implement different courses program for Telecentre Academy.  Participate in the selection of the academy trainers, and in developing their courses’ description in coordination with the unit manager.  Manage and update the unit’s as well as the Academy's websites.  Take on additional responsibilities related to Redec as requested by the executive manager. I have been working as an Administration Officer at the Vocational Education, Training and Employment Programme (GTZ) at Qena, (04/2008-03/2009). My responsibility comprises the conduct of the following items: • Maintain good relation to the staff of the GTZ office plus Qena’s network and learning facilitators as well as the governmental partners. • Cooperate with and ensure regular contacts, dialogues by doing PR work and cooperate with local communities, relevant organizations, non-governmental bodies and persons within the program’s environment as well as with other projects in order to enhance and maintain good working relationships. • Provide a database for the expected target groups (youth, parents and employers) and regional partners (Governor, NGO’s, governmental departments, business associations, etc.) to cooperate with in future regional activities. • Establish and update an index of, and data on, contact addresses, phone/fax numbers and e-mail-addresses. • Facilitate fast and economic communications by establishing an email group for Qena’s network and learning facilitators. • Set up and maintain a filing system for the office, and the network. • Organize, coordinate and attend meetings with Qena’s network and learning facilitators to identify their needs and solve any expected problems. • Provide a good flow of communication and information among all participants. • Review reports and documents concerning the progress of the program activities, determine bottlenecks and recommend alternative solutions. • Support the logistics of network, and make travel arrangements for its members as requested. • Set the GTZ office structure (painting, phone, air condition, electricity issues, and network line), prepare a tentative budget, and follow-up the workers deals.  Organise, coordinate, and work with programme support staff.  Assist in setting up and maintaining a filing system in office, and seeing to it that information is kept confidential, particularly in the field of personnel and finance. • Support and assist programme experts and short-term consultants in fulfilling their tasks during their assignment. • Coordinate all gender related activities in Qena. • Assist in and/or carries out other programme activities and tasks, as assigned. • Participate in special training programs to become familiar with GTZ procedures (relation to GTZ Egypt Office). • Support in special technical duties with regard to Gender issues if necessary. I have worked as a casual Administrative Assistant at The Educational Reform Program (ERP, USAID), Qena Office (2006). My responsibility comprises the conduct of the following items: • Organize and maintain an extensive filing system. • Answer telephone and rout calls promptly. • Greet visitors and make waiting time as comfortable as possible after notifying pertinent individual. • Organize the attendance sheet, leaves and permissions of the staff. • Schedule meetings, and arrange for activity logistics as requested by the DGM Advisor. • Organize and maintain resource materials, and other technical or professional development resources. • Prepare weekly calendars in coordination with DGM Advisor. • Assists members of the office in preparing informational materials for presentations, training sessions, and workshops. • Prepare, translate and type the required material from English into Arabic or vice-versa. • Sort and distribute mail to all department heads. • Maintain office, mailroom and stationeries supplies inventory. • Operate a variety of such related office machines as the Xerox copier and the fax. • Copy, collate, bind, and mail material upon request. • Help in preparing the required material, and other Finance and Office staff. • Receive, process and follow-up logistic and travel requests, and manage the car and the driver. • Receive, process and follow-up the maintenance of the office technical equipments. Professional Experience: The following is a list of the projects for which I worked as a Project Coordinator and a Project Administrator: - The E-Learning Project (2010) - The Olympic Village at SVU campus (2010) - Strategic Planning for Higher Education till 2022 (2009) - The Community College (2008) - The South Valley Forum for Dialogue and Human Resources Development (2007) - A Private University (2006) - An Educational Institution (2004) - An Internet Café (2001) - An Eco-tourist Resort (1999) - A Factory for Recycling Solid Waste (1998) - A Vehicle Exhibition (1997) - A Private School (1996) Professional Responsibilities: My responsibilities within the previous projects include conducting the following duties: Administrative Duties:  Collect, organize and maintain an extensive filing system.  Manage the project calendar, arrange and update the schedule for official meetings, seminars, workshops, round table conference, donor sub-group meetings, and trainings.  Arrange detailed travel plans and itineraries, comply documents for travel related meetings, and accompanies when requested.  Plane, organize, and conduct hotel reservations, lodgings, and logistic assistance for the project visitors.  Prepare records such as agenda, notices and minutes of meetings.  Prepare and develop an action plan as well as an implementation plan.  Develop and submit monthly implementation plans in the light of the suggested work plan.  Organize, deliver, supervise, and follow up the implementation of the work plan.  Submit regular reports on progress and activities related to the project.  Collaborate with the other governorate’s officials to ensure active participation and smooth implementation of work plans.  Take on any additional responsibilities related to the project whether requested by the investor or the officials of the governorate.  Establish, organize and facilitate orientation meetings and liaise protocols with the investor, the governmental officials, and the teamwork.  Coordinate and monitor the support provided by the Investment Bureau to the project.  Ensure the good understanding and implementation of the investment strategies, interventions, and plans introduced by the government policy, and monitor the overall progress in the project.  Under take researches and studies upon request.  Complete work assignments under deadline pressure. Financial Duties:  Assist in administering the petty cash expenditures and other financial documents in accordance with the investor’s procedures and instructions.  Control and monitor such financial issues as the project budget, and the weekly petty cash.  Make payments on certified cash voucher, and reconcile daily balance.  Prepare, verify cash payments and advances, and obtain full set of supporting documentation, including receipts.  Review, and maintain strict controls on all cash and receipts documentation.  Work with payment and travel allowance in accordance with schedules and regulations.  Provide indicative costs for the implementation of the project, and suggest mechanism for raising resources.  Manage the project finance, financial planning, investment fund management, and investment analysis.  Analyze financial statement, project future financial statements, and evaluate relevant decisions.  Plan, evaluate, allocate and manage capital assets, coasts of capital, rates of retain, and profit planning.  Manage cash flow and balance sheets, business transactions, income statements, and business data recording. Human Resource Management Duties:  Assume the direct contact with all project counterparts and related stakeholders within the local level to get their commitments towards the project during its implementation.  Represent the project vis-à-vis the government authorities, as well as in high-level public events.  Facilitate and monitor the preparation and implementation of information collection, local workshops, baseline surveys and feasibility studies.  Ensuring the active participation of all stakeholders during the implementation of all activities of the project.  Monitor the performance of the teamwork, and provide technical assessments and consultation.  Ensure that the teamwork develops regular plans to coordinate its work with other governmental and non-governmental organizations.  Conduct regular field visits to the project site to ensure the quality of work and to provide any needed support.  Organize and facilitate meetings between the investor and the governorate’s officials to enhance close coordination between them.  Ensure the quality concepts and standards are considered during the project implementation.  Organize systems and decision-making processes, and study their relation to strategies and economics of human resource management.  Supervise support staff i.e. drivers, office helper, janitor etc.  Assist in preparing the contracts for the consultants. Academic Experience: • Teaching English courses for university students (2004- till present). • Teaching English as ESP at the SCI institution (2003-2004), • Teaching English courses at the European institution (2001-2003), • Teaching English as TEFL/ TESL at IBI institution, Qena (from 1998-2000). • Translating a wide variety of documents and references from English into Arabic and vice-versa, (from 1995 - till present). • Working as a simultaneous translator for Qena’s Governorate, for business meetings and other situations where translation is needed, (from 1996 - 1998). • Working as an interpreter for the foreigners who visit the projects in Qena (1995- till present). • Working as an accredited interpreter with the Canadian Embassy and CIDA in Upper Egypt (2007- till present). List of Courses Taught In my MA thesis, I have dealt with the language of magazines which presents the use of language which is fresh, topical and current. Within the course of my research, I have become acquainted with studies that have explored the language of journalism in general and the language of magazines in particular. This, I believe, has given me the experience and qualifications to teach a wide variety of courses especially to students of English and Journalism & Mass Communication departments. These courses include: Linguistics, Novel, Drama, Poetry, American Literature, Composition, Translation, Mass Communication, Public Relations, and Journalism. Statement of Research Interest Within my MA research, I was concerned with providing a new account of the term coherence, and the development of a reliable and valid methodological framework for the description and analysis of coherence in English and Arabic. Currently, I am working on my PhD thesis: “Dialogue Structure in Coetzee’s Fiction: A Linguistic Pragmatic Approach”. My research interests, therefore, include: • Language: Its Structure and Use • Conversational Routines in English • Pragmatics and Fiction • Text Linguistics and Discourse Analysis • The Functional Analysis of Language • Patterns of Language: Structure, Variation, and Change • Linguistic Cohesion in Texts: Theory and Description • Linguistics in Relation to Literature • Sociolinguistics • Investigating English Style in Contrast with Arabic Style • Critical Discourse Analysis: The Critical Study of Language • Discourse Strategies • Explorations in the Functions of Language • Discourse Structure and Discourse Coherence • Style and Communication in English and Arabic • Applied Linguistics • Language and Communication • Literary Pragmatics • Analyzing Conversation: Rules and Unites in the Structure of Talk • Text and Context • Teaching Language as Communication • Stylistics and the Teaching of Literature Career Summary as a Trainer & Instructor: I have been working as trainer and lecturer at different organizations within the last ten years. The training fields include: Soft Skills & Self Development Priorities Management Time Management Life Planning Developing Thinking Skills Decision Making Skills Employment & Career Development C.V. Writing Interview Skills Conducting a successful Interview Business Skills Development Communication skills Effective Business Communication Business Ethics Human Rights Strategic Planning Grant Management Proposal Writing Advocacy Environment Issues Water and Sanitation Effective Presentations General Management Project Management Action Planning Team Building Change Management Monitoring & Control Skills Decision Making Skills Negotiation Skills Leadership Skills Supervision Skills Problem Solving Through Productive Thinking Negotiating Organizational Capacity Building for NGOs Strategic Planning Management by Objectives (MBO) Results Based Management (RBM) Networking Proposal Writing Monitoring & Evaluation Reporting Skills Advocacy Voluntarism Gender Poverty Alleviation Project Management Community Needs Assessment Field Surveys Communication Skills Presentation Skills Dealing with Difficult People Customer Service Small & Medium Enterprises Development Feasibility Studies Business Planning Business Advisors Training Diagnosis of SMEs Problems Costs & Accounting How to Start Your Business How to Grow Your Business Effective Marketing Effective Production Management Monitoring & Coaching SMEs Basic Managerial Skills Interpersonal Skills for Entrepreneurs Environment Dimensions in SMEs Marketing of Business Development Services (BDS) Micro Enterprises (MEs) & Micro Finance Training For MEs Advisors Monitoring MEs Projects Feasibility Studies for MEs Customers Development Information Technology Cisco Networking Academy program IT Essentials: PC Hardware and Software v4.0 Windows XP & Windows 7 Office 2007 I also participated in such various workshops and social activities that have given me a good background and knowledge concerning the following topics: • Fancy Molasses Industry Development • Decentralization management. • Social development through NGOs. • Illiterate’s eradication projects and pedagogical assessment. • E learning and training guidance and schooling administration. • Eco-tourism and eco-lodges. • Green hotels, green globe and blue flags. • Environmental awareness and education. • Technologies for renewable energy. • Energy efficiency technologies. • Air and noise pollution sources and control measures. • Industrial wastewater management. • Environmental management and planning system. • Solid waste management, pollution prevention and recycling. Professional Awards and Honors Professionally my innovation: "Training Youth on Applying the New Environmental Management Principles to Develop the Fancy Molasses Industry in Qena" has been nominated to the Award of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for Environmental Management 2010. We have won the third nominee, and I have received the prize from His Highness Prince Turki Bin Naser in a celebration at Alexandria Bibliotheca in December, 20th, 2010. You can find out about this innovation and our photos at the following web sites: www.arado.org.eg www.facebook.com/reham.karram www.amal-qena.4t.com General/ Magdy Ayoub, Qena’s Governor also honored me for this reward, and he adopts my innovation and encourages me to apply it in the whole governorate not only Qena City. Academic References Reference Name: Prof. Abdel-Moniem Mohammad Sallam Organization: English Department, Faculty of Arts, Minia University Relationship: My MA and PhD supervisor E-mail: Telephone: (002) 018 2777885 (002) 086 2344104 (002) 02 27022638 Reference Name: Prof. Mohammad Abou El-Fadel Badran Organization: Arabic Department, Faculty of Arts, South Valley University Relationship: The Dean of the Faculty of Arts, South Valley University, Qena E-mail: badranm@hotmail.com badran@svu.edu.eg Telephone: (002) 012 8426348 (002) 096 5211 269 Reference Name: Dr. Abdul Mawgoud Rageh Dardery Organization: English Department, Faculty of Arts, South Valley University Relationship: University Language Center Director E-mail: Dardery@aim.com Dardery1@yahoo.com Telephone: (002) 012 1696942 (002) 096 5211273 Reference Name: Dr. Antar Solhy Organization: English Department, Faculty of Arts, South Valley University Relationship: The Head of Translation Program at Qena Center for Language Teaching & Research, Faculty of Arts, South Valley University. E-mail: antar20@maktoob.com Telephone: (002) 010 3715919 (002) 096 5218452 Reference Name: Dr. Wafaa Hamdey Sorour Organization: English Department, Faculty of Arts, South Valley University Relationship: Lecturer E-mail: wsorour2002@hotmail.com Telephone: (002) 010 537014 (002) 096 5324099 Reference Name: Prof. Carolyn Hartnett Organization: Professor Emeritus, College of the Mainland, Texas, USA Relationship: A consultant E-mail: hartnettclyn@sbcglobal.net Telephone: # 4099481446 Reference Name: Dr. Annabelle Lukin Organization: Research Fellow, Centre for Language in Social Life, Department of Linguistics, Macquarie University Relationship: A consultant E-mail: Annabelle.Lukin@ling.mq.edu.au Telephone: # 6129850 9184 Professional References Reference Name: General/ Magdy Ayoub Organization: Qena Governorate Relationship: Governor Telephone: (002) 096 5337333 Fax: (002) 096 5332640 Reference Name: Professor. Abbas Mohammed Mansour Organization: South Valley University Relationship: President of the University E-mail: psvu@svu.edu.eg abbass_mansour@yahoo.com Telephone: (002) 0101224568 (002) 096 5211277 Fax: (002) 096 5211279 Reference Name: Prof. Mahmoud Khodari Organization: South Valley University Relationship: Vice President of the University E-mail: khodari2004@yahoo.com Telephone: (002) 016 3801010 (002) 096 5217210 Fax: (002) 096 5216487 Reference Name: Mrs. Hanan Malek Organization: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) Relationship: Human Resources Manager E-mail: hanan.malek@gtz.de Telephone: (002) 012 3120718 (002) 02 27359750 Fax: (002) 02 27382981 Reference Name: Mr. Peter Paproski Organization: Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) Relationship: Regional Manager, Egypt E-mail: Peter.Paproski@international.gc.ca Telephone: (002) 016 5506938 (002) 02 27918791 Fax: Reference Name: Mr. Sherif Fouad Organization: Ministry of Communication and Information Technology Relationship: ICT Director E-mail: sfouad@mcit.gov.eg Telephone: (002) 011 1831584 Fax: Reference Name: Dr. Gamal Hamdan Organization: Social Fund for Development Relationship: Local Director Telephone: (002) 010 6063027