Welcoming Dr. Amjad Mohammed-Saleem to Euphrates Board of Directors!
We are overjoyed to welcome Dr. Amjad Mohammed-Saleem to the Euphrates Board of Directors.
A seasoned peacebuilding and humanitarian leader, Amjad brings global experience from roles with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), International Alert, The Commonwealth Foundation, and Muslim Aid. He currently serves as Assistant Professor of Humanitarian Leadership at the Zakat Foundation Institute and is a respected thought leader whose recent publications enrich global peace discourse.
Amjad is a servant leader. He shares his vision and serves with heart and humility. We thought you’d appreciate getting to know Amjad in his own words.
It is with a great deal of humility and honour that I start this new chapter with the Euphrates Institute - especially after my PPA experience, which reminded me that peacebuilding is less about positioning and more about listening, showing up and the power of community. That exposure has once again reinforced the need to invest in cultivating leaders who choose humanity daily — who understand that peace is not an abstract ideal but a disciplined lived practice rooted in trust, dignity and courage.
The vision I hold for Euphrates is one that I have been cultivating over the last year of developing a platform for inter-generational dialogue called "Generation Peace" based on radical hope: hope that is not naïve, but grounded in the hard work of dialogue, relationship-building and structural change. A hope that recognizes we are living in fragmented, polarized times — yet insists that communities can still become spaces of encounter rather than division.
At the heart of what I hope to contribute is a simple but intentional model I’ve been developing and living:
Foundation:
Nonflict + Appreciative Inquiry — holding tension honestly while also identifying strengths. Not avoiding conflict, but transforming it. Not denying pain, but building from possibility.
Middle:
The 5 Rs – a trust infrastructure. Trust is not a feeling; it is built through practice. The 5 Rs anchor responsibility, relationships, respect, reflect and renew — creating the conditions where dialogue can move beyond symbolism into substance.
Outcome:
The 5 As – youth leadership and system transformation. When trust is strong, young people move from being consulted to being activated: being Agents of Change / Architects / Anchors / Advocates / Amplifiers. This is where peacebuilding becomes generational and regenerative.
Personally, I hope to bring three gifts:
A commitment to humble leadership — entering rooms ready to learn, especially from young people and those closest to conflict.
A practice of bridge-building — connecting faith actors, civic leaders and youth movements in ways that generate shared ownership.
And a systems lens — asking how we move from inspiring conversations to sustained impact.
The big peacebuilding questions I am sitting with are these:
How do we cultivate trust in an era of accelerating distrust?
How do we accompany young people not just as beneficiaries, but as architects of peace?
And how do we nurture radical hope without bypassing pain and injustice?
I join Euphrates not as someone arriving with answers, but as someone committed to building trust, strengthening youth leadership, and walking the long road of peace — together.