Kairo Scholarship Fund (KSF)
Unlocking Potential, Building Futures
Dr. Aminata Sillah
Professor of Public Administration and Political Science
Dr. Aminata Sillah is an accomplished educator, author, researcher, policy analyst, trainer, public speaker, and social entrepreneur with over 15 years of extensive experience in international development, gender equality, and youth empowerment initiatives. She holds a PhD in Public Administration from the University of North Texas and currently serves as an Associate Professor of Political Science and Public Administration at Towson University, teaching both graduate and undergraduate courses.
As a productive scholar and engaging speaker, Dr. Sillah has contributed to numerous peer-reviewed academic journals and book chapters, addressing critical topics related to governance, public management, gender dynamics, and social justice. Her research findings have been presented at national and international conferences, where she is recognized for her insightful analysis and innovative perspectives.
Leveraging her broad expertise and extensive practical experience, Dr. Sillah has provided high-level consultancy services to diverse international projects and initiatives. She partners frequently with international organizations, government institutions, and NGOs, advising on areas including education policy, social justice advocacy, youth and women’s empowerment strategies, democratic governance, and the cultivation of democratic cultures.
Driven by her core values of empowerment, sustainable development, community engagement, and equity, she remains dedicated to enhancing governance, strengthening public management practices, and promoting democratic values and inclusive development, particularly in the global south.
Fred Rooney
Attorney-at-Law
Fred Rooney’s work demonstrates his lifelong commitment to social justice in the United States and around the globe. He has been credited with creating the first legal incubator model for training new lawyers and for being a catalyst in the transformation of legal education in the US. His work in the development of post-graduate legal education and the powerful incubator that he began in 2007 are forcing law schools to rethink their responsibility to their graduates and to the millions of individuals in the US who lack access to justice. His work is innovative and entrepreneurial and is impacting on an ever growing number of people in the US and abroad.
Fred earned his J.D. from the City University of New York’s (CUNY) School of Law in 1986. In 1998 he returned to CUNY Law to direct a “unique public/private partnership”
that offered a network of support and resources for CUNY Law graduates committed to increasing access to justice through their solo and small firm practices. The New York Law Journal, New York Times, Legal Times and American Bar Association Journal have highlighted Fred’s successes and bar associations and law school faculty and administrators across the US rely on Fred’s work when designing their own post-
graduate programs.
In January 2010, Fred was awarded the 2010 Father Robert Drinan Award by the American Association of Law School’s (AALS) and on February 5, 2010, he accepted the American Bar Association (ABA) Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services’ 2010 Louis M. Brown Award for Legal Access, which was awarded to CLRN. The Brown Award recognizes innovative programs that meet the legal needs of those who do not qualify for legal aid yet still aren’t able to afford typical legal fees. In June 2013, Fred completed a 10-month Fulbright in the Dominican Republic where he launched the first law school incubator outside of the United States. Three months later, the American Bar Journal named Fred a Legal Rebel and recognized him as the Father of Incubators.
On February 5, 2014, the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) and the Institute of International Education’s Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES) added Fred to its roster of Fulbright Specialists. Since October 2014, he has traveled to Pakistan on four occasions to conceptualize an incubator for recent Pakistani law graduates. Fred was in Islamabad on April 26, 2016, to take part in the formal launching of the first incubator for lawyers in Asia.