About Us

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Dr. Rebecca Granato, Director

Rebecca Granato is the Associate Vice President for Global Initiatives at Bard College and Program Director for the Open Society University Network’s Hubs for Connected Learning Initiatives (Hubs) in Eastern Africa and the MENA region. Dr. Granato’s work focuses on developing and delivering contextualized, learner-centred learning experiences in undergraduate courses, teacher professional development and research-oriented training in places affected by crisis and displacement for refugees, internally displaced people and those in the host communities. She has also been an Associate of Bard College’s Institute for Writing & Thinking since 2004, in which capacity she has developed and delivered teacher professional development in places as far reaching as Myanmar, Jordan and Kyrgyzstan, among others. Following undergraduate and graduate studies at Bard College, Exeter College, Oxford, and CUNY, she received her PhD in Global History from the intercampus program based at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Canada. 

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Dr. Kerry Bystrom, Academic Lead

Prof. Dr. Kerry Bystrom earned a BA, summa cum laude, in English/Creative Writing and Government from Dartmouth College (1999) and a PhD in English from Princeton University (2007). Awards for her doctoral research on cultural responses to dictatorship in Latin America and apartheid in South Africa include Princeton’s Charlotte Elizabeth Proctor Honorific Fellowship and an International Dissertation Research Fellowship from the Social Science Research Council (USA). Before arriving at Bard College Berlin in 2012, she taught at Princeton University, Bard College, the University of the Witwatersrand, and the University of Connecticut, where she was also director of the Research Program on Humanitarianism at the Human Rights Institute. She teaches at the intersection of aesthetics and politics, and on topics ranging from postcolonial studies (theory, literature, performance and visual art) and African and world literature to trauma and memory studies, human rights, and humanitarianism.

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Shahariar Sadat, Co-Lead of The Osun Hubs Leadership

Shahariar Sadat joined the BRAC CPJ team in April 2021 as the first Director, responsible mainly for the two areas- Academic and Legal Empowerment. Shahariar is an Advocate of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh and an accredited mediator and master trainer on mediation. Prior to joining CPJ, he was the Head of Program of Human Rights and Legal Aid Services (HRLS) at BRAC.
Shahariar is a mediator of the Global Mediation Panel of the United Nations. He has worked as a country mediator of the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman of the World Bank Group and a mediator for the Independent Redress mechanism of Green Climate Fund. He is also associated with Bangladesh International Arbitration Center (BIAC) as a panel mediator and master trainer.

Mr. Sadat was a partner and course coordinator of London College of Legal Studies (South), an institution which provides teaching support for qualifying law degree under English law. He had been an adjunct faculty of the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh and the University of Dhaka. He was the Academic Coordinator and Research Manager of the South Asian Institute of Advanced Legal and Human Rights Studies (SAILS) and has previously played the key role of Academic Coordinator at the CPJ, Brac University.

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Michael Oyoo, Program Manager

Michael Oyoo is an MBA graduate with a strong Business and Leadership sense. He has over ten years working experience in the development and Humanitarian sector and has served in various roles in institutions in East and Central Africa.  He was a Project and Country Director with Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS-INGO) leading projects in Kenya prior to joining the Hubs.  He is currently the Program Manager for the Open Society University Network (OSUN) Hubs for Connected Learning Initiative supporting Global work in Eastern Africa, MENA regions and Bangladesh. He also holds a B.A in philosophy that gives him a reflective drive-in service to persons in context of crisis.

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Alvaro Zuñiga, Coordinator of the Global Taskforce on Third Country Education Pathways

Alvaro Zuñiga is the Coordinator for the Global Taskforce on Third Country Education Pathways

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Anne-Marie Manishimwe, Executive Assistant to the Director

Ms. Anne-Marie Manishimwe is the Executive Assistant to the Director of OSUN Hubs for Connected Learning Initiatives. She is completing a Master's degree in Clinical Psychology at Daystar University, holds a First Class Bachelor's degree in Social Work from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa; and is trained in Refugee and Forced Migration pathways course at University of Oxford-Refugee Studies Center. As a result of her personal experience of forced migration, Anne-Marie brings a personal understanding of forced displacement to her work. Her academic and professional expertise in Social Work, Clinical Psychology, and Refugee Studies drives her passionate advocacy for the mental health, self-reliance, and access to human and socio-economic rights for refugees.

Prior to joining OSUN hubs for Connected Learning Initiatives, she actively supported refugee communities in various roles, including as a Community Navigator at RefugePoint, a Protection Monitor at HIAS Refugee Trust of Kenya, a graduate attaché at the East African Centre for Forced Migration and displacement (EACFMD), and a benevolent counselor at Umoja Refugee Community Based Organization. With unwavering determination and a meticulous nature, Anne-Marie is committed to ensuring refugee access to essential services, resources, opportunities, and favorable policies that enable a dignified
life. She firmly believes that collective efforts are vital in upholding human rights and promoting improved mental health outcomes for individuals affected by forced displacement.