The IRF Young Professionals Programme Introduces its New Leaders

Meet the Team:

Ray Macalalag from the Philippines was named the Lead for Communications, and he will be in charge of the dissemination and documentation of activities of the IRF-YPP. Ray works on policy formulation and planning, specialising in land use and road transport at the National Economic and Development Authority in the Philippines. A civil engineer by profession, he has been a staunch road safety advocate. He is currently an Australia Awards postgraduate scholar majoring in transport.

Tendekayi Marapara from Zimbabwe, on the other hand, was designated as the Lead for Memberships, and he will be managing the membership database as well as ensure members are closely networked with each other. Tendekayi currently works as an engineer for transport safety with WSP New Zealand. He is also part of the regional leadership team for Africa under the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety.

Meanwhile, a new member of the leadership team, Cecilia Merighi from Brasil will be the Lead for Partnerships and will be working closely with the IRF as well as external partners for support in the activities. Cecilia is an Innovation Coordinator at Grupo EcoRodovias, the biggest road operator in Brasil and has experience in highway infrastructure maintenance and restoration in Africa and Brasil. She is a PhD student of construction and infrastructure engineering.

Shashank Misra, a serial entrepreneur from India, was named as the Lead for Projects and will be at the helm of collaborating with youth-led organisations and other stakeholders for co-hosted projects and activities. He is an engineer by profession and has a masters’ degree in Sustainable Energy Futures from Imperial College London. He founded Ekak Innovations in India, a social enterprise working with farmers and fishermen in India and East Africa.