Youth Coalition members join IRF Young Professionals

Three out of four of the newest IRF - International Road Federation Young Professional Programme. Congratulations to Ray Adrian Macalalag, Tendekayi Marapara, and Shashank Misra!

We have republished the article originally released by the IRF. Find the article below;

The International Road Federation Young Professionals Programme (IRF-YPP) reorganized its leadership team for the 2023-2024 period, effectively changing its geographic assignments into functional roles.

The leadership team is composed of four young professionals who will take on four strategic roles namely, communications, memberships, partnerships, and projects.

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, specializing 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 ensuring 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 Brazil 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 Brazil, and has experience in highway infrastructure maintenance and restoration in Africa and Brazil. She is a Ph.D. 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 organizations and other stakeholders for co-hosted projects and activities. He is an engineer by profession and has a master’s 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.

The leaders will be embarking on a two-year term, and among the most-anticipated activities they will be holding is the IRF Young Professionals Summitevery September. This 2023 will still be held virtually, and initial plans have indicated that an in-person summit will be held in 2024.

“We are expecting to have virtual regional activities well as webinars in on top of the summit. We are looking forward to collaborating with organizations, especially youth-led ones, in conducting sustainable and future-oriented road transport events. I believe our dynamic team will be able to do this,” shared the Lead for Commuications, Ray Macalalag.