Our Team

Nigara  is a communications professional with many years experience in the corporate and non-profit sectors.  She is committed to leading positive social and environmental change through grassroots outreach and capacity building with a focus on social and environmental justice, empowerment of marginalized groups, social inclusion, and community engagement. Her area of expertise includes design and implementation of communications strategies and information campaigns in public health, environment, and climate change. She brings to Pebble strong management experience in international development projects in transition democracies. She attended University of Central Florida, Moscow State University and University of Warsaw, and holds an MSc in Development Studies from University of London School of Oriental and African Studies. She currently serves as Senior Communication Consultant at the Sustainable Development Department for Europe and Central Asia of the World Bank's Environment, Natural Resources, and Blue Economy Global Practice.

Dr. Mikhail Volik is a physician and a public health expert. He has served as advisor and consultant to the World Health Organization (WHO), other UN agencies, and to various international non profit organizations and philanthropic foundations. His area of expertise includes prevention of communicable diseases, health education and promotion, digital health, community engagement, and social mobilization in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.   Dr. Volik is a past recipient of the prestigious Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship at Emory University in Atlanta, GA, where he focused on behavior change and health education, as well as the international fellowship of the National Institute of Drug Abuse.  Dr. Volik led implementation of public health interventions at various national and international public health agencies and organizations, including AIDS Foundation East-West, Population Services International, and Project HOPE. He has helped establish a nationwide peer education campaign to prevent a rapidly growing epidemic of HIV infection among youth in Russia and also served as a member of the WHO Health in Prison Program Steering Group.

While on a quest to find the runner’s nirvana of high altitude training in Ethiopia, Alek, a self-professed running fanatic, came to find his passion for traveling with a purpose. Since 2010, Alek has organized volunteering projects in Ethiopia, India, Peru, and Kenya, ultimately establishing the Pebble Foundation. Alek readily admits that he prefers to devote his time to causes he believes in and this is how he likes his volunteerism: hands-on, honest, and heart to heart. Alek has graduated from Dartmouth College where he majored in philosophy, and was editor-in-chief of Dartmouth’s Law Review and a member of varsity lightweight crew. After Dartmouth, he has worked as an outreach coordinator for various non-profits and also taught middle school English as part of Teach For America. He currently works as policy analyst at Richman Law & Policy, a social impact law firm that works to advocate for environmental, animal, and social justice causes., and as assistant instructor with Poetry in America. Organized in partnership with Harvard University, Poetry in America is a multi-platform initiative that brings poetry into literature classrooms and living rooms around the world.  In his spare time, Alek writes and workshops screenplays and short fiction and studies narrative in all its forms.  

Tatiana has been working with children and their families in underserved neighborhoods since she was pursuing her K-12 teaching certification with an emphasis on social studies at Rutgers University in Camden, New Jersey. Since then, she has supported children and youth both in and outside of the United States through multiple literacy and other education initiatives. Currently, she is working with children and youth in the Washington D.C. area to improve their language skills and ensure school success.  

Sofiya Asedrem is an international development professional and academic. She received her BA in International Affairs & Development from the George Washington University, and her MA in Political Science from the University of Central Florida (UCF). Her research has focused on the MENA region and her areas of expertise include women’s empowerment programs and environmental sustainability.  Previously, she served as a graduate teaching assistant and research associate at UCF and as assistant to the director at Peace and Justice Institute. She is an alumna of the Public Policy and Leadership Conference at Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a recipient of the U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarship and the Benjamin A. Gilman Scholarship, which funded her studies in Oman and Morocco. 

At Pebble,  Sofiya supports current programming and communication activities, as well as strategic development and planning.