United States Board Members

Nermien Riad founded Coptic Orphans in 1988 after a visit to Egypt, her childhood home. She found a country struggling with widespread poverty and decided to make a difference. She began by taking care of 45 girls in a Cairo orphanage with the help of family and friends.  She worked as a volunteer for 12 years before becoming the Executive Director in 2000. She holds a Master's degree in Public Administration a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering both from Polytechnic Virginia Institute. She has worked for the Federal Government for 17 years with the US Department of State and the Internal Revenue Service. In recognition of her work, Nermien was selected by the National Council of Nonprofits as a delegate for the nonprofit congress. She is also the recipient of the United Nations Association of the National Capital Area Community Human Rights award. Nermien is married with two children who are also very committed to the betterment of Egypt.

Dr. Amira Roess is an Epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Areas of research experience include: infectious diseases epidemiology; emerging zoonotic diseases; video-based health education methods; and technologies to improve neonatal and infant survival in vulnerable populations in South Asia, the Middle East and sub Saharan Africa. Amira spent three years working on respiratory disease and neonatal mortality intervention projects in rural Bangladesh, two years working on neglected tropical disease prevention and control in resource poor settings, and two years as the Science Director for a policy commission examining the public health impacts of food animal production. She holds a Bachelor of Science in biology and philosophy, a PhD in international health, and a MPH.

Dr. Ashraf Rofail is Chairman and CEO of Santeon Group, Inc. a publically traded company focused on the Healthcare, Energy, Media and technology solutions. Prior to founding Santeon Group, Ash served as Chief Technology Officer for User Technology Associates, a $100 M software consultancy with over 1000 employees. Ash was responsible for setting technology strategy and technical leadership. Ash has provided strategic technical vision for several successful and innovative products as Chief Architect for Best Software (acquired by Sage), Product Architect for Solomon/Great Plains (acquired by Microsoft), and State of the Art Software (acquired by Sage). Ash is a thought leader in enterprise software as a member of Microsoft's Visual Basic advisory board since 1997; patent holder for artificial intelligence technology; author of 6 software engineering books on topics such as XML, .NET, COM/DCOM, building n-Tier Applications and Service Oriented Architectures; and Adjunct Professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Business. Ash holds a PhD Artificial Intelligence and MS Computer Science.

Emile Beshai is a Senior Official with the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) where he directs Enterprise Architecture and Advanced Information Technology programs. Prior to serving at DHS, Emile served at the US Department of Treasury as Chief Enterprise Architect; and at the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network in several capacities including Division Chief and Assistant Director and CIO. He directed mission critical Information Technology initiatives and provided leadership and executive support in strategic planning, policies, and programs pertaining to domestic and international collaboration in fighting financial crimes. Emile holds Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in Business and Information Technology from the University of Maryland, College Park, and a Bachelor’s degree in science from Ain Shams University in Cairo, Egypt. Emile lives in Northern Virginia with his wife Nina and their two daughters Angela and Alison.

Mark Nakhla is a Senior Consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton. Previously, he was an International Affairs Specialist at the Office of the US Secretary of Defense. In 2005-2006, Mark was a Research Assistant at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a prominent think-tank in Washington, D.C., where he worked on public diplomacy issues for Institute’s Executive Director Robert Satloff and Ambassador Dennis Ross. Currently, Mark is pursuing his Master’s degree from Georgetown University’s Security Studies Program. He graduated Cum Laude from George Mason University in 2005 with a Bachelor's degree in Government and International Politics. Born in Alexandria, Egypt, he is fluent in English and Arabic, and has traveled extensively throughout the Middle East and Africa. Mark was a member of Coptic Orphans’ Serve to Learn program in Nekada in 2005, and has volunteered in other humanitarian efforts, including the Coptic Orthodox Mission in Africa/Hope Clinic and Hurricane Katrina recovery in New Orleans.

Lucy H. Mekhael is a partner with the law firm of Nemecek & Cole in Sherman Oaks, California, where she focuses her practice on complex business litigation and professional liability litigation. She represents a broad array of clients, ranging from individual business owners and professionals to large corporations, business entities and high profile law firms. Lucy has extensive experience in all aspects of litigation in both state and federal courts, appellate courts and non-judicial proceedings. She has successfully represented clients in multimillion-dollar cases and was responsible for the favorable resolution of a number of high exposure cases. In recognition of her achievements and skill, Lucy has been recognized by Southern California Super Lawyers Magazine as a “Rising Star” since 2008. Lucy holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles, where she graduated with college honors and magna cum laude. She obtained her Juris Doctor degree from Loyola Law School in 1996, where she served as Articles Editor for the Loyola Law School International and Comparative Law Journal. She is a member of the California State Bar and is admitted to practice in all California state and federal courts. Lucy and her husband live in Southern California and have two beautiful daughters.

United Kingdom Board Members

Andrew Abdalla is an Executive Director at Goldman Sachs International where he manages a portfolio of engineering and technology capital projects across the EMEA region. Previously, Andrew was an independent consultant, providing strategic advise to various corporate & investment banking clients in the area of data centre & mission critical project delivery. Prior to this Andrew worked for JPMorgan Chase in 2006 where he was the engineering project management lead for a £100m data centre delivery programme across the UK. Andrew graduated with a double degree in Electrical Engineering & Medical Biophysics and proceeded to work as an electrical design engineer from 2001 - 2006. Born and raised in Melbourne Australia, Andrew moved to London in 2004 where he now resides.

Canadian Board Members

Mark Nakhla a Sudanese born Copt holds a special place in his heart for Coptic Orphans since he was orphaned himself at the tender age of 1 year old.  He gives glory to God that he was able to grow up in a loving environment that made him the successful man he is today. He graduated from the University of Khartoum’s School of Management with a Bachelor’s degree in Science. During the same time he also sat on the Board of the Khartoum University Christian Association.  He worked with Citibank as a Treasury and liability management department head. He later moved to England where he joined Golden Eagle International, at this time he had started his relationship with Coptic Orphans as a sponsor. A few years later, he moved to Canada and started work with the Royal Bank of Canada as a Senior Account Manager. He was approached by Nermien Riad to start the Canada office in 2001 and has been a board member ever since. Mark now has his own real estate business with Century 21. He lives in Toronto Canada with his wife and has two beautiful girls.

Australian Board Members

Ben Morcos was one of the two members who started the Coptic Orphans Australia office some eight years ago and has watched the growth and development of the office over the years. Ben has a commercial/financial background and has extensive experience in the corporate world. He holds a Bachelor of Business from the University of Technology Sydney and is a Certified Practicing Accountant (CPA). He is also currently undertaking a Masters of International and Community Development from Deakin University in Australia. Ben has travelled and worked extensively throughout Africa and has played a major role in the programs and projects developed by the Christian organization "Friends of Africa," an organization that serves disadvantaged youth in South Africa. Ben has also worked on the ground with Coptic Orphans – in 2005, he was a participant in Coptic Orphans’ Serve to Learn program. Ben is a soccer nut and even more so when his beloved Aussie national team is playing.

Rhonda Farag was first introduced to Coptic Orphans after attending a church presentation in Australia. Since then she has been committed to spreading the word about this organization throughout Australia. She was born and raised in Egypt and graduated from Cairo Universities School of Pharmacy. She moved to Australia in 1996 where she has worked as a Pharmacist. Rhonda is a  member of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia, Pharmacy Board of Australia, and the Australian Association of Hospital Pharmacists. Rhonda and her husband live in Australia and have two beautiful daughters.

Advisory Council

Julie Meawad began serving on the Coptic Orphans Board in 2003 as a board member and joined the Advisory Council in 2009. She is currently an attorney at the Board of Veterans' Appeals, a court under the umbrella of the Department of Veterans Affairs, where she writes decisions for a judge concerning veterans’ benefits. Julie earned a Bachelor of Science degree in International Business from the University of Maryland, College Park, and earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Maryland at Baltimore School of Law with a specialization in Health Law. During her undergraduate career she completed a semester abroad in Egypt at the American University in Cairo. While in Egypt she had the opportunity to work for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), which gave her valuable insight into the challenges that Egyptian children face. She has also spent time serving in Coptic missions in Africa supporting the church's efforts in Congo, Zambia, Kenya, and Tanzania. Julie regularly attends St. Mary’s Coptic Orthodox Church where she serves as a youth ministry coordinator and has lead several mission trips. She is a proud aunt of two adorable children, Gabrielle and Mark.

Dr. Robie I. Samanta Roy is currently a Professional Staff Member with the Senate Armed Services Committee. Previous positions included, Assistant Director for Space and Aeronautics at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, Principal Strategic Analyst with the Congressional Budget Office, and Research Staff Member in the Systems Evaluation Division of the Institute for Defense Analyses in Alexandria, VA. Robie holds a PhD in aeronautics and astronautics from MIT, a Master’s degree in Space Policy from the George Washington University, as well as diplomas from the International Space University in Strasbourg, France and the Institute for Political Studies in Paris. He lives in northern Virginia with his wife and three children. Robie's extracurricular interests include tutoring mathematics and science, Middle Eastern history, comparative theology and Crossfit fitness.