Ibrahima Bokoum, serving as Guinnovation’s Vice Chair of the Board from Gatineau, Canada, was born in Dinguiraye in northeast Guinea. Like many children growing up with few modern amusements, he took advantage of all that nature around him had to offer. He swam with friends in a nearby river, practiced school lessons and listened to stories told by his grandmother as he helped her shell nuts and rice.

Going from primary to secondary school, the government’s social policy required students to spend weekends working in farm production, producing bricks and watering the school’s gardens. Those moments from childhood and youth forged his desire to help make the world a better place.

He received his higher education from Gamal Abdel Nasser University in Guinea’s capital city of Conakry, where he earned a master’s in business administration. In Canada, Bokoum earned a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of UQO. He has 20 years’ experience in provision of financial services to urban and rural populations, accounting, project management, human resources and capacities building.

Ibrahima currently works for ALIGHT in charge of managing financial and administrative aspects of ALIGHT’s activities in East Africa, Pakistan, Myanmar and Thailand. He eagerly embraces his role in ALIGHT’s annual change maker’s competition. Each ALIGHT staff member engages in “creative competition” to propose ideas that will help displaced people and refugees recover their lives.