With over 13,000 alumni worldwide, the IHS Alumni Network gathers international experts in urban development from across the globe. In this series, we reconnect with some familiar faces and find out more about their professional path after graduation. Meet Dina Mamdouh Abdelhady, an MSc alumna of IHS who now works as a Programme Director at Act Sustainable, a mission-driven ecosystem delivering integrated climate and sustainability solutions.
Meet Dina
Dina began her career as an architect and interior designer before shifting her focus to broader urban challenges. In 2020, she founded Alter, an initiative exploring alternative housing and emergency architecture. She later enrolled and completed the MSc in Urban Management and Development (UMD) at IHS, specialising in Urban Housing, Equity and Social Justice. Today, she is based in Cairo, where she works as Programme Director at Act Sustainable, leading projects focused on sustainable development, urban initiatives, youth, and communities.
Building a career after graduation
After graduating from the UMD programme, Dina returned to Cairo and began working on a project linked to the Conference of Youth (COY) alongside COP27 in Egypt in 2022. She served as a project manager for both the local and global COY initiatives. She later joined the UNESCO Cairo Office as a consultant, working on digital education and teacher capacity-building, including a collaboration with Huawei aimed at designing, pilot testing, and scaling up Technology-enabled Open School Systems. In her final six months, she moved to the Social and Human Sciences sector, contributing to projects on youth empowerment, gender equality, and mental health, including research on the impact of displacement on young people across Egypt and the Arab region, particularly in Palestine, Syria, and Sudan.
Stepping into her current role at Act Sustainable
Dina recently joined Act Sustainable as a Programme Director, where she leads initiatives focused on community development, youth empowerment, climate action, and sustainability across Egypt and the wider MENA region. The organisation delivers a range of programmes, including awareness campaigns, youth exchanges, educational initiatives, and research on social and community development.
In her role, Dina oversees project managers and ensures that programmes are delivered on time, within budget, and aligned with organisational strategy and donor requirements. Her work involves reviewing project plans and reports, coordinating with teams and partners, monitoring progress and budgets, and resolving operational challenges. She also supports proposal development, ensures compliance, and contributes to improving internal systems and workflows.
I’ve taken on diverse roles throughout my journey and learned from the people around me. It helped me build a broader understanding of different areas of work, which is very useful now as a programme director.
Working on international youth exchange initiatives
Among the projects Dina currently supervises is a youth exchange programme connecting Egypt and Europe, through which participants travel between Cairo and several European cities. While the initiative is still in its early stages, the work focuses on planning, coordination, and building the foundation for future exchanges.
Another initiative Dina helped organise is a fishbowl discussion titled Youth and Refuge. Centered on dialogue and human connection, the session brings people together to share experiences, perspectives, and reflections in an open and inclusive setting. As part of this broader initiative, a youth dialogue on Youth Leadership and Community Empowerment explores how young people can work together to drive social change and lead community-based initiatives
Advice for future students
Dina advises students to choose thesis topics they are genuinely interested in and that align with their future career plans. She also encourages students to remain open to meeting new people and learning from the diverse perspectives present in the programme. She highlights the importance of continuous learning and not being afraid to try different things.
