Ms Miriam Fugfugosh is a workshop designer and facilitator focusing on topics of leadership, dialogue, diversity, inclusion and political advising. She shapes and nurtures participatory and interactive spaces in which individuals and groups can maximize their opportunities to share, to listen, to challenge, to learn, to grow – to be more effective. Miriam’s experience in facilitation has been in multicultural, multinational, and multilingual environments across four continents with individuals of varying educational and professional backgrounds, and in various positions of hierarchies. One of Miriam’s passions is the promotion of equity and ensuring that opportunities are available to all. In this vein, she has founded and contributes to various programmes in women’s leadership enhancement and programmes that expand learning opportunities to otherwise under-represented audiences internationally.
In addition to her freelance work, Miriam is also an Associate with the Geneva Leadership Alliance (GLA) and the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP), Centre for Creative Leadership (CCL) and Thriving Talent.
Miriam worked as a full-time staff member at the GCSP for over eleven years in various capacities including as a Course Director and as Deputy Head of the Regional Development Programme. She also led the GCSP cluster of activities around gender for over two years and established the first course specifically for women in leadership at the Centre. During her time at the GCSP, Miriam contributed to a culture of experiential learning tailored to adult-learning needs; to the expansion of course offerings and dialogue events; and, to the increase of diversity among course participants and speakers.
For over 25 years, Miriam has contributed to learning opportunities for professionals in the public and private sector. She has worked with clients in the fields of peace enhancement, governance, global health systems, trade, administrative services, insurance, community resilience and human rights with individuals associated with national ministries, international organizations, foundations, NGOs, civil society and international corporations.
Miriam holds a Master's degree in International Policy Studies from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California; a Master’s degree in English Literature from the University of Geneva, and Bachelor's degree in History from the University of California, San Diego. She holds certificates in ‘Conflict Transformation and Dialogue Facilitation’ with the Institute for Conflict Transformation in Bern, Switzerland; in ‘Leadership Development’ with the Centre for Creative Leadership in the United States. She is also certified in various assessment instruments including the CCL Benchmark’s Suite of 360 Assessments, the ‘Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation-Behaviour (FIRO-B)’, the WorkPlace Big Five, the Leader Networks Diagnostics, the Change Style Indicator, Change Navigator, the Conflict Dynamics Profile and the Influence Style Indicator.
Earlier in her career, Miriam worked at the grassroots level in community outreach and development projects in Bolivian townships, in inner-city California, and in rural South Africa. Project partners included youth populations, educators, migrants, AIDS patients, low-income and homeless families, recovering addicts and former convicts. A proud mother of two young men, Miriam was raised in Djibouti, is Somali-American and Swiss. She is fluent in English and French, and proficient in Spanish.