Mary-Justine Todd, MPH, MA

Shamsaha Founder & Executive Director

Mary-Justine Todd is the founder and executive director of Shamsaha. M-J holds a Master’s Degree in International Public Health from New York University, as well as a Master’s Degree in International Studies, from the University of Iowa and is completing a PhD in International Human Rights Law from the University of Leicester. She is the winner of EY’s 2018 Middle East Winning Women Award for women entrepreneurs. She is Afkarech’s 2018 Woman of the Year and the 2019 International Gold Prize Stevie Award winner for women in non-profit business. She is the winner of Ingrid Vanderveldt’s Empowering A Billion Women 2020 – Most Innovative App Award, as the creator of the Shamsaha mobile app, to scale the humanitarian services in Bahrain, making 24/7 multi-lingual and culturally sensitive crisis support services available to millions of women for the first time ever throughout the Middle East. A former international humanitarian aid worker, specializing in gender-based violence for refugees and vulnerable populations, M-J has worked for major global NGOs such as The International Rescue Committee and the US Refugee Resettlement Program.