Syako Shekho holds a master’s in English literature from Brunel University London and a Ph.D. from Soran University in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. With extensive experience in workforce development, he works at the intersection of the public and private sectors to advance educational and higher education initiatives. His professional journey began in 2014 when he founded and became the director of the Career Development Center, where he developed comprehensive career services and readiness programs for students and graduates. In 2018, Syako participated in intensive career specialist training at Michigan State University in the USA before joining IREX. Over the years, he has held various roles, including Program Officer, Senior Program Officer, Program Manager, and, most recently, Senior Manager. Syako also played a key role as Program Director at a newly established local NGO, Jobs.krd, where he initiated programs and helped establish the organization for about six months. In each of these positions, Syako has been instrumental in workforce development, overseeing the Career Development Center, conducting labor market surveys, managing and facilitating panel discussions on work readiness initiatives, and training the center's staff at all public universities under IREX. Syako has been involved in the design, planning, and implementation of Workforce Readiness programs and the Internship Program since 2015, working with 14 public university career centers and a total of 46 career centers in Iraq. His work has focused on building the capacity of center staff on materials, program implementation, and best practices.In addition to his workforce development responsibilities, Syako manages IREX's programs in the Kurdistan Region, providing technical and logistical support to partners and beneficiaries, including the Ministry of Higher Education, university faculty, and institutional leaders. Syako is responsible for ensuring the technical quality and impact of IREX's workforce initiatives and broader programs. His contributions include developing workflow plans, budgets, reports, presentations, and other key project deliverables. He also oversees the administrative and financial operations of the IREX regional office in collaboration with senior technical experts and project managers, ensuring that activities are delivered on time, within budget, and adapt to changing conditions to maximize progress toward objectives. Beyond his work at IREX, Syako has actively participated in local and international conferences and training focused on workforce development and higher education. He has also presented IREX’s work on career services and workforce development at global forums, including serving twice as a presenter and keynote speaker at the Youth Economic Global Summit in Washington and Silver Spring, where he shared workforce development best practices from Iraq and globally.
Email: contact@visionaidngo.org