Elizabeth McRae

Executive Director

Elizabeth (Liz) McRae was promoted in December 2019 from Associate Director to Executive Director to lead ICF’s expanding initiatives for Iraq’s orphans, street kids, and other vulnerable children. 

Liz most recently served in Hong Kong as Program Manager and Management Consultant for PricewaterhouseCooper’s New Ventures service line, which specializes in building and investing in emerging technologies such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things.

Liz’s experience in strategy and project development spanned the globe from Singapore, Australia, Japan, China, Vietnam, and Indonesia, to the US.  She has served as a Management Consultant to high profile US and international companies in financial services, real estate, and retail, including Manulife Financial, Visa, Swire Properties, Twitter, and Macy’s.  Her achievements include work in the area of social sustainability, carbon markets, solar energy, and environmental communications.

Liz also served as a delegate to the UN’s Interagency Sub-working Group on Youth Participation in Peacebuilding and co-led the management of the first summit for the Singapore chapter of the Nexus Global Youth Summit. The summit featured hundreds of participants, aiming to connect ultra-high net worth individuals with social and impact investment opportunities. 

Her academic background includes a Masters in International Security (Climate Change and National Security, Counterterrorism) from the University of Sydney in Australia, and a Bachelors of International Studies from the University of Texas (Austin) and University of Sydney.

Liz’s portfolio at ICF includes development of corporate partners committed to corporate social responsibility (CSR) on behalf of orphans and children in Iraq, as well as management of ICF’s U.S. based initiatives. She can be reached at liz@iraqichildren.org.

Jamie Ping

Associate Director of Development and Operations

Jamie serves as the Associate Director of Development and Operations for ICF.

Previously she worked in the government sector for the Department of State at the U.S. Consulate in Hong Kong and Macau as the Community Liaison Officer. Additionally, she has experience working on U.S. Congressional campaigns and has volunteered her time with nonprofits in Asia to support refugees and local orphanages.

Jamie holds a B.A. in World Cultural Studies from the University of Oklahoma and an M.A. in Nonprofit Management from the University of Hong Kong.

As a military spouse, Jamie has travelled and explored cultures around the world. She has lived in China, Hong Kong, and the Republic of Korea. She has three amazing children and three sweet dogs that keep her busy.

Cindy Fogleman

staff advisor

Cindy served as the Executive Director of the Iraqi Children Foundation (ICF) for more than a decade and now serves as volunteer staff.  She was an Associate Financial Advisor for Ameriprise Financial for five years, following a career on Capitol Hill as legislative staff for the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Financial Services of the U.S. House of Representatives.  She has a Master’s Degree in Asian Studies from the University of Michigan.

Farah Al Najar

Mental Health & Trauma Consultant

Farah was born and raised in Baghdad, Iraq. She obtained her Bachelor’s in Microbiology from the University of Baghdad and received her Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from the Chicago School of Professional Psychology. She has extensive experience in substance abuse treatment, multicultural approaches, and trauma informed interventions.

As a certified clinical trauma professional (CCTP), Farah specializes in trauma informed therapy that integrates mind and body interventions to achieve optimal results. As a mental health and trauma consultant for ICF, Farah is passionate about delivering culturally specific and evidence-based interventions and trainings to social workers affiliated with ICF. Farah believes that trauma based interventions will help Iraqi children to not only survive but thrive. 

Nichola Stones

Creative Consultant

Nichola (“Nikki”) is a freelance brand strategist and designer based in Abu Dhabi, and has over 15 years’ experience as a branding and design expert. Having worked within both the agency and consulting models she has gained a significant understanding of what it takes to create and deliver business value through design. She has been instrumental in leading ICF to develop their strategy and to deliver their new brand refresh, using insights to inform the new identity and targeted communication tools for our organisation.

By working in collaboration with our team she has produced meaningful value in the work she has delivered and has created an identity we can be proud of and sustain into the future. 

Nikki continues to contribute her skills on a volunteer basis.

Find Nikki on LinkedIn.

John Opladen, LTC, USA (Ret.)

Veteran Outreach Director

John Opladen was commissioned in 2000 from Hofstra University’s Army ROTC program as a 2LT of Infantry. He led three platoons in Korea, Fort Drum and Paktika Province Afghanistan. Upon promotion to Captain, he completed the Infantry Officer’s Career Course and re-located to Germany where he commanded two Troops in 1-91 Cavalry (ABN) and deployed to Iraq as a Combat Advisor, serving as the operations mentor for an Iraqi mechanized infantry battalion during the early days of the surge in both Baghdad and Tarmiyah.

 Promoted to Major in 2010, John transitioned to functional area 59 (Strategic Plans and Policy). He has worked as a planner in a variety of billets in Headquarters, Department of the Army, U.S. Army Pacific and as the Chief of Plans for the Eighth Theater Sustainment Command in Fort Shafter, Hawaii. John finished out his Army career in the unlikeliest of places, the United States Naval Academy, where he taught introduction to American Government and Constitutional Development and an elective focused on Counterinsurgency, Irregular War and Terrorism.

When not absorbed in any of these pursuits, you can find him board in hand, looking for surf breaks, on the Squash court or hanging with his wife, two lovely daughters and a motley Hawaiian Poi dog named Jango Fett.

Lucy Dryburgh

Strategic Advisor

Lucy started her career in the UK magazine publishing industry launching and transforming market-leading brands into the digital space. She’s also worked on the agency side with international experience including 6 years based in Asia as Managing Director for a global content marketing agency supporting clients across a variety of industry sectors and territories. 

Now back in the UK she works directly with clients including not-for-profit organisations and is a Board Trustee of Emmaus – an international federation that acts against poverty and social exclusion. 

Lucy helped launch ICF’s inaugural Road To Baghdad virtual event in 2020 and provides ongoing strategic advisory support.

Find Lucy on LinkedIn.

Maria McRae

Australian Outreach Lead

Maria is an educator, curator and costume designer, with more than 40 years of experience. She has worked as a school teacher, English language tutor, community outreach officer, and fundraiser. As our Australian Outreach Lead, Maria works on developing and implementing creative fundraising strategies. Most recently, Maria has been working on a project to raise funds for emergency COVID-19 relief, making PPE masks and sending them all around the world in exchange for donations to ICF. As well as creating masks, her bag designs are also available for those willing to donate monthly!

Aidan Fredericks

Graphic Designer

Aidan is excited to support ICF as a volunteer designer. She is passionate about global sustainable development, which stems from supporting children in underserved communities or displacement. Her academic background includes a Masters in Exhibition Design from The Corcoran School of the Arts & Design at The George Washington University and a Bachelors in Architecture at The Catholic University of America. In her career, she has chosen to design for socially responsible companies, helping them share their stories and contribute towards building healthy communities.

Elijah Ozbat

ICF Intern

Elijah works as an intern assisting with ICF projects related to mental health issues in Iraq. He came to learn about ICF after the death of his brother, CPT Jesse Ozbat, who served in Afghanistan in 2012. He has previously participated in the In Their Shoes 5K event multiple times. Elijah is currently an undergraduate studying Neuroscience & Behavioral Biology at Emory University. He is interested in humanitarian issues dealing with mental health.

Elias Eldadah

Youth liaison, D.C.

Elias is an Iraqi-American student entering his final year in high school. He is very proud of the extraordinary culture, history, diversity, and promise of the Iraqi people but also disheartened by what the children of Iraq go through every day. Moved to being part of the solution, Elias seeks to raise awareness of Iraq—especially of its children—to young people everywhere, and he is personally committed to helping fellow Iraqi children build a future that is safe, healthy, joyful, and prosperous.