Meet the team:
Aram Sabbah
Manager, BA Audio-Visual Production
Aram is one of the first skaters in Palestine. Together with his best friend Adham Tamimi, they started skating just a couple of months before meeting with Charlie in Ramallah and getting involved in SkatePal.
Since 2013, Aram has been helping Charlie and the SkatePal team build ramps and teach skateboarding across Palestine. After completing university in Tunisia in 2019, Aram returned to Palestine to take on the full time role of Local Manager.
Aram is now based in Ramallah where he looks after all on-the-ground operations.
Nejad Kurdi
Co-ordinator, BA Public/non-profit Administration
A brand new skateboarder and a DJ, Nejad joined the team in April 2022.
Nejad helps manage the volunteer programme and skateboarding sessions in Ramallah and Asira al-Shamaliya, and co-ordinates current and future skatepark builds in Palestine.
Charlie Davis
Founder & Executive Director, MA Arabic
As a lifelong skater, Charlie first visited Palestine in 2006, volunteering as an English and Music teacher, but quickly realised the kids were far more interested in skating!
After several years of teaching and travelling in Palestine and in the Middle East, and after studying an MA in Arabic at Edinburgh University, he went on to establish SkatePal in 2013.
Charlie is currently based in Scotland and makes regular trips to Palestine each year.
Theo Krish
Director, BA Music Technology
Theo is a skateboarder and music producer from London whose passion for teaching skateboarding led him to volunteer with SkatePal in 2015.
Theo now manages SkatePal's UK-based operations from the London office.
Alex Adetiba
Online Store, BA Anthropology & Linguistics
Alex is a skateboarder and music producer from London.
Since volunteering in Palestine with SkatePal since 2016, Alex now runs the online store back home in London.
Dorothy Iskrzynska
Media & Comms, MSc Psychology
Dorothy is a skateboarder, photographer and jack of all trades from Poland, currently living in London. Following a skate injury she volunteered with SkatePal in 2018 and 2019 and joined the team back in London.
Dorothy currently looks after SkatePal’s media, communications, collaborations and anything the boys can’t hack.
Maen Hammad
Co-ordinator, MA International Affairs
Maen is a Palestinian-American skateboarder and filmmaker with a background in conflict resolution.
He has championed the West Bank skate scene since its inception (even giving a TEDx talk on the subject!) and is now based between the US and Ramallah.
Dani Abulhawa
SkatePal Ambassador, PhD, PGCert, MA
Dani is a British-Palestinian skater and academic, whose work explores the social and cultural impact of skateboarding in conflict zones.
She first volunteered with SkatePal in 2015 during the construction of our skatepark in Asira Al-Shamaliya and returns every year to carry out further research on the impact of skateboarding on young people in Palestine.
Chris Jones
SkatePal Ambassador, BA History
Chris is a professional skateboarder living in London who first volunteered with SkatePal in 2014 during the construction of Zebabdeh skatepark.
Chris represents SkatePal internationally and works on collaborations with major skate-brands.
Ryan Lay
SkatePal Ambassador, BA Public Administration
Ryan is a professional skateboarder from Arizona, USA. He first visited Palestine in 2018, during which time he met Aram Sabbah, Adham Tamimi and Maen Hammad.
When Ryan isn’t travelling around the globe, he’s fulfilling his duties as ambassador to the College Skate Education Fund and working on his own non-profit organisation Skate After School.
