Shalan Khalaf joined ALDA in 2026 as Communication Assistant.
He is 22 years old, born in 2003 in Shingal, Iraq, and has been living in Germany since 2016. He belongs to a minority religion called Yazidism (Yezidismo), a small faith community found mainly in Iraq and other countries like Turkey, Iran, and Armenia. In 2014, Shalan and his family had to flee their homes due to the genocide against their people caused by ISIS. Seeking a safer future and a secure place to live, they arrived in Germany in 2016.
Currently, he is a 12th-grade student at a vocational school, specialising in Economics and Informatics. As he is about to graduate, his next plan is to study Digital Media at university. Throughout his school years, Shalan completed six internships at six different companies, varying in duration and type of company. He gained valuable knowledge and practical experience through those internships, one of which was at an international communication and public affairs agency.
He speaks Kurdish (his mother tongue), German, and English fluently, as well as some basic Arabic.