Cohort 11 | Pakistan Emerging Leaders Initiative

Mamoona Sarwar earned a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from the University of Punjab in 2015. Four years later, Mamoona earned a Master’s degree in Urdu from the University of Gujrat. Meanwhile, She also had the opportunity to experience teaching in different private schools & colleges for about nine years, and after that, she became a principal at “The future Montessori school Gujrat”, where she currently works.
She serves as a managing director, teacher, trainer, and Career counselor at the future Montessori school. She has experience taking part in different social projects, training, and research activities. Mamoona has been working to educate the children since 2010, first, she started educating poor children free of cost at home in her spare time in the evening but later on a coaching center “The future academy” requested her to join them as a teacher and trainer in2018. she accepted this request and she is still there While working in this academy, she prepared various training for students and faculty members. Additionally, Mamoona provided training for students and youngsters, to let them find their goals, carrier, and jobs, or create their own. As the Project Coordinator, she has been running a carrier counseling program at the future academy since 2020. Besides this, she provided counseling services and training for teachers, parents, and students to solve their issues. Lastly, she also provides a workshop on ” can I…? ” since August 2020

Tahir Kamran, from Chiniot, Pakistan, is currently working as a lead trainer at Quaid E Azam Educational Academy Lahore. He holds a Ph.D. degree with a specialization in (numerical solutions of PDEs, computational fluid mechanics, numerical methods, mathematical fluid mechanics, heat and mass transfer) from Government College University Faisalabad. He has nine published research articles in international journals while 20 research articles are in the process of publication in different journals. He has more than 10 years of experience in Fluid Mechanics as he has been teaching it for 12 years. He is the author of four books. He is a 22-time award recipient for being Best Teacher and Best Master Trainer. He has two years of management experience at Ranjha Hostel and Academy. His hobby of reading books makes him a critical thinker and keen observer. As a professional, he has a combination of valuable skills in project coordination, analytics, and research, which makes him more efficient. In addition, he has recognized expertise in critical thinking and is a communicative colleague with keen attention to detail and accuracy. During his studies at university, he has worked as a research assistant and has polished his talents. He has also developed good skills in science communication, which can facilitate him to disseminate research findings scientifically in journals, workshops, and conferences as well as in public.

Shahzad Akram is a human rights advocate having extraordinary research work done in accountability laws at the Punjab University, Lahore. He got his post-secondary education from GCU Lahore and graduated with LLB Hon’s from Punjab University Law College and further continued his LLM constitutional law from the postgraduate school of legal studies. He had served many governmental and non-governmental organizations. His last job experience was working as a content creator in techno-ventures where he was entitled to draft legal and other academic documents for clients primarily from the U.S. Likewise, he has served the Child Protection and Welfare Bureau of the government of Punjab in the same capacity where his primary task was to prepare documentation for destitute children. He kickstarted his legal career by being an intern in the bureau where he was engaged to draft and proofread documents. Further, he served as an educational volunteer in an NGO where his responsibility was to take compliance with all the educational developments of the Kashmir orphans relief trust (KORT), the largest orphanage in South Asia, and advise the London office on the applicability of local laws. He is a multi-tasked person who loves to work out of his domain too. Following the same principle, he served the official social media team of the last Pakistani premier as campaign manager and prepared an election manifesto for the 2018 general elections. Last but not the least, he is also a vigilant person of society and had extensive study and know-how of its structure.

Nayyar Abbas has participated in foreign academic programs, online leadership courses, internships, and community development activities. He participated in community service with the Rotary Club and arranged events while working as a research associate for the Lucas Economic Society during his junior year of college. He began his professional career as a financial executive for a financial firm, where he offered clients market research and financial understanding. In his second job as a research officer, he developed research procedures and handled data collection. During his Master’s internship, he worked in the Parliamentary Sustainable Development Goals Secretariat in the National Assembly of Pakistan. He assisted with research on Pakistan Vision 2025 (a comprehensive road map to achieve SDGs). He has started volunteering for Students for Liberty. Through this opportunity, he was able to take courses and attend seminars and conferences. At Students for Liberty, he oversees and helps with marketing, research, and communication. By applying for different programs around the world, he successfully secured an opportunity to study the Fund for American Study’s Prague program at Charles University. He was given the Prometheus Fellowship, where he worked with professionals who taught and coached him in professional and leadership abilities. He is the district coordinator at Interactive Research and Development and supervises the implementation and execution of the school-based deworming program in Islamabad. Nayyar loves to travel, read, and meet new people. He is planning to start his Ph.D. in political science in 2023.

Wardah Iftikhar, with a Master of Science in Gender and Women Studies, is a staunch believer in women’s empowerment and thinks that women are the catalyst of socio-economic change in any society. She is currently leading the project Fostering Critical Thinking and Entrepreneurship Skills in Young Women for Gender Inclusive Socio-Economic Development which works with four public sector female universities in Pakistan to train the students on social cohesion, critical thinking, conflict resolution, and economic empowerment. She has provided consultancy to UNICEF Pakistan on social protection and gender-responsive programming, which includes advocacy for public financing for children and capacity building of MoPDR for district-level SDG scorecards. She has worked extensively with the SDG Secretariat at the National Assembly of Pakistan to conceptualize, develop and lead the work plan for the Secretariat with close coordination with PMU, donors, parliamentarians, and standing committees. She is part of the Community Engagement Exchange Program selection committee for the last three years, where she helps select global civil society community members to undergo training in the US. Wardah is an alumna of the International Visitors Leadership Program (IVLP) on women in politics and civil society whereby she explored practices in promoting women’s contributions to social and political affairs and examined legal, regulatory, and policy issues. She was also awarded Emerging Young Women Leader’s Award supported by the Australian High Commission. With her work at ‘Women Can Do,’ she has traveled to 20 districts of Pakistan and has worked with more than 5,000 women from women’s universities and seminaries to develop their entrepreneurial skills.

Umer Farooq says that he never gives up on life. Despite initial difficulties, he ended up gaining a degree from a well-respected university. He later went on to become the founding member of Rab Raziq Foundation and a winner of Hostel Fiesta. In his professional life, he adopts a growth mindset. Beyond his academic and professional experiences, he is confident about his leadership and communication skills. The best thing he likes about himself is his ability to work under stress. In parallel with his engineering degree, he has offered the services of a virtual assistant at Amazon. Right now, he works as a Product Research Executive at Leverify.

Ubaid Ullah is a results-driven business leader with over nine years of experience in building and scaling businesses from scratch. He is passionate and committed to leveraging technology and entrepreneurship for social development. He is an influential thought leader and nationally recognized speaker at events such as USAID, UNDP, KPIC, Eventify, and TEDx. His recent experience in one of the highest leadership positions in the public sector has given him an added understanding of how to engage different stakeholders from government and developmental partners efficiently and effectively. He has led the team Darewro and has made it one of the most successful businesses in the region. He spearheaded DIPL and secured five grants worth 41 million USD in the year 2020-21. Ubaid has a wider arena of working with leading corporate sector companies and prestigious institutions in Pakistan such as working with GlaxoSmithKline. Later on, he joined Darewro as marketing manager and has worked to give it nationwide recognition. In the meantime, he has worked with the Center for Excellence in Islamic Finance as a marketing manager and planned and executed many activities. Currently, he is serving the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as an advisor in public-private partnerships.

He / Him / His Pakistan 11 Taimur Ashfaq has five years of experience in the energy sector of Pakistan and earned a Bachelor of Science in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Engineering and Technology Lahore. While working with Mari Petroleum (Pakistan’s third-largest exploration and production company), he completed a Strategic Leadership fellowship from the Al-Sharq forum. Through this fellowship, he defined his trajectory of service delivery in correlating energy, climate change, and education in Pakistan for inculcating behavior-based change mechanisms among the community. Taimur has immense volunteer experience in the education sector, and he enjoys focusing on topics of climate change awareness, youth empowerment, and leadership diversity.

Tahir Khattak is a corporate professional and co-founder of Global Youth Clan. He studied Management Sciences with a specialization in Marketing. He has worked with leading FMCGs in Pakistan in their growth department. His organization GYC is working on the implementation of SDGs in Pakistan. He is also an ex curator of WEF’s Global Shapers Lahore Community. He received his mentorship from Global Thinkers Mentors, a forum led by the Queen of Jordan. He has participated in multiple national and international forums. He has been a part of Youth Parliament Pakistan, a mock parliament of youth to educate and train young parliamentarians. He has been awarded the Pakistan Youth Icon Award, Pride of Pakistan Award, Gender Equality Award, and Quaid e Azam Youth Gold Medal for his services to the Community.

Qamer Ali is a value-driven young social impact professional who leads with empathy, passion, and curiosity. She is currently serving as the coordinator of the Young Athletes Program Sindh at Special Olympics Pakistan, a prominent global nonprofit organization working for people with intellectual disabilities. She implements and manages projects which include various pieces of training, medical screenings, and competitions in order to elevate the quality of life for people with intellectual disabilities. Under Special Olympics Pakistan Young Athletes Pro program, more than 30 special schools are registered with 100+ special children. Previously, she worked in the social enterprise Circle, where she was part of the Digital Acceleration Program for women and was able to teach and assist women entrepreneurs through the provision of skill development and social media management training. She is passionate about youth empowerment and community engagement and the development sector’s role in supporting the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals. She is committed to ensuring that local community knowledge, skills, resources, and women remain at the heart of community development and the forefront of decision-making. She is excited to learn, make an impact, and join the network of worldwide leaders that will provide her with a new lens to look at the world.

Saad Athar Sheikh has over a decade of experience serving as a policy advisor to various donor organizations such as the British Council, USAID, GIZ, and the government of Punjab, including Chief Minister Office, CM Special Monitoring Unit, Chief Minister Inspection Team, Punjab Board of Investment & Trade & Commissioner Lahore. Moreover, he spearheaded TEVTA’s organization restructuring (communication, innovation, digital transformation, and policy domains) as well as restructuring the Population Welfare Department Communication Domain. He was responsible for setting up an apprenticeship system, drafting a skill policy, and drafting the investment and trade promotion strategy for Punjab. Previously, he was instrumental in looking after environmental and social repercussions of major initiatives such as CPEC with the execution of over 40+ mega projects worth over PKR 900 billion for premier international clients such as ADB, DOLSAR, Japan Techno, CMEC, Zonergy, StormHarbor, Solution De Energy. Local clients include Lahore Waste Management Company, Urban Unit, Energy Department, Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park, Lahore Development Authority, and Punjab Saaf Paani Company. He has been recognized as a National Hero by Pakistan Television Network on the 75th Independence Day. He currently heads Skillnopolis, a venture development firm, and serves governments in various capacities.

Dr. Rabia Rasheed has completed her Doctorate in SMEs Finance from Universiti Utara Malaysia (AACSB accredited university) after her MBA and her Bachelor of Science (BSc) from Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan, Pakistan. She’s currently serving as an Assistant Professor of Business Administration at Iqra University Karachi Pakistan with 16 years of teaching, research, and professional experience in various national and international organizations. In addition to being a member of various learning organizations, she is an Associate Fellow at the Center for Sustainability Research and Consultancy Pakistan. Rabia focused on sustainable development goals, particularly exploring the issue of inclusive finance and women empowerment in emerging economies. Moreover, she is working to establish a research and action center to enhance the capacity building of women entrepreneurs in the digital arena, especially in South Punjab, Pakistan. She is part of the editorial board and reviewer of distinguished research journals. In addition to her efforts towards SDGs, she’s further extending her research endeavors in the area of digital finance for vulnerable sectors in developing countries. She’s a dedicated partner to university programs and outreach events that help promote learning and support the community.