Fellows

Asma Razaq has been working in both print and electronic media for the last six years. At present, she is working as a Reporter in Samaa Tv, Pakistan’s top news channel. At Samaa, her primary responsibilities include: the coverage of economic affairs including the Federal Board of Revenue, the Ministry of Finance, financial institutions, foreign investment and assistance to Pakistan, the Privatization Commission, and health issues. Earlier, she worked for Abbtak news channel for two years. She was also working in an English Daily ‘Business Recorder;’ the biggest financial daily in Pakistan, and the first such publication in the Muslim world. She worked for Daily Business Recorder for five years. One of Asma’s articles was included among the top stories of a New York-based website ‘www.tobacco.org;’ her stories exposed a pharmaceutical company that was selling an anti-hepatitis injection without conducting human tests. Asma’s news articles on health issues put pressure on the government to form a Drug Regulatory Authority (DRA) in Pakistan. Recently, her news package titled ‘IMF and Pakistan’ was widely appreciated and got national recognition, as well. Asma has worked with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation as a Coordinator. She had been nominated by the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan for the reporting tour on Global Food Security in the year 2011. She had also been selected as a participant of US-Pak Journalist Exchange Program-2014 by the East-West Center in Hawaii. During the program, she was selected as a guest in ‘Global Journalist,’ a popular radio program in Columbia.

Host Organization: Universities Allied for Essential Medicine

Role at Host Organization: “As the Media and Communications Fellow, Asma Razaq will support the creative development and implementation of a media and communications strategy for UAEM North America. This involves implementing the interactive new website design so it is usable to share media and foster communication work in building a more effective and efficient internal communication strategy.

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Farhad has more than 5 years of experience in the nonprofit sector, and earned a Master’s degree in Mass Communication from National University of Modern Languages, Islamabad, Pakistan. He founded a social media and public relations consultancy firm in April, 2015 named The Social Media Consultants. Previously, Farhad has worked as Communication Manager with UNDP’s project Strengthening Democracy through Parliamentary Development. He has also worked with the National Commission for Human Development, as well as Capital TV as Producer of a current affairs show, and Pakistan Peoples’ Party as central social media coordinator. He has played a pivotal role by teaming up with civil society to run campaigns for the cause of human rights. He also organized the regional South Asian Youth Conference in 2012. Through these experiences, he developed strong communication and public relations skills. He has also managed to build close contacts in civil society, political parties, and media. He loves writing and has a deep interest in new media technologies, human rights activism, politics, and international relations.

Host Organization: Creative Science Labs

Role at Host Organization: Farhad will lead market research and competitive analysis efforts, help develop and execute marketing plans, and be primarily responsible for the social media presence of Creative Science Labs.

Born in a middle-class family in Karachi, Pakistan, Hira used to envy the life of bankers. The lavish branches chilled with ACs, shiny cars and home loans just for using computers all day. Wow! After completing the Intermediate, she got all excited to study chartered accountancy. Unfortunately, life had other plans and her family couldn’t arrange the fee. She got the talent farming scholarship, completed her business administration degree and won Gold. That’s where she found her Entrepreneurship gut. She was 18 when she started a business of organizing training on career-counseling. It failed and she entered into the corporate world (unwillingly). Writing has always been her passion, be it a personal diary, or an exam. The words flow as she takes out the pen. As her first internship, she stepped into the world of digital and started making social media strategies for them and her unique selling proposition was still her ‘words’. Tech industry embraced her talent like no other thing and she got recognized by many local and international companies because of her exceptional work. Fast forward to 5 years, she is currently a Tech Journalist writing for multiple top-tier tech publications including VentureBeat, TheNextWeb and Entrepreneur.com. She also heads blog and media for Coinschedule.com, a leading ICO listing the company in the UK. She is also the facilitator of Startup Weekend Karachi. In local sphere, Hira is famous has a tech evangelist and a public speaker involved in digital skills penetration and bringing inclusivity in the tech industry. She founded of a copywriting agency, Digital Doers and a closed community, Tech Geeks Pakistan where tech enthusiasts share their love for technology on one platform. She is also a certified Editor from IBA. Her website is www.hirasaeed.com

Host Organization: Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship

Role at Host Organization: Hira will work as a GSBI Women’s Economic Empowerment Fellow to implement new research, initiatives, and/or projects to help her host organizations advancement of women’s economic empowerment through GSBI programs and resources.

Huma specializes in regional trade, trade policy and public sector development. She holds a Bachelors’ degree in Mathematics from the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) minoring in Economics and Philosophy. She has worked as an analyst at the Pakistan Business Council since 2012 contributing to several publications centered on Pakistan’s trade relations with emerging economies in the region, particularly China and India. Her work broadly aims to assess the development or lack thereof in Pakistan’s trade infrastructure in light of the changing political landscape, economic restrictiveness, bilateral and multilateral trade cooperation agreements and policy reforms. Her research identifies key focus areas at industry and government levels for Pakistan to create pathways for a sustainable growth in the mid and long term. She worked closely with the Pakistan Economic Forum to facilitate dialogue amongst policy makers, economic experts and academics on issues of trade, economic stability, energy and education. She is also a coordinator on the Pakistan side for the Pakistan India Joint Business Forum that consists of business leaders on both sides actively involved in the process of trade normalization between the two countries. She assisted the forum in making recommendations to the two governments on mutual opportunities and trade policy matters.

Host Organization: Heritage Foundation

Role at Host Organization: Huma will undertake an independent research project focused on economic freedom and development in the South and South East Asian region closely studying rule of law, governance, regulation and open markets. She will also contribute in developing the next edition of the Index for Economic Freedom published annually by the Heritage Foundation.

Masooma has 6 years of experience in the non-profit sector with the United Nations (UN) in Pakistan. She has earned a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce from the University of Karachi, Pakistan. During her tenure with the UN, Masooma has worked with the World Food Programme as a Food Aid Monitor looking after the planning, implementation, and monitoring related to food assistance in emergencies (2010 floods in Pakistan) to recovery projects including Cash for Work, Food for Work, and Nutrition-specific interventions. Masooma has specific expertise in Cash and Voucher Programming and has also worked with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN as a Cash Working Group Coordinator. During this time she worked to promote efficient response analysis, implementation, and harmonization in cash and voucher projects during emergencies, early recovery, and social protection by bringing together humanitarian organisations and Government to the CWG coordination platform. Cash and vouchers are considered as ways to address basic needs and to protect and re-establish livelihoods, especially when the local market system is functioning during or post disasters.
Over the years, Masooma has been able to develop specific knowledge and skills in the Food Security and Livelihoods Sector, Coordination in Emergencies, and Cash and Voucher Programming. Masooma is passionate about playing an active role towards the betterment of society, continuously developing her knowledge and skills across the various Humanitarian and Development sectors, and applying them to support communities build resilience and sustainable livelihoods.

Host Organization: American Red Cross

 Role at Host Organization: Masooma will support the design and implementation of a new disaster preparedness and business continuity initiative, with the opportunity to leverage and enhance skills in disaster preparedness, knowledge management, data analysis, and stakeholder outreach. The primary aim of this initiative is to build disaster resilience of small and medium-sized enterprises, and in turn help make safer communities as the two continuously rely on one another.

Sadia Ijaz completed her Master’s in International Relations, from University of Peshawar, an LL.B degree from Ayub College of Law, Haripur, and Bachelor’s of Education (B.Ed.) from Hazara University Mansehra (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) in Pakistan. SadiaIjaz brings more than ten years of rich professional experience mainly in child rights, education, health and hygiene, communications, monitoring, reporting, documentation, and professional practice leadership roles. She has held progressive management roles at Saibaan Development Organization and De LaasGul (DLG) Welfare Program in child rights, child labor, women empowerment, library development, and water filtration plant projects funded by OXFAM Germany, ILO, Asia Foundation, Association for Development of Pakistan, and Global Funds for Children. She has seen great success in the development and implementation of these projects, and also has shown great leadership and initiatives that shows her persona. Sadia worked in Early Childhood Care Education (ECCE) project with Save the Children International funded by Netherlands Embassy for a year. She is presently the Senior Officer of Documentation, Reporting and Communications at Save the Children International. She has experience in improving coordination with external stakeholders and has overcome many challenges, which ultimately improved the impact of the projects implemented by Save the Children in the region. Sadia is an effective and dynamic leader with sound knowledge of issues related to teacher education, school development, leadership, and ECCE in the context of Pakistan. Through these experiences, she developed strong project coordination management, communications, monitoring, evaluation, reporting, documentation, and program implementation skills.

Host Organization: RESULTS

Role at Host Organization: Sadia will ensure effective coordination of the International/Northern Civil Society Organizations constituency, through the establishment of an online communications platform, development of a constituency advocacy strategy, and contributions to ongoing research and analysis of key constituency issues. She will also regularly communicate across the other Global Partnership for Education Board civil society constituencies to ensure coordinated actions.

Sahar Zafar completed her Hons. degree in Liberal Arts in 2011 and has since been working closely with the education, media and humanitarian sectors. She has also worked as a Producer for a national news channel covering local current affairs, culture, and economic issues. She has experience in working with parliamentarians and has developed an in-depth analysis of key public policy issues. In 2015, she started working for Community World Service Asia as a Media Consultant and has gained experience in initiatives for the protection of social and political rights of religious minority groups and their equality. She has also worked as a Visual Media Specialist for a USAID Program, aiming to create awareness and generate support for the socio-political identity of vulnerable youth in South Punjab, Pakistan.

Host Organization: PICO California

Role at PICO California: At PICO California, Sahar will serve as a Communications Coordinator Fellow, providing internal artistic design and creating branding and marketing collateral for the organization. In her role, she will materialize the mission and vision of the organization while focusing on elevating the stories and prophetic witness of California’s leaders and clergy.

Shaza has four years’ experience working in the development and corporate sector of Pakistan. She earned a Master’s degree in Organizational and Social Psychology from London School of Economics and Political Science, UK. She worked closely with the Minister for Planning, Development & Reform on strategic communications of some of the biggest development projects in the country, including China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and Vision 2025. Shaza was part of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) team that worked towards modernizing and reforming the public sector of Pakistan through Civil Service Reforms. She brought to the government’s attention the long-neglected issue of mental health and advocated for legislative action through organizing a first-of-its-kind policy dialogue on the issue. Previously, she worked as a Brand Manager at GlaxoSmithKline Pakistan and at an NGO helping flood victims in Punjab, Pakistan. One of her great passions in life is to explore cultures through travel and photography.

Host Organization: Disaster Accountability Project

Role at Host Organization: “Shaza will add critical capacity building support as DAP prepares for the launch of SmartResponse, an ambitious effort to improve effectiveness/transparency/accountability in humanitarian aid donations by collecting and sharing “location-specific” and “pre-disaster” data on the capacity, activities, and history of CSOs, NGOs, and INGOs involved in disaster relief, humanitarian aid, and other human services.