Fellows

Agha Mohsin Ali has been working in the development sector since 2006 with National & International organizations including NRDP, WWOP, Youth in Action, UNDP, BBSA, CPEA Network and SEHER on different management positions. He earned a Master’s in International Relations from the University of Balochistan, Quetta Pakistan. While working with the National Rural Development Programme (NRDP) Pakistan in Islamabad as Manager, Program Planning and Partnership Development, he led overall fundraising, resource mobilization, program research, planning, and program development processes. During 10 years of experience he implemented, coordinated, and developed partnerships with major donor agencies like USAID, DFID, UK-aid, UNICEF, USAID, CIDA, UNICEF, UNDP, USIP and IOM. Agha has had in-depth experience in child rights, education, and youth empowerment in Pakistan. He worked to protect children from abuse, neglect, and exploitation as well as to provide access to education through establishment of child-friendly spaces and temporary learning centers in flood affected areas. He has provided child protection actors opportunity to interact, share their experiences and avoid any duplication of resources through the CPEA Network and 12 larger projects on education, child rights, democracy and nutrition. Over this period, he has developed skills in monitoring and evaluation, program development, program implementation, proposal writing and resource mobilization. He has also written different articles and blogs on child rights and education in different news sites like ARY Blogs, Hamari Web, Duniya News and The Nations News. Agha also participated in different national and international forums like the World Youth Conference, 2010 in Leon City, Mexico, where he was as a delegate.

Host Organization: Creative Associates International

 Role at Host Organization: Agha will be assisting project staff with the development of an indicator database for a new evaluation project with the ExxonMobil Foundation. This project will be assessing the progress of client grantees in women’s economic empowerment on outcome indicators.

Awais Farooq is a marketing professional with an avid belief in the power of love and empathy to connect with people. Awais has 4 years of experience working in the nonprofit sector. After he earned his MBA, he worked at a Stanford-funded education and leadership startup called Amal Academy, helping fresh graduates be the best versions of themselves through soft skill development and self-discovery. Awais is passionate about and skilled in a wide range of areas, including outreach and marketing, tech management, professional development, curriculum design, program management, and counseling. He cares about working for a cause bigger than himself. Other than Amal Academy, Awais has taken part in Seth Godin’s Marketing Seminar and the altMBA programs to develop better empathy for his team and his approach to work. These experiences have helped him appreciate the exposure that humans can provide each other and have inspired him to become an Atlas Corps Fellow. He enjoys working in education, youth empowerment, and social awareness and has an overwhelming passion for social inclusion. Awais loves humans and hopes to connect with some amazing humans through his Atlas Corps fellowship.

Host Organization: American Red Cross

Role at Host Organization: At the American Red Cross, Awais will serve as the International Response Knowledge Management & Learning Fellow: supporting the Knowledge Management and Learning efforts for response operations and readiness activities to facilitate access to, utilization of, and learning from existing data, evidence, and knowledge generated from past operations both within the American Red Cross and with the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement Partners.

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.

Faryal is a youth development and community engagement specialist with 7 years of working in the not-for-profit sector. She holds a Master’s degree in Mass Communication and is an IVLP alumnus of the Young Leaders: NGOs and Civic Activism program. As the Program Manager, Faryal manages Lincoln Corners (American Spaces) in Sindh, Peshawar, and Balochistan, where she supported the implementation of the Academy for Women Entrepreneurship (AWE), STEM workshops, entrepreneurship boot camps, digital storytelling for GBV & Climate Change workshops, and campaigns against gender-based violence facilitating over 2000 young women. She is passionate about exposing the youth of Pakistan to more opportunities and building their capacities through volunteering, networking, and skills development. Faryal has also worked as a communications and content development specialist at for-profit and not-for-profit organizations for 6 years, where she maximized the causes and built brands through social media campaigns, copywriting, and editorial content. Faryal volunteers with not-for-profit organizations and underserved schools to mentor teenagers in communications, resilience, dialogues, and active citizenship. She loves exploring new places, meeting new people, bonding over food, and making friends over tea.

Host Organization: Generation

Role at Host Organization: As a SAMEA Strategy Fellow, Faryal will be a strategic thought partner and force multiplier to the Region COO. This is an exciting year for Generation’s growth for Kenya, India, Pakistan, and their newly-launched Ghana program, and the Fellow will focus on supporting key innovations (e.g. freelancing), regional strategy development, and country launch support in Ghana.

Hafsah Sarfraz is a development communication professional and a freelance journalist from Islamabad, Pakistan. She has a seven-year experience of journalism has covered social issues, women’s and children issues, education, life & style, and art & culture extensively for leading English newspapers of Pakistan. Hafsah has also reported for The Express Tribune, partner of The International New York Times. As a communications professional, she has worked for USAID’s Public Outreach and Communication Activity for M&C Saatchi World Services, a global London based advertising firm. Through this experience, she developed strong communication skills, storytelling, and digital media skills. She was awarded for her continued resourcefulness, proactive teamwork to highlight USAID’s work through storytelling using print publications and digital media. She has also led the communications for USAID Advancing Girls’ Education and Skills at World Learning, an international nonprofit organization that focuses on international development, education, and exchange programs. Hafsah is a graduate of the Queen Mary University of London. She is a Global Shaper of the World Economic Forum. Hafsah likes to travel, tell stories, photograph and indulge in delicious food.

Host Organization: Cultural Vistas

Role at Cultural Vistas At Cultural Vistas, Hafsah will execute integrated communications and PR initiatives that raise public awareness of the organization’s exchange programs. She will work with the Senior Director of External Affairs to implement publicity and thought leadership campaigns designed to highlight Cultural Vistas’ role in helping shape the future of work and promote the annual awards gala in New York.

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.

Hira Tauqeer is a Project Management Professional. She has worked as a Resident Administrative and Project Officer with the NDI office in Islamabad, Pakistan. In this role she has used her well-honed organizational and communication skills to make a positive contribution to Political Parties Development Program. She also utilizes her master training, leadership, team building and personnel management skills to benefit the program. She is adventurous, loves challenges, and believes in lifelong learning. She is flexible, creative, and loves to work in teams. . Currently, Hira is working with the Senior Project Manager of Training Fellowship Program. In this role she is a master trainer to train young members of political parties to assist them with leadership, political organizing, communication and public speaking skills. During her university life, she organized workshops and seminars, and she managed events. Hira organized an International Applied Business research conference for her university. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a major in Finance and a Master’s degree in Project Management from Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology. She has written a number of research papers including “Conflict among global virtual teams” and “Mentoring”. She is fluent in English and Urdu.

Host Organization:  Making Cents International

 Role at Host Organization: Hira will be supporting the full cycle development and implementation of Making Cents’ annual Global Youth Economic Opportunities Summit. She will support the execution of a thoughtful and well-planned industry-leading Summit, which in 2016 will be celebrating its 10th anniversary. She will also YouthEconomicOpportunities.org learning hub and webinar series, which leverage relationships and content from the Summit and provides a learning platform that strengthens the youth economic opportunities field.

Kiran has six years of experience in the nonprofit sector. She has earned her Master’s degree in Education from Hamdard University in Karachi, Pakistan. While working with a provincial education foundation as Training and Development Officer, she leads an important portfolio of teachers’ capacity building with special emphasis on early childhood development and child centered learning pedagogies at Learning Support Unit. Her core contribution is towards seeking the betterment through education. She has empowered more than 3000 teachers of Sindh province to become professional teachers, under different projects of Sindh Education Foundation. Given her teaching experience and on-the-ground work with teacher trainings, she is adept at designing robust programs and adapting to various learning styles. She has been active in the International Inspiration, a London 2012’s sports legacy programme which is organized by the British Council as a partner organization and selected as a Master Trainer for Pakistan region. Kiran also serves as Vice Chairperson of an emerging nonprofit Child Rise. It focuses on the children’s rights in Pakistan by ensuring access to quality education, protection from all types of exploitation and economic empowerment to adolescents and women. Kiran is very interested in adolescents and youth empowerment, training designing and facilitation, academic and administrative management. She has also inspired many young students to volunteer by organizing different training programs at community- based setting.

Host Organization: Youth for Understanding- International Secretariat

 Role at Host Organization: YFU will launch a new Learning Management System, taking YFU trainings online for the international network. Kiran will be responsible for building up the content, creating trainings in various areas and topics, serving and supporting the YFU network of 55+ countries.