The American Pakistan Foundation (APF) is excited to announce the establishment of the APF Leadership Council (APF-LC), a network of leaders who enthusiastically and generously give their expertise, time, and energy to APF.
APF-LC will function as a brain trust of trusted advisors who guide and shape the APF mission and foster cross-disciplinary dialogue and action on issues important to APF. It will also serve as an incubator for new initiatives and collaborations.
APF-LC is an effort to build relationships and facilitate learning opportunities between established professionals and rising leaders dedicated to building bridges between the United States and Pakistan and to empower the Pakistani American community.
Stay tuned for opportunities to engage APF-LC and join the conversation. For more information, please contact Jonathan Pearl, Assistant to the President, at jpearl@americanpakistan.org
APF-LC Honorary Co-Chairs
APF-LC will be led by APF President Shamila N. Chaudhary and the following honorary co-chairs:
Aakif Ahmed, Convergence Center for Policy Resolution
Aakif Ahmad is co-founder of Convergence Center for Policy Resolution, a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to promoting dialogue and solving problems across the political divide on issues of national importance. He is President of the Washington, DC chapter of the Organization of Pakistani Entrepreneurs of North America (OPEN).
Vali Nasr, Johns Hopkins SAIS
Vali Nasr is a Middle East scholar, foreign policy adviser, and commentator on international relations. He served as the 8th Dean of Johns Hopkins SAIS from 2012 - 2019. He was previously professor of international politics at Tufts University's Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and from 2009 to 2011 served as senior adviser on Afghanistan and Pakistan to Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke at the U.S. Department of State.
Ambassador Robin L. Raphel, Center for Strategic and International Studies
As a career Foreign Service officer, Ambassador Robin R. Raphel worked for nearly 40 years at the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Agency for International Development, and U.S. Department of Defense. She served as assistant secretary of state for South Asia, ambassador to Tunisia, vice president of the National Defense University, and deputy special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction. She managed development assistance to Pakistan under the late Ambassador Richard Holbrooke.
Welcome APF-LC Members
Senna Ahmad, Photographer and Graphic Designer
Senna Ahmad is a graphic designer, photographer, and digital illustrator whose work is inspired by Urdu script, South Asian poetry, and incredible strengths of South Asian women.
Fatimah Alyas, Oxford University
Fatimah Alyas is a graduate student at Oxford University and Project Coordinator at the American Pakistan Foundation.
Aleeza Ali, Clifford Chance
Aleeza Ali graduated from George Mason University with a B.A. in Global Affairs and Conflict Resolution and currently works at the law firm Clifford Chance as a Conflicts Analyst.
Narges Bajoghli, Johns Hopkins SAIS
Narges Bajoghli is an award-winning anthropologist, filmmaker, and writer who specializes in media, power, and military in the Middle East.
Nausheen Elahi, Muse District
Nausheen Elahi is Executive Director of Muse District, an organization fostering space for creative expression and intellectual collaboration among the U.S. based South Asian diaspora.
Madiha Faisal, University of Houston
Madiha Faisal is a business student at the University of Houston and is enrolled in the Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship.
Randy Hatfield, DevTech Systems, Inc.
Randy Hatfield is Director of the Education, Youth and Gender Practice at DevTech Systems, Inc. He has lived and worked in Pakistan on the education sector for over two decades.
Erum Haider, Georgetown University
Erum Haider is a PhD Candidate at Georgetown University where she examines the political effects of the privatization of public goods and focuses on the case of Karachi, Pakistan.
Huma Imtiaz, Planned Parenthood Federation of America
Huma Imtiaz has an extensive career in communications and journalism, including at the World Bank and Pakistani media outlets Express News and Express Tribune.
Abiha Jafri, Yale School of Medicine
Abiha Jafri is a postgraduate research assistant at the Yale School of Medicine.
Mohammad Talal Javed, American Pakistan Foundation
Muhammad Talal Javed serves on the APF United Nations Initiative. He received his B.A. from CUNY Macaulay Honors College-Baruch College and M.A. in public health from the University of London.
Jocelyne Jeannot, American Pakistan Foundation
Jocelyne Jeannot is the Director of Community Engagement at the American Pakistan Foundation.
Laila Jiwani, 2019 APF Fellow
Laila Jiwani is an Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree candidate studying International Development with a focus on economics.
Kulsoom Khan, Global Fund for Children
Kulsoom Khan is the Global Fund for Children's Regional Program Director for Asia and previously worked at Ashoka managing its Asia offices and expansion into Pakistan.
Osman Khan, Ernst & Young
Osman Khan is Senior Management Consultant at Ernst & Young where he focuses on Supply Chain Transformation. He is the Co-Founder and Coordinator of the APF Fellows Program.
Maha Rasheed Khan, Developments in Literacy
Maha Rasheed Khan is an APF Ambassador based in Houston, Texas and is also the Houston chapter President of Developments in Literacy.
Sahar Khan, Cato InstituteSahar Khan is an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute where she focuses on militancy, counterterrorism, South Asia, Middle East, and U.S. national security.
Shazia Khan, EcoEnergy Finance
Shazia Khan is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of EcoEnergy, a company distributing last-mile energy services in Pakistan to the 70 million living off-grid.
Wajahat Khan, Columbia University
Wajahat Khan is Pakistan's only Emmy-nominated news producer and correspondent and is currently completing a graduate degree in Business and Economics from Columbia University School of Journalism.
Muhammad Bilal Lakhani, Procter & Gamble
Bilal Lakhani is a columnist for the Express Tribune, reporting on Pakistan foreign policy and economy and has a decade long career in communications at Procter & Gamble.
Kalsoom Lakhani, Invest2Innovate
Kalsoom is Founder and CEO of Invest2Innovate, which supports and unleashes potential of young entrepreneurs in growth markets like Pakistan.
Mashail Malik, Stanford University
Mashail Malik is a PhD Candidate in Stanford's Department of Political Science. Her research focuses on the politics of ethnicity in Karachi.
Zahid Rahman, OPEN Houston
Zahid Rahman is a strategic planning and finance executive in the energy industry with over 15 years of experience and is the Vice President of Finance for the non-profit OPEN Houston.
Saira Saeed, U.S. Department of State
Saira Saeed is Senior Advisor at the U.S. State Department on U.S. foreign assistance and public diplomacy programs in the Middle East and North Africa.
Hassan Saeed, American Pakistan Foundation
Hassan Saeed works on APF's online presence, which he seeks to expand through community engagement.
Fatima Salman, The Atlantic Council
Fatima is an Assistant Director at the Atlantic Council's South Asia Center and previously served as an Analyst at The Asia Group.
Hijab Shah, Center for Strategic and International StudiesHijab
Shah is a research associate with the CSIS International Security Program. She earned an M.A. in security studies and a B.A. in culture and politics from Georgetown University.
Noor Sheikh, American Pakistan Foundation
Noor Sheikh is Executive Assistant at the American Pakistan Foundation and also works as a preventive services case planner with the Arab American Family Support Center in NYC.
Aziz Sohail, Artist and Curator
Aziz Sohail is a 2013 graduate of Brandeis University with a BA in Art History and has worked with the Rose Art Museum, the American Islamic Congress, and the Citizens Archive of Pakistan.
Uzair Younus, Albright Stonebridge Group
Uzair Younus is a Director with the South Asia practice at the Albright Stonebridge Group and previously worked for IBB Consulting.