Keynote Speakers
Sadia Khatri
1Sadia Khatri is a writer, teacher, and filmmaker. She writes fiction and nonfiction, often about cities, dreams, gender, and faith. As a teacher, she is interested in building pedagogical models outside of institutions. Sadia is archiving and filming Sufi and Bhakti poetry in Sindh with Amrit Pyala.
Sadia Khatri
1Sadia Khatri is a writer, teacher, and filmmaker. She writes fiction and nonfiction, often about cities, dreams, gender, and faith. As a teacher, she is interested in building pedagogical models outside of institutions. Sadia is archiving and filming Sufi and Bhakti poetry in Sindh with Amrit Pyala.
Sadia Khatri
1Sadia Khatri is a writer, teacher, and filmmaker. She writes fiction and nonfiction, often about cities, dreams, gender, and faith. As a teacher, she is interested in building pedagogical models outside of institutions. Sadia is archiving and filming Sufi and Bhakti poetry in Sindh with Amrit Pyala.
Panel
Jude Kelly
1Jude Kelly CBE is CEO and Founder of The WOW Foundation. She founded WOW to celebrate the achievements of women and girls and confront global gender injustice. Starting as a three-day festival at London’s Southbank Centre in 2010, where Jude was Artistic Director for 12 years, the festival now takes place in 30 locations across six continents. In 2018 Jude established The WOW Foundation, an independent charity dedicated to building the WOW movement as a force for change. Jude has directed over 200 theatre and opera productions, is the recipient of two Olivier Awards, a BASCA Gold Badge Award for contribution to music, a Southbank Award for opera, an RPO award for her festival The Rest is Noise, Women’s Hour’s one of the 100 most powerful women in the UK in 2013, Red Magazine’s 2014 Creative Woman of the Year, CBIs 2016 First Woman Award for Tourism and Leisure and in 2017 the inaugural Veuve Clicquot Woman of the Year Social Purpose Award. She was also headhunted to join the bidding team for the 2012 London Olympics and create the programme for culture and ceremonies, she subsequently advised both Rio and Tokyo on their successful bids. Jude has founded a range of arts institutions and has commissioned and supported the work of thousands of female artists across all genres. In 1997, she was awarded an OBE for her services to theatre and in 2015 she was made a CBE for services to the Arts.
Ameena Saiyid
1Ameena Saiyid OBE, Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres, Sitara-e-Imtiaz, is the Managing Director of Lightstone Publishers and Founder and Director of Adab Festival. She has been Managing Director of Oxford University Press Pakistan for 30 years. She is the first and only Pakistani woman awarded The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) by the British Queen in 2005. She was conferred Knight of Arts and Letters by the French government in 2013 and Sitara-e-Imtiaz by the Pakistani president in 2018.
Ameena is the first woman in Pakistan to become the head of a multinational company and to be elected President of the Overseas Investors’ Chamber of Commerce and Industry(OICCI), in Karachi.
She began the movement of literature festivals in Pakistan by founding the Karachi Literature Festival. She is the founder and director of Adab Festival Pakistan and co-founder of the Children’s and Teachers ‘ Literature Festivals.
She is on the boards of various universities in Pakistan. She is a Trustee of the Vicky Noon Education Foundation, UK, which gives scholarships to Pakistani students to study at Oxford and Cambridge Universities.
Warda Rashid Khan
1Warda Rashid Khan is a Product Manager by profession. She’s currently working at 7Vals on products related to asset management. Warda has been representing Pakistan in an international platform having been invited to numerous panel discussions hosted by Epic Games and Riot Games(to name a few). She was one of the 8 mentors selected for UEFN Women’s Creator Program and the only mentor from Pakistan. Warda is also an Ambassador of Women in Games for Asia Region as well as the Connect Lead for Pakistani Women in Computing, Lahore Chapter.
Faiza Hassan
1Faiza Hassan is a seasoned technology professional with over 12 years of diverse experience in the field. With academic credentials from Purdue University, USA, Faiza has a Bachelor's Degree in Engineering along with a Master's in Computer Science, showcasing her expertise in the intersection of engineering principles and advanced computer science concepts.
Beginning her professional journey in Data Sciences in the United States, Faiza has made significant contributions to the field, particularly in Digital Analytics during her tenure at Telenor. She has also been engaged on projects with esteemed organizations such as the Asian Development Bank and Viamo.
Currently serving as the Head of Digital Products and Solutions at Jazz, she is leading the development and growth of prominent digital platforms, including the largest video streaming application in Pakistan, Tamasha, and the leading self-care and lifestyle platform, Jazz World.
Hamera Aisha
1Hamera Aisha is a wildlife ecologist with over 15 years of dedicated experience in wildlife conservation, particularly focusing on the domains of poaching, illegal trade, protected areas management, and community conservation, with rangers consistently serving as the linchpin of her efforts. From river dolphins to the elusive snow leopards of the mountains, she has worked in diverse ecosystems, and species, alongside wildlife and forest. She works with WWF in Pakistan as Senior Manager of Wildlife Conservation.
Dr. Fazilda Nabeel
1Dr. Fazilda Nabeel is a climate and water governance expert with more than 13 years of teaching and research experience in the development sector. Dr. Nabeel is an advisor for the Ministry of Climate Change, Government of Pakistan and United Nations Living Indus Initiative for the ecological restoration of the Indus Basin in Pakistan. Fazilda is also teaching courses on the Business Case for Climate Action at Sulaiman Dawood School of Business LUMS University. She completed her Ph.D in Development Studies from the University of Sussex (UK) with a research focus on the political ecology of groundwater (non) governance in the Indus Basin of Pakistan. She has worked extensively for the Government of Pakistan and international development organisations on a breadth of policy issues at the intersection of climate and water governance, with a specific focus on gender justice.
Dr. Ayesha Khan
1Ayesha Khan is a development economist and institution development specialist with over 26 years of experience working in South Asia (including Afghanistan) with multilateral and bilateral development agencies such as World Bank, ADB, EU, UNIDO and the Swiss Government. She is also an IFC-World Bank certified enterprise development trainer and curriculum development specialist. Ayesha has taught development economics and project management at university level and microfinance at the National Institute of Banking and Finance (NIBAF). As a committed development practitioner and social entrepreneur, she currently holds multiple roles from advisory to executive and volunteer within the corporate, public and academic sectors both at national and international levels.
She is a Professor at Practice at Bahria University, one of Pakistan’s prestigious universities. She is Chairperson and CEO of SASCA (South Asian Society for Cultural Advancement) which is a 30-year-old nonprofit that promotes a Sufi Path to Sustainable Development. She is the founder and CEO of Danai AgriVenture Ltd.
She was the first Chief Sustainability Officer of Hashoo Group and is also the first female Board Member of Pakistan Services limited (PSL). As an ID expert she restructured and established the Hashoo Foundation, Hashoo Hunar, Hashoo Trust and Umeed-e-Noor along with establishing three StartUps namely Organiks, HunarTech and Shine Plus. Her honorary positions include: Advisory Member of Pakistan Digital Agriculture Consortium (PDAC),
Elected Board Member, Climate Action Network South Asia (CANSA); Member on the Advisory Board of the National Incubation Center; former Chairperson, NACG-Pakistan Chapter of SAIVEC (South Asia Initiative to End Violence Against Children; President, Sector Skill Council-Hospitality (SSCH) – 2017-18 and Convener, SSCH – 2019. She is a member of the Pakistan Society for Development Economics (PSDE-PIDE), Global Entrepreneurship Network; the Pakistan Evaluation Network and the Economic
Freedom Network among others.
Ayesha Khan has a passionate commitment to social inclusiveness through leveraging knowledge and enabling accessibility. She holds two master’s degrees: MA in International Political Economy from Warwick University, UK and MBA in Project Management and Financial Analysis. She also has a Diploma in Business Development Services from Glasgow University, UK, and another Diploma in Microfinance, from Colorado University, USA. She received Certification in Investment Promotion and Facilitation from ITPO, Bahrain, United Nations Industrial Development Organization UNIDO, 2007 and another in Financial Sector Accountability from the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC) in Switzerland, 2005.
Starting as a social activist Ayesha Khan not only promoted child rights and gender equitable
development but also co-founded a voluntary organization of professional evaluators for the
promotion of transparency and accountability of development aid, (PEN). Some of her select
publications include: Islamic Laws and the Status of Women in the Modern World, Co-Author with Professor Laiq Ahmed Khan. Advocacy Strategies for Youth, Gender and Reproductive Health. Women’s Employment Concerns. Institutionalising Public -Private partnerships for Economic Empowerment. Importance of Public Private Partnerships in Technical Education and Vocational Training. Education for Development
Afia Salam
1Afia Salam has over 4 decades of experience in various media of journalism and communications. She focuses on Climate Change, Environment, Development and Rights based issues, and is also a development practitioner through volunteering with different organisations serving marginalised communities.She has also been a visiting faculty at a couple of Universities, teaching Environmental Journalism.
Rafat Yasmin
1Rafat Yasmin works with Aawaz II programme of British Council as Advisor Gender and Social Inclusion. She holds a diversified experience of working with the national and international organisations on different issues, such as democratic governance, gender, social inclusion, community engagement and electoral reforms.
She has steered the discourse of social inclusion and youth engagement at different platforms in Pakistan and abroad. She has wide-ranging experience with regard to human rights, policy advocacy, youth engagement and has also been part of legislative reforms process on women and transgender persons rights, civic engagement and democratic processes.
Khusbakht Aleena
1Khusbakht Aleena hails from Timargrah, Lower Dir district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. She volunteers with Aawaz II programme of British Council, for behaviour change against harmful practices with her area of reach.
The 23-year-old is committed to promoting social cohesion for the inclusion of her Christian community. As a student, she connects with local youth and other members of the community on the issues of minority rights and child marriage.
Khushbakht provides information to women in the area regarding their legal rights, beside holding discussions with local teachers on the negative impact of child marriage. ‘as a youth leader, I believe that we could be ambassadors of behaviour change to consolidate the efforts against child marriage, exclusion and intolerance’.
Ayesha Islam
1Ayesha Islam is a community volunteer working for the rights of women and girls. She believes that harassment against women is one of the challenges faced by women in her work area, hindering women’s mobility.
“If women are not supported in public spaces, how will they progress? Women should collectively raise their voices for their own safety while every citizen should act to make public spaces safe for women and others.”
Ayesha leads discussions with local women and fellow youth in the areas to share information on policies and services benefitting women in the area.
Awais Mehdi
1Awais Mehdi, based in Hafizabad district, works with local communities on the issues of child rights, social inclusion of women, transgender persons and persons with disabilities.
Mehdi sees domestic violence and intolerance as social evils. Striving for behaviour change among local people in his area, he believes that youth particularly young men could lead efforts for the inclusion of marginalised groups of society.
As a young community leader, Mehdi has built linkages with government and non-government organizations in the area while helping the disadvantaged community members to connect with the services.
Zainab Altaf
1Zainab is a public policy analyst with an interest in societal transformations. She has assisted various branches of government on evidence-based policy reform and institutional capacity-building. Her multisectoral work has helped increase the representation of women and minority groups in local governments and public institutions. She has contributed to many development initiatives through empirical research on the dynamics of access to political representation and socioeconomic mobility in Pakistan. She has served as the Monitoring & Support Lead for the Chief Minister’s Office, Punjab as well as a technical expert for various multilateral donor agencies. Zainab draws upon her liberal arts background to facilitate better communication between civil society and governments for citizen-centric policy making. Her earliest contribution to the social impact sector was as a curator of ITA’s Pakistan Learning Festival, an innovative social movement to increase access to education for underprivileged communities. She is a frequent contributor to various publications and continues to support the preservation of indigenous cultures through her writings and photojournalism. Zainab was recently inducted into the American Council of Young Political Leaders as an emerging policy leader from South Asia.
Roshaneh Zafar
1Ms Zafar is the founder and managing director of Kashf Foundation. She worked with the World Bank in Islamabad in the Water and Sanitation department for several years before setting up the Foundation. Ms. Zafar was one of the first Ashoka Fellows in Pakistan and has been a Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneur since 2004. Ms. Zafar has also been awarded the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz, one of Pakistan's highest civilian awards, by the President of Pakistan for her work in the field of development and women’s empowerment and was also awarded the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship in 2007 and the Vital Voices award for Economic Empowerment in 2010. She is also served as a member of the Prime Minister’s Taskforce on Austerity and Federal Government restructuring and sits on the board of several institutions including the Finca Microfinance Bank, Kinnaird College and Institute of Development and Economic Alternatives (IDEAS). Ms. Zafar is a graduate of the Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania, USA and also holds a Master’s degree in Development Economics from Yale University, USA.
Saadya Riaz
1Saadya Riaz was appointed as Head of Consumer Private & Business Banking, Pakistan in March 2022. Saadya has over twenty years of banking experience with multinational banks and a local bank within Pakistan.Saadya has worked at SCB for 17 years, over two stints, and for the past five years she has led Premium Banking at a Global Head of Premium Banking in Singapore. Previously, she has worked in the AME Region as Regional & Country Head of Segments, AME & UAE.
Dr. Hadia Majid
1Dr. Hadia Majid is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Economics at LUMS. Her research agenda considers the impact of monetary and public resource constraints on individuals in Pakistan with a special focus on women’s access to decent, empowering work. She has published in international journals and is currently editing a book titled Gender at Work in Pakistan.
Zahra Khan
1Zahra Khan is a curator of contemporary South Asian art. She is Creative Director of Foundation Art Divvy through which she led and curated the first official Pavilion of Pakistan at the Venice Biennale 2019, Manora Field Notes.
Foundation Art Divvy produced Aisha Khalid & Imran Qureshi: Two Wings to Fly, Not One, National Art Gallery, Islamabad (2017); and collaterals to the Lahore Biennale in 2018 and 2020, at the Fakir Khana Museum and Plaza Theatre. Its latest venture has been the Divvy Film Festival, celebrating independent Pakistani and South Asian cinema as well as Art Divvy Conversations, a series of insta-live interviews with artists across South Asia. She is now working towards Divvy Knowledge Center – a venture focusing on knowledge building and innovation.
She is lead curator at Satrang Art Gallery, Islamabad and has worked at Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York after which she worked at Sotheby’s, London and Blain|Southern, London. She has guest curated exhibitions for Koel Gallery, Karachi and the Upside Space – an online platform focusing on NFT sales.
Zahra is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and received a Master’s in the History of Art and Archaeology from SOAS, London.
Syima Aslam
1Syima Aslam is the CEO & Artistic Director of the Bradford Literature Festival (BLF), which she established in 2014. A 10-day literary and cultural celebration, BLF welcomes more than 100,000 visitors to Bradford annually and is celebrated as Europe’s most diverse literature festival. BLF is a global cultural exchange with international partners. Over the last 10 years BLF has attracted over 550,000 visitors from 30 countries, and hosted artists from 72 countries. A thoughtful festival, with a point of view and sense of place, BLF reflects contemporary Britain and the world. BLF is hailed as ‘one of the most innovative and inspirational festivals in the UK’, bringing together literature from all genres, promoting intercultural fluency, providing a platform for marginalised voices, and reflecting the changing face of contemporary Britain through a programme which celebrates diversity, empathy, and artistic excellence. Syima Aslam remains the driving force behind the festival. An economist by background, with extensive experience across a range of sectors including inward investment & regeneration, education, and data & marketing solutions, her ambition is to create real and lasting change. Her commitment to young people and passionate belief that education has the ability to change lives, is the inspiration behind everything she has achieved with the festival. Syima Aslam's remarkable journey and contributions in the world of literature and cultural exchange resonate deeply, as such she has been made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Bradford. In 2022, she became a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in recognition of her achievements to date for services to literature. In 2024, Syima was recognised in the Muslim 500 list as one of The 500 Most Influential Muslims in the World.
Moneeza Hashmi
1Moneeza Hashmi is trustee faiz foundation. she retired as first female director programmes ptv after serving for more than 4 decades. she was the only female general manager of lahore tv. she has represented ptv on national international forums across the world in all continents, served as president commonwealth broadcasting association for three terms as the only female and pakistani to hold this post, has worked as gender trainer and media consultant to all major international organisations such as US AID, British Council, UNDP, UNICEF, UNESCO, GIZ, UNFP, JICA to name a few. at present she is creative media head of kashf foundation and working on media segments relating to gender empowerment. she has won several national and international awards for her work on portrayal of women in media. she is the winner of president of Pakistan’s pride of performance award 2002.
Qudsia Rahim
1Qudsia Rahim, the co-founder and executive director of the Lahore Biennale Foundation (LBF), has a background in both art and academia. She has established several initiatives, including the field elective program at the National College of Arts called Art For Humanity; the Research Cell at LBF, which conducts research on various forms of artistic expression within Pakistan and its diaspora; and the Afforestation Lahore Group, "a consortium of the government and civil sector that works with the loss of local/urban ecology and other urgent environmental challenges." Endorsed by the Climate Ministry of Pakistan and the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency, Ms. Rahim is the Project Director/Author of the Green School Certification Program, a scalable initiative that sought critical thinking and whole systems learnings on climate education and ecological practices using art education as a pedagogical tool. As the executive director of LBF, Ms. Rahim is also leading the organization's efforts towards the upcoming Lahore Biennale 03, "Ecologies and Sustainable Futures."
Sana Shah
1Sana Shah has been involved with the Pakistani IT industry for the past 16 years. Currently she is heading AshreiTech Academy @ National Aerospace Science & Technology Park (NASTP) as Director Academy. Within a short span of time, that is only 4 months, the academy has successfully enrolled 300 students that are being trained in global technologies like Oracle, SAP, Salesforce, Microsoft, Cisco and Cybersecurity. With Sana’s leadership the academy is now all geared up to expand in Lahore and Islamabad and the aim is to train more than 10,000 students in a year and create employability opportunities for these students.
Previously Sana was part of the National Incubation Center, Karachi team as Program Manager and was responsible for managing NIC Karachi’s incubation program. She joined NIC Karachi 2019 as Creative & Outreach Lead. Her core area of expertise is corporate communications, and she has helped to materialise industry partnerships for NIC Karachi startups.
Sana managed to bring INSEAD Business School’s entrepreneurship program to Pakistan where more than 200 businesses participated in 16 weeks long training called XSeed – MBA for startups.
Academy of Women Entrepreneur, a program by the US Embassy in Pakistan is another initiative where Sana co facilitates the Sindh program to train home led businesses of women residing in rural Sindh and help them scale their startups.
Before NIC Karachi, Sana was engaged with Rasala Publications, a well-known media entity amongst the local technology industry. Its commitment and dedication to supporting the local ICT industry came into effect even before most people understood what it meant to have an industry.
In 2008, Rasala Publications in conjunction with the USA based IDG, the world’s largest technology media house, launched IDG’s premier franchise CIO in Pakistan, a brand which quickly became the biggest tech media brand within a short span of time, recognized by anyone in the enterprise technology ecosystem.
Gulalai Khan
1Gulalai Khan is a policy communication, governance and gender practitioner and teaches Internet Governance and Technology Policy at the Lahore University of Management Sciences. She is the founder of the Pakistan Professional Women Forum which provides mentorship and networking opportunities for professional women in Pakistan.
Ms Khan has an MSc in Communication Governance from the London School of Economics with research in Gender and the Third Level Digital Divide in Pakistan. Ms. Khan is a a trainer for women legislatures on inclusive planning and budgeting and women leaders in leadership and communication. She also trains extensively on digital skills and security.
She works as a technical and strategic inclusion and communication advisor with the Federal Finance Ministry, Federal Board of Revenue and the Prime Minister’s office. Previously she has advised finance minister Punjab and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Establishment. Ms, Khan is also a skilled facilitator for national and regional dialogues.
Mehreen Raziq
1Mehreen Raziq, from the mountain communities of northern Pakistan, has dedicated nearly a decade to conserving rare and elusive biodiversity. She has been associated with WWF-Pakistan and her work serves as a compelling example of mitigating human-leopard conflict, preventing the killing of rare leopards in Ayubia National Park and its surrounding areas by engaging local community members, particularly women, to prevent leopard attacks. With traditional ecological knowledge, Mehreen has spearheaded various initiatives, including critical watershed management and supporting the livelihoods of her community dependent on natural resources. She stands as a role model, showcasing women's leadership in protecting and sustainably managing unique natural resources. Mehreen actively works towards integrating Nature-Based Solutions to address environmental challenges in her region
Nausheen Ahmad
1Ms. Nausheen Ahmad is Barrister at Law with over 30 years of law firm and in house counsel experience in various sectors including Oil & Gas, FMCG, Banking and large-scale manufacturing.
She has an LLB from Kings College London and an LLM from the University of London. She is an Advocate of the Sindh High Court.
Ms Ahmad is the Lead Counsel of the Legal and Governance Advisory, a firm which specialises in corporate governance and compliance.
She is Director of Meezan Bank Ltd. International Steel Ltd, Jubilee General Insurance Company Ltd., Engro PowerGen Qadirpur Ltd and Descon Engineering Ltd.
She has also served as a Director of the Pakistan Stock Exchange and was the full time Company Secretary and Head of Legal of HBL and ICI Pakistan Ltd.
Ms. Ahmad has been teaching the Directors Certification course approved by SEC at IBA for a number of years and is visiting faculty with KSBL. She also runs training on diversity and inclusion, contract management and conflict resolution and mediation. She is an accredited mediator from CEDR, UK and in addition to training extensively in Pakistan with the Sindh Judicial Academy and the Pakistan Mediators Association, she is a member of the International faculty of CEDR UK.
Ms Ahmad is a founder member of IBA Dispute Resolution Forum which promotes civil and commercial mediation. She is accredited as a mediator with the Sindh High Court. Recently in May 2022, Ms Ahmad successfully completed the 3 month Negotiation and Dispute Resolution course run by the Harvard Law School.
Bee Gul
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Bee Gul
1An industry icon Bee Gul is a Pakistani screenwriter. With a flair for dialogue and plot lines that talk of difficult social situations Bee Gul made a name for herself with the very first script she wrote for a telefilm. She has won numerous awards. Her most memorable work on television is Dar Si Jaati Hai Sila and Raqeeb Se. She has also penned-down Jashn ka Din hai, Talkhiyan and Pehchan that became landmarks. With a special interest in Urdu and Persian her plays also have local languages. She writes women-centric plays that throw light upon social issues.
Nimra Bucha
1Nimra Bucha is a British-Pakistani theatre, film and television actor most notably known for representing the muslim, brown, South-Asian, females through her work in international projects such as Ms Marvel, Polite Society, The Queen Of My Dreams, Murder Is Easy and The Dictator's Wife. On the home front, Nimra has proved her mettle as an actor in ground breaking projects Churails, Manto, Kamli, Daam and Akhri Station.
Rasti Farooq
1Rasti Farooq is a writer, actor and producer currently working at Puffball, a Lahore based animation studio with award winning films like Shehr-e-Tabassum and Swipe to their name. Rasti is also an award winning actor, having starred in numerous plays, teleplays and short films, like Ali Junejo’s “Both Sit In Silence For A While”, Sarmad Khoosat’s “Roshan Raahein” and Tabish Habib’s “May I Have This Seat?” (Best Int. Short Film at Dubai Indie Film Festival). Her first feature film was Saim Sadiq’s “Joyland” (Jury Prize, Festival de Cannes; Best Imternational Feature Film, Independant spirit Awards)
Dr. Syrrina Haque
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Zahra Sabri
1Zahra Sabri is a Karachi-based lecturer in Indo-Islamic History and Literatures. She received her MA degree from the Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies at Columbia University in the City of New York. Her academic publications focus on the writings of late Mughal poets such as Mir Taqi Mir. She is a literary translator, and has translated folk and classical poetry from almost a dozen Pakistani languages for eleven seasons of the popular music programme Coke Studio, Pakistan. She has also worked as a journalist for the Herald magazine (Dawn), winning the Zubeida Mustafa Award for Journalistic Excellence. She has contributed articles to Pakistan’s national press on diverse political, literary, and educational issues over the years. She is the curator of Koozah -- an anthology of Urdu short stories by new and little-known Pakistani writers.
Zeenut Ziad
1After obtaining a degree in Mathematics, Zeenut Ziad studied Economics at the London School of Economics. She taught Economics at the University of Karachi and, later, became the first woman executive in Pakistani banking. Among other professional assignments, she was an economic consultant with the World Bank in Washington DC.
Pursuing a long standing interest in South Asian history, in particular the Mughal period, she organised a highly successful lecture series on the Mughal Empire at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC. The success of the series and the need for a comprehensive text covering major areas of Mughal history led to the creation of her book, "The Magnificent Mughals" (Oxford, 2003). In collaboration with Dr. Reza Aslan, she co-edited the book, "Tablet and Pen: Literary Landscapes from the Modern Middle East" (Norton, 2011).
Ms. Ziad has lectured widely in educational institutions worldwide, and taught courses on Mughal history at American University and George Mason University in Washington, D.C. She was also involved in Muslim advocacy and interfaith work in the US for more than two decades.
She has served on the boards of cultural organisations in the United States, Turkey, Eastern Europe, and Pakistan, and as an adviser to the Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan on the State Bank Museum restoration and conservation.
Aisha Khan
1I am an energetic, ambitious person who has developed a mature and responsible approach to any task that I undertake, or situation given. With years of experience in management, I am excellent in working with others to achieve a certain objective on time and with excellence. With an added experience in retail, I am a creative, adaptable and bright individual with an excellent eye for detail and design. I possess an excellent ability to motivate others, coupled with the ability to communicate comfortably at all levels, therefore ensuring an exceptional working environment for all members of the team to perform at their best. It is a great honour for me in promoting the heritage, tourism, culture and pulsating life of Walled City of Lahore –Pakistan.
Laraib Asdaf
1Laraib Asdaf is the founder and curator of the public archive, ‘Purana Pakistan’ on Instagram. She completed her undergraduate in History, Political Science and South Asian Studies from the University of Toronto in 2021 after which she moved back to Pakistan to follow her passion for Education and History.
Her work in Education mostly caters to low-income families. She taught at Harsukh in Thethar Village (Lahore) under the guidance of Justice Jawwad S. Khwaja from 2021-2023 while simultaneously working for the Learning and Assessment Design Team at The Citizens’ Foundation (TCF). Laraib moved to Karachi in 2023 and has since been working as a field researcher in Early Childhood Education (ECE) for the University of Oxford.
Throughout this entire time, she has been dedicated to maintaining ‘Purana Pakistan’ (@purana_pakistan), which continues to be the largest public archive for Pakistan on Instagram.
Dr. Nadhra Shahbaz
1Dr Nadhra Shahbaz Khan is an Associate Professor of art and architectural history and serves as the Director Gurmani Centre for Languages and Literature. A specialist in the history of art and architecture of the Punjab from the sixteenth to the early twentieth century, her research covers the visual and material culture of this region during the Mughal, Sikh, and colonial periods. Her publications in international peer reviewed journals, conference papers and other research activities, especially her book titled Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s Samādhi in Lahore: A Summation of Sikh Architectural and Decorative Practices and a website (https://www.sikhvirsa.org.pk/home/) that features Sikh artefacts in the Lahore Fort’s Sikh Gallery, have successfully brought Sikh art and architecture at the forefront of Pakistan’s heritage discussions and conservation activities. This website has received the Times Higher Education Awards Asia 2022 for “Excellence and Innovation in the Arts”.
Nadhra Khan has held research fellowships at SOAS, London (Charles Wallace 2010–2011), INHA Paris (2015), Princeton University (Fulbright 2014–2015), Oxford University (Barakat Trust 2014–2015) Lakshmi Mittal South Asia Institute, Harvard (2021-2022), and the Institute for Advanced Study in Asian Cultures & Theologies, the Chinese University of Hong Kong (2023). She has also been a recipient of the highly competitive CAA-Getty International Program travel grants thrice: 2012, 2019 & 2021, the MGSHSS LUMS Annual Research Award 2019, the LUMS Faculty Initiative Funds for 2020 and 2021 and Faculty Travel Grants. Her association with the Aga Khan Cultural Service–Pakistan for their Lahore Fort project as Consultant Historian continues since 2016.
Mina Malik
1Mina Malik is a writer and poet based in Lahore. She performs stand-up comedy with a feminist-activist comedy troupe and dramatic readings for children. She is on the National Advisory Committee for the Centre for Pakistani Writing and has recently co-founded Risala, a literary magazine for young people. She used to host a live show on Indus Television and is quite proficient as a public speaker and she regularly works with children as a storyteller so she has a fair understanding of how a conversation with and for children can be steered effectively.
Hiba Dar
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Hiba Dar
1Hiba Dar, Director Communications, Coca Cola Pakistan. Hiba Dar is the Director of Communications at The Coca-Cola Company for the Pakistan &
Afghanistan Region, with a decade of experience in the communications sector, with a focus on
sustainability, women and communities empowerment. She has prior experience at Nestlé,Telenor Pakistan, and a range of other esteemed organizations.
Sonya Rehman
1Sonya Rehman is a journalist and correspondent for The Diplomat living in Lahore, Pakistan. A graduate of Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, she has been writing since 2002. Her work has been featured in TIME, The Wall Street Journal, Rolling Stone, BBC, Esquire and The Huffington Post, among others.
Hafsa Farooq
1Hafsa Farooq Maan holds a masters degree in marketing from Western Sydney University. She
has taught at the University of Lahore and has worked at Information Technology University
(ITU), among others. An entrepreneur at heart, she decided to upscale A Piece of Cake, which
was originally a home-run business. Hafsa has also assisted two other start-ups.
Amnah Maqsood
1Amnah Maqsood started her entrepreneurial journey in May 2018 with a home-based business called Body by Butter, offering calorie counted meals on a subscription model. Despite initially focusing on weight loss, weight gain, and clean eating, the business unexpectedly became her primary source of income.
Amna's academic background is in economics and management, having studied at UCL and later completing a master's degree at Kinnaird. Although her education was not food-related, food has always been a significant part of her life. She developed a passion for cooking from watching her parents in the kitchen and would often experiment with cooking during Sunday meals. Building on the success of Body by Butter, Amna went on to establish two more companies: Xpress Cafe and Stevital, a natural sweetener replacement for sugar.
Bites
Sarah Ahmad
1Sarah Ahmad is a Child Rights’ Activist & the Chairperson of Child Protection & Welfare Bureau, Government of the Punjab.
Sarah has done her MBA & later worked in different Multi National Companies. She has also taught at IOBM in Karachi.
She has revamped the Child Protection Bureau as Chairperson since 2013, a department under the Punjab Government. From adoptions of abandoned infants to tracing families of missing & lost children & awareness raising, Sarah has worked with utmost dedication for Child Protection. Her aim is to eradicate child beggary & child abuse from Punjab & to empower neglected children. Currently, she is looking after 1200 street children in Punjab. She has been awarded the Global Collaborative Award in 2022 in Rome, Italy for her work against child abuse in Pakistan. This year has also been awarded Tamgha-e-Imtiaz by the Government of Pakistan for her work in Child Protection. In September last year, she represented Pakistan at the United Nations at a conference on Child Sexual Abuse.
Adeel Hashmi
1Adeel Hashmi is a multi-talented personality who has made significant contributions to the arts and culture scene in Pakistan. He holds a Masters in Filmmaking from San Francisco, USA, and began his career in the late 1990s as a writer and actor on television. He has since ventured into stage performances and communications training and is renowned for his eloquence. Adeel is regularly invited to perform poetry recitations worldwide and is a sought-after speaker on various topics at conferences and events. He is also the founder of the Faiz Festival, an annual literary event held in Lahore since 2015. In addition to his diverse talents, Adeel is a classically trained pianist, holding a grade 3 certificate from the Trinity College London. He imparts piano lessons to young children. His contributions extend beyond the realm of arts and culture. Adeel served as the Chairman of the Punjab Film Censor Board, Government of Punjab. Moreover, he is a member of the Artist Welfare Fund Committee, chaired by the President of Pakistan. This committee provides financial assistance to impoverished artists.
Sadia Khatri
1Sadia Khatri is a writer, teacher, and filmmaker. She writes fiction and nonfiction, often about cities, dreams, gender, and faith. As a teacher, she is interested in building pedagogical models outside of institutions. Sadia is archiving and filming Sufi and Bhakti poetry in Sindh with Amrit Pyala.
Aysha Shujaat
1Aysha Shujaat is a development professional with over 15 years of experience working on democratic strengthening, elections, gender and social inclusion. She has led some of the most historic election projects in Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan, Libya and recently Ethiopia. In Pakistan, she has contributed to the electoral reform agenda and supported the Election Commission of Pakistan through her work with UNDP and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES).
Many of her projects involve the capacity development of women at the grassroots to increase their participation in advocacy and decision-making roles. She is actively working on the inclusion of women in politics, elections and public policy. Her work also focuses on building alliances between genders through programs that engage men in the discussion on gender equality.
She is the founder and country lead of Project Girls for Girls Pakistan, a Harvard-born project empowering girls and women to close the gender leadership gap. G4G Pakistan is working with academic institutions in Pakistan to develop the future generation of leaders. Aysha is a TEDx speaker, an Acumen Fellow and a Chevening scholar.
Yusra Amjad
1Yusra Amjad is a Pushcart-nominated poet and comedian from Lahore, Pakistan. She completed her MFA at Sarah Lawrence College on a Fulbright Scholarship, and her work has appeared in The Missing Slate, Crossed Genres, The Noble Gas Quarterly, L'Ephemere Review, Rising Phoenix Press, The Aleph Review, and others. She is currently working on her first poetry manuscript, Sometimes I Imagine My Country Is Mine.
Irum Shujah
1Irum Shujah is an Advocate of the High Courts. She holds an LLB Hons from the University of London and currently serves as the Senior Legal Associate at the Digital Rights Foundation (DRF). In her role at DRF, she has successfully represented senior journalists and others before special forums such as PEMRA, the High Courts, Provincial Ombudspersons, and more. She also extends legal assistance to survivors of online gender-based harassment, including but not limited to survivors of revenge porn and other forms of gender-based violence.
Areej Khan
1Areej Khan was diagnosed with hearing loss at the age of 4. For all of her youth she refused to wear hearing aids because of the social stigma around them till her mother said you have to wear them and not care what anyone thinks. Since then Areej has taken inspiration from jewelry artists and bedazzled her hearing aids turning them into stylish accessories and creating acceptance for disability.
Khizra Munir
1Khizra Munir is the founder and host of Sister Plz, a podcast that aims to normalise the woman experience, and be a space where women can be vulnerable without judgement or social pressure.
As a beneficiary of and champion of the sisterhood of Sahelis, Khizra launched SisterPlz to showcase the strong women who have inspired her and has had the privilege of knowing and meeting.
Dr. Aysha Khan
1Aysha Khan completed her Bachelors in Dental Surgery in 2006 and has been working as an Associate General Dental Surgeon at Rahman and Rahman Dental Surgeons since 2007. Outside of her professional capacity Aysha has volunteered her skills in a free hospital, providing maxillofacial surgery for the underprivileged, and has provided dental care for a variety of charitable causes, including with various NGOs promoting healthcare. Coupled with her work with patients from a wide range of ethnic, social and religious backgrounds, Aysha has built a substantial professional portfolio founded on tolerance,resilience, and compassion for a wide variety of social needs. Aysha possesses a keen interest in exploring Pakistan’s vibrant cultural climate, particularly the burgeoning arts, literary, and fashion industries, and is an avid reader of socio-political histories of South Asia. Having travelled widely, Aysha exercises her love of nature through horse riding and mountaineering, as well as through regular sports activities. With a calm, reassuring manner honed through practicing dentistry in varied contexts, Aysha has the communication and interpersonal skills necessary to relate to people from a range of social, political, and economic backgrounds.
Attiya Noon
1Attiya Noon works at The City School as the Regional Director for the Central Region. She is an "award-winning public speaker and has represented Pakistan internationally on various fora. Attiya worked in Education in London for a few years before moving back to Pakistan. She is actively involved in air quality related environment activism and is a member of the Punjab Wildlife Board, the Punjab Environment Council, the Punjab government’s smog committee and serves as Secretary Afforestation, Lahore.
Dr Jawad bin Yamin
1Dr Jawad bin Yamin is a renowned eye specialist and surgeon. He specializes in cataract surgery (Phacoemulsification), removal of glasses (Excimer Laser for Lasik,PRK), Vitreo Retinal surgery, glaucoma surgery, laser procedures for diabetic eye diseases and squint surgery. He currently works as consultant ophthalmologist with the charitable LRBT Foundation and as Head of Ophthalmology Department at Hijaz Hospital . He is a visiting eye surgeon at Hameed Latif Hospital, and also runs a private practice.
Sabahat Khurram Bokhari
1Sabahat Khurram Bokhari, is a distinguished expert in Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) with an illustrious career spanning over two decades. Sabahat's profound impact on Pakistan's corporate sector is marked by her innovative initiatives aimed at enhancing gender diversity and financial inclusion. Her adeptness in formulating and implementing comprehensive DE&I strategies has led to transformative changes in workplace equity, operational efficiency, and business profitability. Sabahat's commitment to social change is evident through her pivotal role in securing substantial grants for women's empowerment, significantly increasing female representation in the workforce, and aligning D&I strategies with core business objectives. Her esteemed positions in leading councils and boards, such as the Forbes Human Resources Council and Human Centric Labs USA, along with her extensive educational background, highlight her multifaceted expertise in D&I, organizational development, and inclusive leadership. Sabahat's visionary leadership and remarkable achievements in fostering inclusive cultures have solidified her status as a trailblazer in the D&I domain.
Interactive
Aamna Saleem
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Aamna Saleem is an astronomer who has a postgraduate diploma in Quantitative Life Sciences from the Abdus Salam International Center for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy, and is the founder and CEO of Cosmic Perspective, Pakistan's first astronomy education and entertainment social enterprise. She was awarded the first ever grant in Pakistan from the International Astronomical Union's Office of Astronomy for Development to conduct a project called "Development through Astronomy in Pakistan [DAP]" in 2019. The goals of DAP are to provide quality STEM education, reduce gender inequality, raise awareness about the environmental crises, and promote peace and equality in Pakistan. She is also a facilitator of the Climate Fresk in Pakistan. She has taught Mathematics at the IB MYP Level at renowned schools including LGSi. She is currently working as the Career Advisor at BCP Defence Campusand and hopes to combine her various life experiences together to inspire the next generation of college applicants. In her free time, she enjoys reading fiction and dabbles in the culinary arts.
Rabbania Shirjeel
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Rabbania Shirjeel is a Lahore based multi-disciplinary artist and curator. She has an Art background with a photography degree. With her practice, she is interested in using photography, text, video, architecture model making techniques and paper collages to address personal histories, nostalgia and social behaviors and coexistence. Her works are mostly multi-layered through the exploration of culture, languages and social landscape. Rabbania‟s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally including Gallery 39k, Lahore, Alhamra Arts Gallery, Lahore, The Drawing Room, Lahore, Sir Syed Memorial Complex, Islamabad, Millepiani,Italy. She started her career as Coordinator Arts at The British Council Lahore and has been invited for artist talks and as a Jury including All Indian Summer,UK, Kalaboration Arts, UK, Kaaravan, Lahore, LUMS.
Rabbania is a founder of Tasweerghar through which she is Interested in community building and expanding critical discourse on south Asian contemporary photography through exhibitions,talks and its annual Residency program since 2015. She has curated many projects under Tasweerghar , transforming Narratives and co-lead the project Art Chain Pakistan. She Introduced Tasweerghar Annual Residency program in 2017 and since then have curated and organized Art residencies. Rabbania translated Zines for Transforming Narratives and contributed essays and translations for publications. She was also invited to the Ananke Women in Literature Festival 2021. Her recent interest is working with archives and using photography not only as a means of personal expression but also as documentation.
Shah Fahad
Shah Fahad
Shah Fahad
Shah FahadShah Fahad, a seasoned virtuoso of the stage and screen with a decade's worth of expertise in acting, directing, producing, and writing, has also imparted his wisdom to countless aspiring thespians across the nation as a distinguished instructor in the realm of drama studies.
Zoya Hassan
1Zoya Hassan is a Lahore-based filmmaker with a deep passion for storytelling. She graduated with distinction in filmmaking from the University of Karachi in 2018 and has since contributed to multiple feature and short films. Some of her notable works include Joyland (Costume Designer), Kamli (Costume Supervisor & Stylist), and Yaar Julahay - A series of dramatic readings for Zee (Costume Supervisor & Stylist).
Qurat-ul-Ain
1Qurat-ul-Ain has been part of the astronomy community for more than half a decade as an Astronomy Communicator. She is the General Secretary of Cosmic Perspective, Pakistan’s first astronomy education and entertainment social enterprise. She has helped organize astronomy outreach sessions at various science fairs and science festivals. She has co-trained young minds at a DAP workshop at the WOW festival in 2023. She is passionate about disseminating scientific knowledge with a focus on effective communication. She has an undergraduate degree in Mathematics.
Ismaeel Moinuddin
1Ismaeel Moinuddin is a university student based in Lahore, who has pursued amateur astronomy and astrophotography since 2018. He has been affiliated with Cosmic Perspective since 2018, serving as Director of Telescopic Outreach and co-CEO. Pursuing a degree in anthropology and sociology, his focus now revolves around studies of cultural astronomy. In his personal time, he tries to keep up with his five cats while also dabbling into the arts of filmmaking and photography.
Nida Ahsan
1Nida is a passionate full-time drama facilitator, bringing the world of theatre to life within an IB school setting. With a flair for creativity, she has conceived and directed numerous captivating performances for children, both within the school premises and beyond. Nida's passion for acting is evident as she has had the privilege of working alongside industry giants in feature-length films, short films, advertisements, and theatre productions. Nida has also shared her expertise as a yoga and dance instructor, nurturing minds and bodies through movement.
Tanzila Khan
1Tanzila Khan is a serial entrepreneur from Pakistan. She graduated with a Masters degree in Entrepreneurship from Uppsala University, Sweden. She founded her organization Iwish to develop solutions for inclusion. So far she has trained more than 8000 people across 19 countries through her NGO Creative Alley. Her other initiatives are Amal Clooney award winning venture, Girly Things.pk, Woopie Town, a board game and FruitChaat, an award winning short film on disability. Tanzila is a solo traveler and blogs about her adventures at www.tanzilakhan.com
Workshop
Falak Amaar
1Falak Amaar is an international Makeup Artist trained & certified by celebrity MUAs Mario Dedivanovic and Samer Khouzami.
Falak has collaborated with celebrities, influencers and several brands to create content for social media. She had hosted several LIVE Masterclasses online & in-person for audiences from international and diverse backgrounds.
She was part of the beauty team at NYFW SS’23 & SS’24 creating makeup looks for prestigious designers showcasing their collections.
She has been featured & endorsed by brands, magazines and social media platform as a versatile and accomplished MUA.
Besides creating makeup looks for individuals, fashion shows, stage events, etc, Falak holds 1 on 1 Makeup Workshops for clients of all ages and shares makeup techniques that she has acquired and perfected by learning from some of the best in the industry.
Dr. Haiqa Nasir
1Dr. Haiqa Nasir is a Dental Surgeon by profession, who has been branching out into her hobbies in between professional studies and clinical jobs. She is an MMA enthusiast, training in Taekwondo since the age of 14, kickboxing and grappling since 2018. A feminist learning to incorporate her passion and her profession into uplifting the women around her and empowering them to explore their potentials. She conducts Self-Defense workshops that address not only the physical factors of dangerous situations that women and girls might face but majorly, the psychological aspects of such scenarios and how to read the non-physical markers in one's environment. In 2020 she worked with the Safer Society for Children, in the capacity of Expert Trainer, to execute training workshops on prevention and awareness of Child Sexual Abuse in Kasur. She has continued to incorporate the training skills from the project into her workshops and their curriculum design. She designs her own Self-Defense workshops and has worked with and conducted workshops on various public/private platforms such as Olomopolo Media, Parwaaz by Akhuwat Foundation, DoctHERS.pk, British Council's Women of The World Festival, Pakistan Strength and Conditioning Association, GiZ, EFU, Shell, Soorty and many more.
Madeeha Noor
1Madeeha is a Soul Medicine Practitioner (Soul Doctor) who combines ThetaHealing, Spirit Medicine and Sufism in her unique approach to Healing.
Zoya Naqvi
1Zoya is a writer, researcher and an independent journalist, who stands by the belief that art is a savior. She has been published locally and internationally and is a recipient of various fellowships including the Rahm Al Farrah Fellowship and Women Deliver Media Fellowship.. Zoya is always looking forward to understanding the relationship between public spaces and the people who occupy them.
Amina Khan By CineKhan
1Amina Khan is the Founder of CineKhan Limited, a global boutique consultancy, focused on social impact research, cultural diplomacy, and creative storytelling. She is Team Leader for the Next Generation thematic study: 'What we know on women and girls'. She is a social scientist with a background in international development, foreign policy, and humanitarian affairs. Her research for the past 20 years has focused on children and young people, and the dynamics of poverty and exclusion in urban and in crisis contexts. She has also led studies on advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (especially 'leaving no one behind'). She uses multidisciplinary analytical lenses grounded in international development, politics, and sociology to qualitative and quantitative research methods. Her body of work has helped her play a key thought leadership role within responses to current and emerging development challenges and is available on the public domain. Her work has appeared in leading platforms including BBC, Devex, the Guardian, Education Cannot Wait, INEE, World Bank and the UN. Amina is also a trained method actor and film and theatre producer.
Baithak
Sadia Khatri
1Sadia Khatri is a writer, teacher, and filmmaker. She writes fiction and nonfiction, often about cities, dreams, gender, and faith. As a teacher, she is interested in building pedagogical models outside of institutions. Sadia is archiving and filming Sufi and Bhakti poetry in Sindh with Amrit Pyala.
Ramla Baig
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Dr. Maryam Rab
1Dr. Maryam Rab has worked in the field of education and women empowerment for over 28 years. Her experience is primarily in the public service sector in Pakistan, she has made significant contributions to higher education management and leadership. As a Chevening Scholar, she obtained a master's degree in Education Management from King's College London, and later completed her doctorate in Education from the prestigious Institute of Education, UCL, London. Dr. Rab played a pivotal role in establishing Pakistan's first state women's university, Fatima Jinnah Women University, thereby providing young women with access to higher education. She is an ACU certified trainer and a mentor for women in the field of higher education leadership and management. Throughout her career, Dr. Rab has been actively involved in campaigning for women's empowerment in South Asia. Her expertise lies in international collaborations and partnerships in higher education. Her research focuses on education, inclusion, women, and leadership. She has published works on topics such as the experiences of international students in UK universities and the significance of women as role models. In her current position as the head of research programmes for the Global Research and Insight team, she leads the Next Generation Research Series, which aims to empower and uplift young people specially women by conducting groundbreaking research on their needs, potential, and aspirations. Dr. Maryam Rab firmly believes in the ideology that real feminism is about making other women's lives better.
Wardah Noor
1Wardah Noor is a social entrepreneur and founder of xWave, an organization committed to leveraging technology for societal upliftment. With a focus on empowering underprivileged youth, particularly women, in rural areas of Pakistan, Wardah's work involves providing comprehensive training in employable IT skills. Under her leadership, xWave has expanded to multiple locations, training over 300 students in technical skills and thousands more in essential soft skills. Wardah's innovative approach to education and her dedication to fostering economic independence among marginalized communities have earned her prestigious accolades, including the Prime Minister's Youth Excellence Award and recognition from international bodies such as Giving Tuesday and the Global Fund for Children. Through xWave, Wardah aspires to create a substantial economic impact, aiming to train and place 10,000 students, thereby contributing significantly to Pakistan's digital economy.
Prof Dr. Uzma Quraishi
1Prof Dr. Uzma Quraishi is the Dean of the Faculty of Education and Director, DFDI, Lahore College for Women University. She is a former Vice Chancellor of the Women University Multan, Govt. Saddiq Women University, Bhawalpur (Additional Charge) and Lahore College for Women University. She is an eminent educationists and specializes in Gender equity and leadership in Higher Education. Dr Quraishi has a PhD in Educational Management & Planning from the University of Birmingham (UK) & Post-doc.in Gender Equity and Higher Education from the University of Cambridge; MEd in Media and Education, University of Manchester, UK with the first degree in Fine Arts from the National College of Arts Lahore, Pakistan Prof. Dr Uzma Quraishi has served on a number of administrative and leadership positions in public and private sector universities, including serving as Principal of the Foundation University College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Islamabad. Head of departments of Education, Computer Arts and Fine Arts at the Fatima Jinnah Women University, Rawalpindi. Director Institute of Education and Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, LCWU. Executive Director Women Development Center and chairperson department of Education, UMT, Lahore. She has developed a series of professional development programs for national and international organizations. She has also conducted numerous faculty development programs, of various public and private institutions, as Resource person, including NAHE. She has also been a consultant to international and international organizations, including UNESCO, USAID HEC and Ministry of Education. She has served as Chairperson Punjab Examination Commission and member of the Punjab Textbook Board. Currently she is also serving as Director Directorate of Faculty development and Internationalization, Lahore College for Women.
Huma Chughtai
1Ms. Huma A. Chughtai is an international human rights law, sharia, governance and gender specialist. With over 35 years of professional standing, she has cross sectoral professional experience and key expertise in legal, judicial and police reform, parliamentary strengthening and women’s political participation, human rights, gender mainstreaming, and women peace and security. She is an alumni of University of Nottingham, UK, from where she earned her LL.M degree in International Law of Human Rights, as well of International Islamic University, Islamabad, from where she secured her LL.B (Law & Sharia) as one of the torch bearer pupil. She is essentially a judicial educator, a peacebuilder and a researcher. Ms. Chughtai has a number of international certifications to her credit and has extensively travelled across continents and can speak English, French and Arabic languages.
Fireside Chat
Munizae Jahangir
1Munizae Jahangir is a broadcast journalist and award winning documentary filmmaker, currently anchoring a flagship current affairs show on one of Pakistan’s leading media news network Aaj TV, called, ‘Spotlight with Munizae Jahangir’. Jahangir is co - chair of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and an elected member of South Asians for Human Rights. Jahangir is a co-founder and Editor in Chief of Voicepk.net, a digital media platform focusing on human rights issues. Since 2004 Jahangir has been anchoring and reporting for prominent news media outlets in Pakistan, which include Dawn and Geo network. She was the first Pakistani journalist to have reported for an Indian news channel, NDTV as their country correspondent for ten years.
Jahangir’s high profile interviews include Hillary Clinton, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, Benazir Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif, Prime Minister Imran Khan, Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai.
Jahangir has conducted cross border audience based talk shows with India and Afghanistan and reported from Afghanistan, India, Nepal, South Africa, USA, United Kingdom, China, Switzerland and Myanmar. Jahangir’s first award winning documentary, “ Search for Freedom” depicted the lives of four women caught in the war in Afghanistan.
Jahangir was honored as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. She is on the board of the Asma Jahangir Legal Aid Cell which provides free legal aid to marginalized groups. Jahangir is a founding member of South Asian Women in Media.
Mariam Zia
1Mariam Zia did her postdoctoral fellowship at the Mittal Institute, Harvard University. She is currently working on her monograph titled “Dastan-e Amir Hamza: Religious Orientations, Storytelling, and the Uncanny” under contract with Routledge. Her research interests include theory and culture, the ‘uncanny’, storytelling, and translation
Farah Moqaddus
1Farah Moqaddus is a feminist activist and gender expert with a strong focus on human rights, particularly for women and minorities rights. Since 2019, she has been a valuable member of the program team at Shirkat Gah, where she concentrates on gender-based violence (GBV) and women's political participation. With a wealth of experience in the development and social sectors, Farah advocates for using innovative and creative methods for fieldwork and community engagement to amplify the voices of grassroots women. Her work includes efforts to end child marriage and collaborations with parliamentarians and relevant government departments.
Sumaira Samad
1Sumaira Samad is currently serving as Secretary, Women Development Department. Previously, she has served as Secretary, Social Welfare Department and Literacy & Non-Formal Basic Education Department. She has also served as ACS, Agriculture and Rural Development and Director, Lahore Museum among other assignments spanning over twenty years of working in the public sector. She has many years of diverse experience in areas such as policy formulation and implementation, planning, service delivery, project and programme design and implementation, conflict resolution, livelihoods, heritage and environmental management. She has a Masters in English from Peshawar University and a Masters in Environmental Change and Management from Oxford University, UK.
Dr. Luay
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Dr. Luay
1Dr. Luay Shabaneh is the Representative of UNFPA Pakistan. Prior to his current appointment, he served as the Regional Director of UNFPA for the Arab States since 2016.
A native of Palestine, Dr. Luay has held several high-profile national and international public service positions over the last two decades in official statistics, population census, population and development, monitoring and evaluation, programme management and advocacy within the UN System, in government and in the multilateral arena.
He served as chief statistician of Palestine from 2005 until he started his UN career in 2009 with both UNDP/UNCT and UNFPA in Iraq, and the Regional Office for Arab States since 2015 as the Regional Adviser for Population Data and Policies in ASRO. Within the Arab region, he served as chair or member of several regional professional and research committees, including the Statistical Committee of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, the Arab regional statistical forum and the board of the Arab Institute for Training and Research in Statistics. Dr. Luay started his professional career at Palestine Central Bureau of Statistics where he worked from 1994 to 2005 and was appointed President.
Dr. Luay holds a PhD in Applied Social Statistics from Lancaster University, UK, a Master’s Degree in Mathematical Statistics from the University of Jordan and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Baghdad University.
Nazia Ahmed
1Nazia Ahmed, the Director of ICON Organization, has achieved remarkable success at a young age. Her unwavering dedication to social causes, particularly child protection in Balochistan, women empowerment, and youth development, has earned her widespread recognition and admiration. Her passion for creating positive change in Balochistan is evident through her organization’s numerous initiatives. She is instrumental in providing scholarships to the youth of Balochistan through Google Career Programs, enabling them to pursue higher education and unlock their full potential which has not only empowered the youth but has also contributed to the overall development of the region. In addition to her work with the youth, she has also focused on creating a safe space for women in Balochistan. Despite the harsh conditions and challenges, she has tirelessly worked to break barriers and provide opportunities for women to thrive. Her endeavours have been recognized, and she has been honoured as one of the top 20 socially active females in Balochistan.
Dr. Tahira Naqvi
1Tahira Naqvi grew up in Lahore, Pakistan. She is a translator, writer, and Clinical Professor in the Department of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at New York University where she teaches Urdu language and literature. She has translated into English works of Saadat Hasan Manto, Khadija Mastur, Hajra Masroor, Fahmida Riaz, and the majority of works by Ismat Chughtai. She also writes fiction and has published two collections of short stories titled, consecutively, Attar of Roses and Other Stories of Pakistan, and Dying in a Strange Country. Her first novel, The History Teacher of Lahore, to be launched at the LLF, was published in 2023 by Speaking Tiger Books, Delhi, and reprinted this year by City Press, Karachi
Shabnam Syed Khan
1Shabnam Syed Khan was Professor of Design at the National College of Arts (NCA), Lahore.
Her interest in women’s studies began with her doctoral dissertation at Harvard, “Education & Agency: Muslim Women and the Tensions of Traditional & Modern Expectations.” When she returned to Harvard as Visiting Professor of Education, she developed two art works, “Woman Question, the True Clash of Civilizations” and “What if my Pink Becomes your Blue and your Blue my Pink?” from a course “Muslim Women & Higher Education: A Culturally Informed Adult-Developmental Perspective” she taught. She is currently Visiting Professor at Beaconhouse National University. Recently she has been exploring the topic of her dissertation further. In 2023 she presented a talk titled “Higher Education has Failed Us—the Ordinary Women,” at the Alumnae-i Network for Harvard Women (ANHWA). Last year, with the idea of proposing fresh perceptions of celebrating women and girls, she curated an exhibition titled, “Domestic Provocations: Creativity as a Provocateur of Care and Vice Versa
Sabeena Akhtar
1Sabeena Akhtar, is a writer/editor and award winning arts and culture programmer working across a variety of festivals. Her work largely focuses on platforming marginalised communities with a particular focus on race and gender. She is the Head of Projects and Programmes at the WOW Foundation, working on it’s UK output and programmed the Shameless festival, a festival of activism against sexual violence. She was the Festival Coordinator of Bare Lit, the U.K’s principal festival celebrating remarkable writers in the diaspora. A co-founder of the Primadonna Festival which spotlights the work of women writers, the Primadonna Prize for writing and Bare Lit Kids, the UK’s first children’s festival showcasing the work of writers of colour. She has published a wide variety of work including editing Cut From The Same Cloth? an anthology by visibly Muslim women in Britain, Talking About Islamophobia published by Hachette and is currently working on a novel. She is a mum of four. You can find Sabeena tweeting at @pocobookreader and on instagram @beena_books
Dr. Sofia Rehman
1Dr Sofia Rehman is an independent scholar specialising in Islam and Gender. She works as a knowledge building consultant for Musawah Movement, a global organisation committed to the reform of Muslim family law in line with gender egalitarian readings of Islam. As a PhD candidate she was a PG Impact Fellow at the Centre of Religion and Public Life and PRHS Scholar.
She is founder of the Islam and Gender reads along in which she facilitates readings of academic texts penned by Muslim scholars in conversation with a global virtual audience and has recently been featured by Vogue Arabia, Refinery29 and The Independent. She is the author of a Treasury of Aisha bint Abu Bakr (Kube publishing) and, Gendering the Hadith: Recentering the Authority of Aisha, Mother of the Believers (Oxford University Press). She is a contributor to Mapping Faith: Theologies of Migration edited by Lia Shimada, Cut From the Same Cloth? Edited by Sabeena Akhtar, Violent Phenomena: 21 Essays on Translation (Tilted Axis), and Gathering: Women of Colour on Nature (404Ink). You can connect with her on her Instagram @Sofia_reading where she talks about all things related to books, faith and academia.
Shahnaz Aijazuddin
1Shahnaz Aijazuddin is a writer of unique distinction. She began her career writing columns while she was in Abu Dhabi for the Gulf News and other dailies. After her return to Lahore, she contributed regularly to The Frontier Post, Dawn and other papers. These articles proved so popular that she was prevailed upon to collate them into book form. The result was a charming volume titled Lost from View, published in 1994.
The love of her life – outside her own family, that is – was the Tilism –e-Hoshruba, one of the most beloved Dastans which, in our culture, had (and should have) the same importance amongst Homer’s Iliad or The Odyssey held for classicists in the west. Shahnaz made friends with Tilism when she was about ten years old. It has remained her constant companion ever since.
It was quite natural therefore for her to share her friend with other friends. That is how she embarked on her own Odyssey – the translation of the Tilism-e-Hoshruba from the Urdu but highly Persianised text into English. She decided at the outset that a word for word translation of seven volumes would have put the reader to sleep. And so sensibly, she compressed her narrative into one single, handy volume, but even that runs into 900 or so pages.
It is a tribute to her mastery over Urdu and over English that she has retained the spirit of the original while at the same time imbuing it with her own inimitable style and wit. Shahnaz Aijazuddin has spent several years researching the Tilism-e-Hoshruba and is deeply interested in Urdu and Persian. She has been a columnist with a leading Pakistani newspaper and has written for several other publications in India and Pakistan. A collection of her articles, Lost from View, was published in 1994. Shahnaz Aijazuddin is married and has three children and two grandchildren. She lives in Lahore, Pakistan.
Shahnaz Aijazuddin was born in Peshawar, brought up in places as scattered as Landikotal, Makran and Chitral, educated in Karachi, lived as an expatriate in Abu Dhabi and is now unsettled in Lahore! Such a varied background has provided her with a unique insight into different cultures, enabling her to observe people and places with rare perception and accuracy.
Drawing upon her deep interest in Urdu and Persian, she has spent several years researching the Tilism-e-Hoshruba before compiling an English translation in one volume, condensed from seven volumes of the Urdu original. This was published by Penguin India in 2009. Anyone who has read her translation will realise what a deft touch she has brought to what could have become a heavy, pedantic treatise.
It is a tribute to her mastery over Urdu and over English that she has retained the spirit of the original while at the same time imbuing it with her own inimitable style and wit.
She has been a columnist with a leading Pakistani English newspaper and has written for several other publications in India and Pakistan. A collection of her articles, Lost from View, was published in 1994. Shahnaz Aijazuddin is married and has three children and two grandchildren.
Masterclass
Zarnak Sidhwa
1Zarnak Sidhwa, a cooking expert, pursued her cooking passion from a very early age. She was one of the few lucky people who not only realized what their passion is but also get a chance to make it a way to earn their living. She took her cooking training from the popular chefs and experts in the cooking industry here and abroad. She started her catering business from her home 18 years back and her popularity slowly reached many people and she was able to develop a niche market for herself. She was one of the few who made assorted hand made chocolates with different fillings. Belonging to the Zoroastrian (Parsi) community, her interest is in revising and refreshing old and original Parsi recipes, so as to preserve them for the next generation. Zarnak Sidhwa prepares delicious desserts and cakes. Her Christmas cakes and weddings cakes are claimed to be innovative and scrumptious. She started her career with Masala TV with the very popular show named Chocoholics and as the name suggests all the recipes were based around chocolate. It became so popular amongst the viewers that a 2nd season of this show was aired as well. Currently since the past 13 years, she is doing a live cooking show on Masala TV, named Food Diaries, in which she conjures up in her lively style delicious food and easy to make desserts, in addition to taking live calls during the show. Born and brought up in Karachi, Zarnak is proud to be representing her community worldwide. Schooled at the Mama Parsi Girls High School, she graduated from the St Joseph's College. She is also the recipient of the Ponds Miracle Award in 2015, the Best Female Influencer Chef Award at the Annual Culinary Awards 2021, the Best TV personality of the year 2022 at the Annual
Performance
BB Funkar
1BB is a senior bureaucrat in her past life is reborn as an artist at the age of 60. She is an established standup comedian, poet, actor, story teller and traveller. She has performed with various standup comedy groups including Auratnak and now performing solo at Islamabad and Lahore. Her comedy is a blend of laughter and storytelling.
Sadia Khatri
1Sadia Khatri is a writer, teacher, and filmmaker. She writes fiction and nonfiction, often about cities, dreams, gender, and faith. As a teacher, she is interested in building pedagogical models outside of institutions. Sadia is archiving and filming Sufi and Bhakti poetry in Sindh with Amrit Pyala.
Ismet Jawwad
1Ismet jawwad is a visual and performing artist. She has learnt the arts of singing and dancing since childhood and preformed as a dancer in many shows. She has taught dance in schools in lahore and is a singer with her sisters in their group 'Harsakhiyan'.
Zara Madani
1Zara Madani, a singer, producer, composer and a voice yogi, gifted with an innate talent and nurtured through years of training in diverse musical gharānās from the sub-continent. Including Gwalior gharānā, Delhi gharānā and under the supervision of Akhtar Ali Khan saheb. Her artistic journey is marked by an exquisite blend of cultural influences, nurtured through her role as an associate producer at Coke Studio Pakistan and Coke Studio International. Zara's impact transcends the studio, as she shares her expertise as a leading voice coach for both local and international students. Her stage presence shines through, having performed as a vocalist in two seasons of Coke Studio, both as a solo artist and alongside legends like Rahat Fateh Ali. Furthermore, she has showcased her composition skills as the featured artist for the main soundtrack at the Pakistan Pavilion during Dubai Expo 2020. Zara's commitment to preserving traditional and cultural music forms resonates beyond her work, ensuring the legacy of music endures for generations to come.
Ahsan Pervaiz Mehdi
1Ahsan Pervaiz Mehdi, a renowned producer and multi-instrumentalist from Lahore, Pakistan, will serve as the Sound Producer for this initiative. With a diverse musical background and notable collaborations, including Coke Studio, Velo Sound Station and Nescafé Basement, Ahsan's expertise will elevate the performance, delivering a seamless and immersive auditory experience for performers and audiences alike.
Lucky Khan
1Lucky Khan is a singer (Coke Studio) and actor for short films and music videos. A human rights defender (“Meri Kahani”, GEO), she works as a community field worker for Hope, Khwaja Sira Society and Sathi Foundation.
Annural Khalid
1Annural is a singer/songwriter from Islamabad. Singing since the age of 4, she started her career in 2020. Since then she has released multiple singles and features with other renowned artists from Pakistan and India. Her soulful compositions and emotive voice have earned her the prestigious title of Spotify's EQUAL Pakistan Ambassador for July 2023 and the 1st female Spotify Radar artist of Pakistan in 2024
Panjhi Gang
1Sindhi Chhokri (Urooj Fatima) and her brother Toxix Sufi (Mohammad Kapri) form this resistance rapper band raging against the machine in Pakistan called The Panjhi Gang. They speak about issues that are swept under the carpet because they make poeple uncomfortable like honour killings, child labour, police brutality, enforced disappearanes. Their track Inquilab went viral on YouTube and they have performed in front of thousands at the Lahooti Melo. Their poetic expression found resonance with the audience. They talk about resistance in the same way as sufi saints did thousands of years ago, countering disenchantment amomg the youth, fighting status quo to bring change.
Soha Adnan
1Soha has been learning music and dance since her childhood and also learning Piano. She has participated in school programs and WOW festival 2023 in Karachi.
Samahar Adnan
1Samahar has been learning music and dance since her early childhood and has been actively performing in dance performances: Interschool dance Festivals, Music Competitions, Faiz Festivals, WOW Festivals, Turkey Gokcan international Children Festival which was a cultural exchange program.
Saleema Jawwad
1Saleema J. Khawaja from Lahore, Pakistan is a lawyer by profession. She has been involved with learning music since the age of seven. Her main focus has been Punjabi folk. In the year 2007 she started learning Gurbani Sangita Sabadritas (compositions of Sikh tradition) from Bhai Ghulam Muhammad Chand belonging to the Rababi tradition and remained his student till shortly before his death in April 2015.
Amtul Baweja
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Yamina Peerzada
1Yamina Peerzada a Pakastani actress, singer and puppeteer and has been part of WOW before so she understands the landscape well. The family's puppet festival is one of the oldest in PK.
Mehnaz Parveen
1Mehnaz Parveen is a development practitioner and an advocate for human rights. Mehnaz hails from the breathtaking region of Gilgit-Baltistan. With a profound commitment to fostering positive change and empowering marginalized communities, she became the 1st female CEO of Karakoram Area Development Organization (KADO). Mehnaz has dedicated more than 10 years to addressing pressing social issues and promoting sustainable development in the region. She has also served as Director at Foundation for Arts Culture and Education (FACE) for six years. She recognizes the intrinsic link between culture and social justice, leveraging creative mediums to address pressing issues and catalyze meaningful dialogue.
Justin Bibi’s
1Justin Bibi’s: The Dynamic duo originally belong to the Rajasthan community but are true Lahoris being raised here. The sisters have sung the Pakistan Junior league Anthem ‘Next 11’ as well as participated in the widely acclaimed “peechay Hutt’ from Coke studio season 14. They have been featured on a number of OST’s for Pakistani Dramas as well as singing the hit song “marjaniye” for the film “London Nahin Jaunga.
They have also been featured on the Zong commercial alongside Fahad Mustafa, as well as collaborating with Hello Magazin and Modeling for Khaadi. These young sisters have made a name for themselves in a very short time, and are going to bringing tons of fun tunes to the festival.
Farjad Nabi
1As a screenwriter Farjad Nabi has co-written the web series Qatil Haseenaon ke Naam (2022) that won the Best Anthology at the Asian Academy Creative Awards 2022. He is the co-director and co-writer of the Pakistani feature film Zinda Bhaag (Run for your Life, 2013). The film was Pakistan’s first entry for Academy Awards consideration in 50 years.
His plays Annhi Chunni di Tikki and Jeebho Jani di Kahani have been performed for the stage. Ajnabi Sheher ki Achanak Kahanian is his upcoming venture in which he has incorporated memoir writing techniques with theatre.
Samiya Mumtaz
1Samiya Mumtaz trained as a Bharatanatyam dancer in Pakistan and India, and has been part of a number of dance performances in her home city of Lahore.
In 1993, she joined Ajoka Theatre, a group dedicated to doing street and proscenium plays focussed on bringing social justice. She worked with Ajoka on more than 20 productions primarily as an actor, and occasionally as a director till 2010.
Samiya started appearing on TV as a child on children's music and art shows. In 1993 she did her first full-length TV serial as a central character. Since then, she has appeared in more than 20 TV serials, and continues to act for TV.
Samiya has also acted in a number of feature films, including three that have been chosen as Pakistan's entry for the Foreign Language Film Category at the Oscars.
Along with her acting commitments, Samiya also runs a full-time mixed Organic Farm.
Farazeh Syed
1Farazeh Syed (b. 1971) is a multi-disciplinary artist working across the disciplines of visual art and music. She has been involved in art teaching through formal studio classes, lectures, critiques and talks.
Farazeh received her MA (Hons.) in Visual Arts from National College of Arts, where she has also served as Associate Professor, Fine Arts (Visiting Faculty), and her MA in Education (Gold Medal) from Beaconhouse National University, where she has taught Academic Writing and Critical Reading.
Farazeh has been trained in South Asian Classical vocal music and has performed on several platforms including The Music Conference, Lahore and Rafi Peer International Sufi Music Festival. Her connection with music lends her work rhythms and a certain lyricism that can be experienced as subtle sensations.
As a Research Associate at Sanjan Nagar Institute of Art and Philosophy, Syed has researched extensively on South Asian Classical music, written academic papers and lectured on South Asian Classical Music and Cultural History at National College of Arts, Musicology Department.
Amna Riaz
1Amna is a singer/songwriter who started her music journey as a student in LUMS
Her soulful voice echoes raw emotion and a timeless allure, through which she won the hearts of many. She was featured in Hassan & Roshaan's song 'Duur Se' which topped charts in Pakistan, and pivoted Amna into uncharted territory as she sets her sights on crafting a pop album that promises to redefine the genre.
As Amna continues to enchant audiences with her soul-stirring performances and irresistible charm, there's no doubt that she is destined to leave an indelible mark on the music industry, carving out her own legacy alongside the greats who have come before her.
Natasha Baig
1Natasha is the only female Sufi Rock artist in the current Pakistani music landscape. Hailing from Hunza Valley, she was discovered in 2013 at the Cornetto Music Icons show. Baig, who is known for her vocal range and husky tone made her Coke Studio debut in Season 11. She performed Iqbal's Shikwa and Jawab e Shikwa with Fareed Ayaz and Abu Muhammad crossing 24 Million views on YouTube.
Romaisa Tariq
1At just 20 years old, Romaisa has a voice that exudes both vulnerability and strength, her journey from being part of the Coke Studio 14 choir to working on her debut pop album (mentored by Mekaal Hassan) is marked by a fearless exploration of sound and style. Her upcoming album is poised to be a testament to her artistic evolution, offering listeners a glimpse into her musical versatility and boundless creativity.
Hassan & Roshaan
1Hassan & Roshaan, started their music journey as a duo in early 2019 with their debut album “Chaar Dinon Ka Khwaab” (released 2020) from which they ended up with some national hits like “Lamha”and “Doobne De” of which the latter also got featured in the Hollywood series Ms. Marvel.
Their 2nd studio album “Day 5” was released in 2022 with chart toppers like “Duur Se” and especially “Sukoon” that charted number 1 in Pakistan on Spotify. The album transcended borders in its popularity and solidified Hassan & Roshaan’s name as one of the rising new stars of the country.
Hassan & Roshaan’s music takes elements from South Asia’s rich musical history (both traditional and recent) and reimagines it in a new contemporary sound by combining it with elements from Western Pop and RnB creating a sound thats uniquely them.
They met through a gig in 2018 when they were both just university students and have been making music ever since.
Currently they are working on their 3rd studio album and all set for releasing in 2024
Natasha Noorani
1Natasha Noorani is a Pakistani musician, singer, songwriter, playback singer, voice-over artist, and ethnomusicologist from Lahore. She is the co-founder and festival director of Lahore Music Meet (LMM). She is known for her "Lolly-Pop" style, which is a combination of retro subcontinental and electronic pop music. Natasha has also performed at Boiler Room's first-ever Pakistan edition.
Film
Marvi Mazhar
1Marvi Mazhar is an architect and researcher, her practice combines visual culture, spatial advocacy and interventions. Mazhar’s advocacy creates a dialogue between the changing footprint of Karachi’s inner city through personal archives, and visual ethnography of purana shehr (old town), versus naya shehr (new/reclaimed town). It is an attempt to understand the legalities of public heritage properties, amenity plots, urban parks of Karachi, and extends towards understanding the gated community from a socio-analytical perspective. Zoya Rehman is a feminist organiser and an independent researcher-writer & consultant based in Islamabad, Pakistan, with an undergraduate degree in law. Between 2018 and 2019, I did my MA in Gender Studies and Law at SOAS, University of London on the Chevening Scholarship, and won the Programme Prize for my degree.
My work is interdisciplinary in nature and mostly revolves around feminism, pop culture, critical legal studies, and the internet. I am a part of the South Asia Speaks 2022 cohort and am currently working on my first non-fiction book.
Abuzar Madhu
1Abuzar Madhu, a seasoned performing artist, writer, and activist, originally from Kot Radha Kishan and now based in Lahore, has dedicated almost a decade to the performing arts. Collaborating with Sangat Lahore, he engages in theatrical performances that traverse villages. Concurrently serving as a theatre instructor in Lahore, Madhu ardently commits himself to decolonizing the body and mind, emphasizing embodied knowledge and a deep connection to language, culture, and land. As the co-author of the 2017 book "Jagrate Walay,". In a separate endeavor, Madhu passionately collects folklore along the banks of the River Ravi, a continuing passion project. Recently completing projects on environmental narratives ("Sahil ki Kahania") and gender ecology, with British council.His M.Phil thesis, anchored in new indigenous methodologies like performance and dance, delves into the River Ravi and its communities. As a founding member of "Ravi Bachao Tehreek" (Save Ravi), he advocates for the rights of the river, encapsulating his holistic approach to art, academia, and activism.
Nirmal Bano
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Nirmal Bano is a screenwriter based in Lahore. She has developed the screenplays for Zindagi Tamasha (2019), Gunjal (2023) and Roshan Raahein (2024). She has also taught multiple film theory and history courses at the National College of Arts. The 'republic of wailing trees' is her first short film as a director.
Amber Arifeen
1Amber Arifeen is a visual and performing artist from Pakistan. Her multidisciplinary practice grapples with questions having to do with South Asian female identity and subjectivities. Understanding the South Asia female as an ever-evolving subject and her experience as a product of memory, spaces, and history is central to her practice. In performance, Arifeen contextualizes the female experience through stories of a place or space, by bringing forth the embodied tensions that arise from internal conflicts that women find themselves in. She uses histories and associations related to spaces to reanimate their experience, allowing the viewer to see her female subjects through a lens that subverts those histories. She draws inspiration from philosophers she studied as an undergraduate at U.C Berkeley. Since completing her Masters in painting from Wimbledon college of arts in 2019, Amber has had five solo shows and participated in several group shows in Pakistan, Paris, Berlin, Los Angeles and London. In Oct 2021 she was invited to participate as a performance artist at Domus Residency - an eco-feminist residence located in Southern Italy, the outcome of which is the film 'The Tarantata'.
Kamil Chima
1Kamil Chima is a producer, writer and director. He graduated from Harvard College in 2015 and set up Nehr Ghar Films, a film-production company based out of Pakistan. His first feature film, ‘Laal Kabootar’ (2019) was Pakistan’s Official Selection for the Academy Awards 2020. His second feature ‘The Queen of My Dreams’ (2023) premiered at TIFF 2023 and is having its US Premiere at SXSW 2024. His short film ‘Eid Mubarak’ won Best Live Action Short at NYICFF 2023, an Oscar
qualifying festival. Kamil is an alum of the IFFR Producers Lab 2023, and the Producers Network at the Marche Du Film at Festival de Cannes 2023.
Moiz Tirmizi
1Moiz Tirmizi is a passionate filmmaker who graduated from the National College of Arts in 2023 with a major in film. His journey in the world of cinema has been truly remarkable. His thesis short film, Barzakh, has been receiving recognition and is being screened at prestigious film festivals. It's a project that holds a special place in his heart as it allowed him to explore the depths of storytelling and showcase his directorial and writing skills. While Moiz's love for filmmaking is undeniable, his body of work also reflects his dedication to women-oriented stories. Inspired by the incredible women in his life, particularly his mother, he has also delved into the world of documentaries, shedding light on women's health and wellness. In addition to his work behind the camera, Moiz has also had the opportunity to contribute as a production designer on various film projects. It's a role that allows him to bring his creative vision to life, shaping the visual aesthetics of the films I'm involved in. Beyond the realm of filmmaking, he is also deeply passionate about the fashion industry. As a stylist and art director, Moiz merges his love for storytelling with the world of fashion, creating captivating visuals and narratives that leave a lasting impact.
Zoya Rehman
1Zoya Rehman is a feminist organiser and an independent researcher-writer & consultant based in Islamabad, Pakistan, with an undergraduate degree in law. Between 2018 and 2019, I did my MA in Gender Studies and Law at SOAS, University of London on the Chevening Scholarship, and won the Programme Prize for my degree. My work is interdisciplinary in nature and mostly revolves around feminism, pop culture, critical legal studies, and the internet. I am a part of the South Asia Speaks 2022 cohort and am currently working on my first non-fiction book.
Hassam Anwar
1Hassam Anwar is a filmmaker, producer, singer from Lahore, currently working as a Creative Lead at Mindstorm Studios. After graduating from National College Of Arts in the Film and Television degree, Hassam has been intertwining the boundaries of his art through various mediums such as short films, music videos, songs and documentaries that touch sensitive topics of social injustice, minority rights and most recently, the landscape of women in the gaming industry. The goal is to better understand and portray the delicate realities of this world through the lens of his perception
Sophia Richards
1Sophia is a social impact researcher. She has collaborated with esteemed economists and academics at the Institute of Development and Economic Alternatives (IDEAS) in Lahore to study the educational landscape in Pakistan. Her work includes impact evaluation of the DFID funded PESP II program and World Bank’s SMS GIRL:Gender Innovation for Re-Enrollment and Learning Research.Since May 2022, Sophia has been an integral part of Mindstorm Studios, where she led and co-authored pioneering research on the Animation, Games, and Graphics Ecosystem in Pakistan. Sophia is also deeply committed to improving female representation in the games industry and actively works towards this goal through workshops, stakeholder engagement, and digital content development. The “Beyond the Ratio” documentary is a collaborative effort by her and the entire team at Mindstorm Studios to amplify the stories and experiences of women in the games industry as a means to inspire diversity and leadership.
Umar Riaz
1Let us take you on a culinary journey with "The After; A Chef's Wish" by Umar Riaz. Celebrating the remarkable legacy of Chef Fatima Ali, this documentary takes you on a heartfelt exploration of how food transcends borders and transforms lives. Join Mohammed as he honors his sister's memory through the power of food, spreading joy, and making a difference in communities across Pakistan. Experience the enduring impact of a young woman who left an indelible mark on the world through her passion, creativity, and compassion. In loving memory of Fatima Ali, a true culinary trailblazer whose spirit continues to inspire us all.
Alina Rizwan
1Alina Rizwan is a young and dynamic female filmmaker whose passion for storytelling is reshaping the cinematic landscape. With an impressive background in assisting some of the biggest directors for narratives and commercials, Alina brings a fresh perspective to every project she touches. She stands chin up against the difficulties that come on her way being a female in the male-dominated Media and entertainment industry of Pakistan. She has her
mission to light the way for more female filmmakers to come. As a trailblazing young woman in the industry, Alina inspires a new generation with her dedication, vision, and remarkable ability to turn stories into mesmerizing visuals.
Pop Up
Risham Faiz Bhutta
1Risham Faiz Bhutta, also known as RFB, is a Punjabi pop singer-songwriter. Her words and melodies are her story to the world. Her music is a perfect balance of crisp vocals, Punjabi sensation, folk heart and a rebel nature. Currently making waves in the Punjabi scene, she recently released multiple tracks in collaboration with artists like Ali Sethi, Justin Bibis, Abdullah Kasumbi, Zoha Zuberi and Alistair Alvin. She also sung the official soundtrack of the recently released feature film WAKHRI. With her latest EP called “Survival”, her energy sets apart from all.
Shanzay Subzwari
1Shanzay Subzwari is a visual artist, illustrator and art writer. She is interested in kitsch, pop culture, currency, consumerism and the unseen. Currently she is the host of The Art Lounge Talks on Instagram Live and YouTube.
Her work combines elements from Mughal miniature paintings, currency notes and popular culture to comment on politics, history, society and the human condition.
Lauren Heckler
1Lauren is a visual artist and educator interested in exploring the cyclical, interaction, exchange, reciprocation, and generosity, with people and the environment. Collaboration and conversation is integral to her process, which often manifests in installation, drawing, video, performance and socially engaged activities. Originally from the estuary village Llansteffan, she is currently based in the market town of Abergavenny.