Meet our delegates
WOW Talks
Sherry Rehman
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Sherry Rehman is a Pakistani politician and former diplomat who has been the member of the Senate of Pakistan since 2015. She was the first woman Leader of the Opposition in the Senate from March to August 2018 and served as Pakistan's Ambassador to the United States from 2011 to 2013.
She resigned from the cabinet in 2009 and went on to serve as the Chair of the Pakistan Red Crescent and founded the non-partisan think tank, Jinnah Institute. In November 2011, she was appointed as the Ambassador to the United States and remained until April 2013. In 2015, she was elected to the Senate.
Jude Kelly
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Jude Kelly is the Founder and Director of The WOW Foundation, which runs WOW - Women of the World
Festivals across the globe to celebrate the achievements of women and girls and confront global gender
injustice. Starting 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 as an independent charity dedicated to building the WOW movement as a force for change.
Jude Kelly has directed over 200 theatre and opera productions, including at the Royal Shakespeare
Company, English National Opera, National Theatre, and the Châtalet in Paris including Ian McKellen in
The Seagull, Patrick Stewart in Johnson over Jordon and Dawn French in When We Are Married. She is
the recipient of two Olivier Awards, a BASCA Gold Badge Award for contribution to music and a
Southbank Award for opera. She was 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 Kelly has founded a range of arts institutions and has commissioned and supported the work of
thousands of artists across all genres.
Photo © Ellie Kurttz
Sarmad Sultan Khoosat
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Actor, Director, Script-Writer, Producer, Sarmad Khoosat is known for his acclaimed works on television, film and theater. Having rose to prominence during the late 90s through Shashlick which he wrote, directed produced and performed in, Sarmad went on to work on ground breaking and critically acclaimed Tamasha Ghar and Piya Naam Ka Diya, which cemented his status as one of the leading personalities of television. His work include Jalpari, Mera Yaqeen, pani Jaisa Pyar, Kalmoohi, Humsafar, Shehr-e-Zaat, Ashk, Daagh, Manto – The Film, Mor Mahal, Akhri Station, Noor ul Ain and so on. On stage, Sarmad has lent his acting talents in plays and dramatic readings such as the Absolut Manto series, Shoot/Get Treasure/Repeat and Jhaanjar Di Paanwaan Chhankaar, which he also co-directed. He is a household name in Pakistan, and to prove his mettle the multi-talented performer has also received the Pride of Performance, the highest form of award in the country for his contributions in Art.
Fatima Bhutto
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Fatima Bhutto is the author of several books of fiction and nonfiction, most recently the novel, The Runaways and the nonfiction reportage about the changing world of global pop culture, New Kings of the World . Sarmad Sultan Khoosat is a Pakistani actor, film/TV director, producer and screenwriter. He is considered to be one of the best South Asian filmmakers with his film Zindagi Tamasha being selected as Pakistan's entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 93rd Academy Awards.and won awards at Busan and at the 2021 Asian World Film Festival in Los Angeles.
Yasmeen Lari
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Yasmin Lari is Pakistan's first female architect. She is best known for her involvement in the intersection of architecture and social justice. Since her official retirement from architectural practice in 2000, her UN-recognized NGO Heritage Foundation Pakistan has been taking on humanitarian relief work and historical conservation projects in rural villages all around Pakistan. She was awarded the prestigious Fukuoka Prize in 2016.
Parvinder Marwaha
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Parvinder Marwaha is devoted to seeing the design profession becoming more equal, diverse, inclusive and environmentally responsible. She is currently working on a gender and climate programme between Pakistan, Bangladesh and the UK, supporting the central role of women in the climate revolution. She has a special interest in projects around food and water, from both a climate and EDI perspective. She has worked with COP26, INTBAU, Heritage Foundation Pakistan, BRAC University, Pentagram, Onassis Foundation and others, with partners spanning the UK, Europe and South Asia. She is also a regular speaker, including talks for South Asian Heritage Month, WOW, Hyderabad Design Week, Sri Lanka Design Festival and others.
WOW Bites
Maham Shiraz
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She is 22-years-old and currently studying law alongside being an off road racer in Pakistan. Off -road racing is typically known to be a sport dominated by men but she aspires to break stereotypes and follow her passion. She made her debut in February 2020 by participating in the much coveted and talked about Cholistan Jeep Rally and managed to get 2nd position in her first race which made her the youngest debutant ever in the female race category in Pakistan. She has participated in almost eight off-road races till now and managed to hold ranks in each one of them.
Nida Rizki
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Nida Rizki is a professional hairstylist and colourist with over 15 years of international experience. After completing her degree in humanistic studies with a concentration in Psychology from McGill University she returned to Pakistan to work with children with special needs. Hairdressing was always a passion which she pursued alongside via apprenticeships with Pakistan’s top hairdresser Nina Lotia. She opened her own salon in 2009 which she ran successfully before returning to Canada in 2016. She secured a position as a hairdressing instructor to women incarcerated in a correctional facility. She spent 4 years at the institution educating women and giving them hands on training in hairdressing so that they could be equipped with a vocational skill. Nida returned to Pakistan to care for her parents earlier this year and started a YouTube channel where she uploads simple instructional videos for women with low literacy to watch, follow and learn.
Hadiqa Bashir
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Hadiqa is the CEO and Founder of Girls United For Human Rights, a feminist non-profit working towards social justice through knowledge, advocacy, community awareness in tribal regions, and the the elimination of early and forced marriages in Pakistan. Hadiqa is the UN Youth Leader for SDGs from the Class of 2020-2022 and a 2020 Women Deliver Young Leader. She is currently pursuing a Bachelor’s in Sociology from Government Jahanzeb College, Swat.
Hira Ali
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Hira Ali
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An inspiring leadership trainer and career coach and an acclaimed writer and speaker, Hira Ali has been committed to helping others achieve their inherent potential throughout her award-winning career. Hira is also a successful entrepreneur who has launched several businesses to support her mission. Her work has been featured in Forbes, Telegraph, BBC, Harpers Bazaar, Independent, CBC, Huff Post, and Entrepreneur, among hundreds of other print, radio and television outlets, and has earned Hira several prestigious honours and awards. She was recently appointed as The Senior Advisory Team member at The Benedictine University Illinois L.E.A.D.S leadership program for undergraduate women and has joined WLG’S Conversations with Men Advisory Council.
WOW Performances & Pop-Ups
Wajiha Naqvi
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Wajiha Ather Naqvi is a multidisciplinary creative practioner/artist from Karachi, Pakistan. With an academic background in cultural anthropology, she is also a music researcher, a vocalist and songwriter. She is a graduate of LUMS and New York University with research focus on Sacred music from the Islamic world, particularly South Asia.
Shazia Mirza
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Shazia Mirza is a comedian, actor and writer. She was the first Muslim woman on the UK comedy circuit. Born in Birmingham, she studied biochemistry at the University of Manchester and taught science in a London school while studying acting and comedy at the same time. She has written a column in The Guardian, and The New Statesman and writes for other newspapers and magazines; she has appeared on television, including on Have I Got News For You; and in shows Celebrity Island with Bear Grylls on Channel 4, Celebs in Solitary, and Celebrity Supply Teacher for the BBC. Her standup comedy show The Kardashians Made Me Do It, a satire on political correctness, premiered at the Tricycle Theatre, had seven sell-out runs at London's Soho Theatre, and toured Europe and the USA. Her new show 'COCONUT' is on tour in the UK right now and has received 4 * reviews and been nominted for a National Comedy Award.
Samina Nazir
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Sameena Nazeer, entomologist, theatre film n TV actor, playwright, producer, traveller and Author of a book “Kallo” Her second novel is getting published this year.
Asma Mundrawala
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Asma Mundrawala’s interdisciplinary practice intersects the visual arts, theatre and performance, and education. Her research interests in popular culture, public spheres, Urdu literature and its performative traits critically inform her creative practice and approach to art education. She teaches at the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, and is Professor in the Department of Fine Art. Asma is the co-founder and creative director of Zambeel Dramatic Readings. Her current practice renders texts from Urdu literature in a dramatised form to a live audience. She has also initiated and curates the on-going project Zambeelnaama, a monthly audio channel for Zambeel Dramatic Readings. Zambeel Dramatic Readings aims to present texts in Urdu and English rendered in their dramatised form, to create a dynamic collusion between literature and performance. Referencing traditions of storytelling and the contemporary form of the radio play, the work traverses time and geographical boundaries to interpret and enliven narratives through sound and recitation.
Adnan Jahangir
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Adnan Jahangir is a graduate in communication design from National College of Arts, Lahore, Pakistan. He actively performs and choreographs dance performances for schools, corporate companies and television.
Rachna Kirpalani
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Rachna Kirpalani is a young talented actress, who knows the beauty of raw & true emotions. She graduated from NAPA in 2021. She has worked with multiple theatre directors in various festivals. Rachna did some beautiful plays such as kamla, kiski biwi kiska shohar, khawabon ke mushafir, loop,anji, ao behas karen ( manto series).
Natasha Baig
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Natasha Baig is a Pakistani singer-songwriter from Hunza Valley. She sings in various genres including Sufi rock. She can sing in Urdu, Pashto, Persian, Sindhi, Balochi and Burushaski language. Natasha Baig has received so much love from the people of her own region because she has broken the stereotypical mentality of people who thought that a girl is only respectable when she stays in the boundaries of her house. Natasha Baig dreamt about being a rockstar, she encountered many hurdles which were quite brutal which also sometimes became a matter of life or death . Her mother has always been the greatest support. Today after many years of pain and misery Natasha Baig has managed to mark her name in the mainstream music industry which makes her the very first female from Hunza Perusing such career. Today she is heavily known for her sufi rock performance on stage and her energy on stage which is like fire.
Maliha J. Khan
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Maliha J. Khan is an Islamabad-based vocalist and DJ, popular for her distinctive vocals. Her standout style is to play progressive house sets that she complements with live vocals, and create a fusion of contemporary and classical sounds.
Natasha Humera Ejaz
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Natasha Humera Ejaz is a singer and songwriter from Islamabad. Inspired by singers like Bjork, Jeff Buckley, and Esperanza Spalding, Natasha has worked over the past ten years to develop her unique vocal timbre, which bears hints of her background in jazz and Broadway-style singing.
Sunil Shanker
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Sunil is an acclaimed theatre practitioner - a respected director and actor who has expanded his directorial practice to include film. He has had the opportunity to work with the ‘giants’ of the theater world – Zia Mohyeddin, Talat Hussain and Rahat Kazmi. Sunil Shanker graduated from the National Academy of Performing Arts (NAPA) in 2009 (majoring in acting). In September 2015, he formed his very own Theatre group “ SYNA PRODUCTIONS".Shanker’s theatrical productions have included Equus (2017), Chup (2018), East is East (2016), Waiting for Godot.His film productions include I am Shumaila (2021), Next Scene (2021). His current TV and web productions include Qatil Haseenaon ke Naam (on zee5.com, 2022) Khaab Toot jatey hain (Hum TV, 2022) a weberies on Starzplay. Shanker is also an acting coach to several celebrities, and he continues to teach acting at NAPA and Arts Council.
Saria Saeed
Artist
Saria Saeed
Artist
Saria is a London based architectural designer. She finished her master’s degree in architecture from University College London in 2020 and currently practices as an architect. Saria was born in Pakistan and moved to the UK at the age of 10 with her family. Her dual identity and the complexities it creates in her life inspires her work. She experiments with innovative technologies and challenges cultural norms through her architectural and art works.
Rohama Malik
Multidisciplinary Artist
Rohama Malik
Multidisciplinary Artist
Rohama Malik is a multidisciplinary illustrator and teacher. She is a Fulbright scholar and graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Arts MFA Illustration Practice program where she was also the recipient of the Nancy Lee Rhodes Roberts Graduate Fellowship. She works in various mediums including digital and traditional illustration, sculpture, sewing, and animation. She explores diverse topics from science fiction narratives and folk lore to mental health. She has given talks on Islamicate Science Fiction at MICA Illustration’s Worldbuilding course and has moderated a talk on science fiction for The Desi Collective’s The Writer's Block Party. Her work has been featured at the Lahore Digital Arts Festival, at Tomorrow, a group show at PressMatter in Shanghai as well as VM Gallery’s group show Days of Light and Darkness.
Jannat Ali
Executive Director, Track T
Jannat Ali
Executive Director, Track T
Jannat Ali is an MBA Gold medalist Trans woman and has a performing arts research archive degree. She is the first transgender Artivist (Artist + Activist) in Pakistan and Executive Director of Track-T (Trans Lead Community based organization) working for Trans Rights ' advocacy and capacity building. She has organized First Ever Trans Pride in Pakistan in Dec 2018. She is a professional Kathak dancer with more than 6 years experience and is one of the 6 transgender women who worked as an actress in a theater play “The Third Tune”, Als. She has represented Pakistan in 24 countries including United States. She has conducted lectures and workshops in Denmark and has sensitized 400 students and teachers on Gender diversity, norms and Performing Arts. She was one of the key people who presented the bill which has been passed and become Transgender Rights Law 2018 and now active part of Transgender Rights Bill which is going to be presented in Punjab Province. She is recently nominated for South Asia most famous award Hero Asia Award for Transgender Hero category. She is elected as Vice Curator for Global Shapers Community – Lahore Hub associated with the World Economic Forum. Also she is the Region 18 Representative , Human Rights and Diversity Committee Co-Chair and Global Advisory Council Member in InterPride. Recently selected as Dignity Network Canada’s global Advisory Committee Member.
Emil Hasnain
Artist
Emil Hasnain
Artist
Emil Hasnain is an artist based in Lahore. She has made an illustration for the short story In The Ruins of Mohenjo-Daro published for Crawford Award winner Usman T. Malik's short story collection Midnight Doorways: Fables from Pakistan. She has worked on projects with LUMS, EdJam Network, Johnny and Jugnu and Wabii and made the campaign posters for Aurat March Lahore (2021 and 2022) and Climate Impact PK. Her work has been exhibited by Lahore Digital Arts Festival for "Post Reality" and Lahore Design Festival. Emil is currently working and illustrating at The Last Word Bookshop in Lahore and is working on a graphic novel.
Ayesha M Ali
Artist
Ayesha M Ali
Artist
Ayesha M. Ali is the first Pakistani Fusion-tech artist combining Digital and tangible mediums. Her practice explores hybrid models, mixed media, digital fabrications, 3d Renderings, and wearables. This allows her to effortlessly switch between manual and emerging tech mediums like AI, machine learning, emotion mapping, etc. Ali’s work is pumped up with pop-cultural satire and investigates identity politics at the intersection of Alternate reality and fiction. Her characters and narratives exist in a Hyper-real world evoking the sense of familiar-strange. She is currently focusing on 3D & Visual Art Direction projects and also running her design initiative "Oshii Brownie" to create custom wearable art designs.
Ayesha Kamal
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Ayesha Kamal Bhatti is an Assistant Professor of Multimedia Arts at the Department of Design, School of Art, Design and Architecture, University of Gujrat. She is also a former Visiting faculty member of National College of Arts, Lahore where she procured her degree in Bachelor of Fine Arts (Printmaking) and Masters in Multimedia Arts. As an academician and a practicing artist her work ranges from Art Plastique to animations, video installations and interactive exhibitions. Winner of the Puppet Prize at the National College of Arts Lahore, Ayesha Kamal Bhatti has maintained her practice in Puppetry and works in multiple media for her Puppetry production. Ayesha has interests in research related to art, design, culture and eco ethology, which she uses in her artistic endeavours to create an informed narrative.
WOW Panels
Nighat Dad
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Nighat Dad is the Executive Director of the Digital Rights Foundation. Nighat is one of the pioneer women's rights activists in Pakistan and has played a pivotal role in defining the cyberspace narrative in the country, and has been at the forefront of Pakistani feminist movements. She was recently named a member of the Facebook Oversight Board, an independent and diverse committee that works to keep content on Facebook in check. A lawyer by profession, Nighat has also been listed as the TIME's magazine Next Generation leader back in 2015, and won the Human Rights Tulip Award in 2016. Nighat is also a TED Global Fellow and has used these platforms to create awareness about the patriarchal strongholds in Pakistan, and how they affect the everyday lives of women, online and offline.
Mina Malik-Hussain
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Mina Malik-Hussain is a writer and poet based in Lahore. Her work has appeared in Vallum, Architectural Digest, The Aleph Review and Scroll, amongst other literary magazines and journals
Bee Gul
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Bee Gul
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Bee Gul is a Pakistani screenwriter and director. She wrote some TV plays and television films like Talkhiyaan, Pehchaan, Kaun Qamar Ara, Firdous ki Dozakh, most notably Dar Si Jaati Hai Sila and Raqeeb Se for HUM TV. Bee Gul's stories often deal with themes of Reality & Identity. Hypocrisy is the underlying theme, involving bitter love & conservative values. Her work is often described as Artsy. She has written women-centric plays that threw light upon social issues, especially those concerning Asian or Indian Women, which portrayed the power of a gutsy woman.
Nazuk Rao Iftikhar
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Nazuk Iftikhar Rao is a Lahore based Development Economist working on her novel. She has worked with the UN in Pakistan, Indonesia, and NY in areas of humanitarian communication and Sustainable Development Goals. She has previously worked as the Monitoring and Evaluation Lead for Safe Delivery, Safe Mother, an initiative training community midwives about postpartum hemorrhage in remote areas to decrease on maternal mortality. In addition to this she was the Features editor for Columbia University's The Morningside Post and the Journal of International Affairs in 2015-17. Her writing explores the intersection between cities, moods, photography, and poetry. Her photo essays have been published by The Aleph Review Vol. 3, and The Missing Slate. She was a Fiction fellow at the South Asia Speaks Literary Mentorship 2021.
Sadia Khatri
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Sadia Khatri is a writer based in Karachi. They write across genres. Their work is often about gender, grief, and cities, both real and imagined. Sadia is also one of the founders of the feminist collective, Girls at Dhabas.
Jannat Ali
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Jannat Ali is an MBA Gold Medalist Transgender Artivist (Artist + Activist) and the Executive Director of Community Based Organization Track-T. She is a TEDx motivational speaker, World Economic Forum Member, Global Trainer, and Change Mentor. Her work includes community's capacity development, sensitization of civil society and institutions, advocacy, trans healthcare. She is the founder of the Trans Pride March in Pakistan and has contributed immensely to the Legislations for the Protection of Trans Rights. Currently, she is hosting a show "Journey with Jannat".
Reem Shariff
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Reeem Sharif, Being transgender woman, I feel myself an ambassador of transgender community. So I always take responsibility to give a positive impact wherever I go around in the society to break stereotypes regarding transgender people of Pakistan.
Q. Sonia Kashmiri
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Q. Sonia Kashmiri is a Creative Consultant in Fashion, Textiles, Accessories and Interior with over twenty years of experience across various business and educational platforms within these industries in the UK, UAE and Pakistan.
Shmyla Khan
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Shmyla Khan is the Research and Policy Director at Digital Rights Foundation. She is a lawyer by training and an intermittent lecturer for law, technology, gender and privacy.
Imaan Mazari-Hazir
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Imaan Mazari-Hazir is a lawyer and human rights activist. Her focus is primarily on constitutional law, family law and the right to freedom of expression. She is a member of the Pakistan Bar Council's Journalist Defence Committee.
Aamna Uqaili
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Aamna Latif is a Communications Manager at Aahung, a Karachi-based NGO that works to promote the sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) of men, women, and children across Pakistan. Armed with a BBA/MBA (Hons) from the Institute of Business Administration, Karachi, Aamna worked in the domains of Public Relations and Marketing in the pharmaceutical sector for eight years before making the foray into the development sector where she has served for more than three years as a Communications expert. A passionate human rights activist, Aamna has hosted numerous webinars and moderated many discussions with guest experts on SRHR topics via Aahung’s social media platforms, especially post-pandemic.
Tanzila Khan
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Tanzila Khan is the founder of Girlythings.pk through which she delivers sanitary napkins and other products and also urgent menstrual kits to women anywhere in public across Pakistan catering to women in small cities and villages along with metropolitan cities. She wrote her first book, ‘A story of Mexico’ when she was 16 and then went on to publish her second book, ‘The Perfect Situation’ later. She has sold her books to fund community projects in the fields of disability, women empowerment, education and environment. Her NGO is Creative Alley that trains and empowers the community through events and projects. She launched her company, Iwish to create sustainable solutions to achieve the SDGs. Tanzila has also been a public speaker and Trainer across 19 countries and has been awarded fellowships such as Young Connector of the Future by Swedish Institute and Young Leader by Women Deliver. She also ventured into Film making and acting to project disability through a heartwarming short film called Fruit Chaat.
Ayesha Amin
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Ayesha Amin is the Founder of ‘Baithak - Challenging Taboos’ - a non-profit organization that works for gender justice especially women’s access to their sexual and reproductive health and rights in Pakistan. Baithak has educated over 2400 girls and women in menstrual hygiene management. Last year, Baithak organized the first ever Menstruathon (Menstrual Hygiene Management Marathon) in Pakistan that educated 1000 young girls and their mothers in 8 days in 8 cities of Sindh.
Saba Khalid
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Saba Khalid is an award-winning social entrepreneur, public speaker, activist and journalist from Karachi, Pakistan. Having worked with digital, print and television, she founded Aurat Raaj, a women empowerment, education and entertainment platform that uses digital technologies in 2017. She is behind its key product “RAAJI”, a chatbot that educates girls on taboo health, safety and hygiene topics such as menstruation, pregnancy, STDs and consent. Raaji has won the Vodafone Innovation for Women prize, is an MIT Solver, and is The Pollination Project grantee. Raaji has also received the TVE AI empowering the future award at the BAFTA and the Catalyst Prize by the Roddenberry Foundation.
Asma Shirazi
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Asma Shirazi is a Pakistani journalist and political commentator who hosts a primetime current-affairs show on Aaj News. Shirazi is the first Pakistani journalist to win the prestigious Peter Mackler Award for Courageous and Ethical Journalism on 23 October 2014. The award is given annually to a single journalist who has demonstrated a great commitment to unbiased reporting and to upholding media freedoms.
Safinah Danish Elahi
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Safina Danish Elahi is the author of The Unbridled Romance of Love and Pain and Eye on the Prize. A lawyer by profession, she is also the founder of Reverie Publishers.
Afia Salam
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Afia Salam is a Masters in Geography and a career journalist having 4 decades of experience of print, electronic and web journalism. She is a LEAD, FNF's International Academy of Leadership & Australia Awards Fellow, member of IUCN Commission on Education & Communications and Commission on Economic & Social Policy. She is also a member of the national coordinating body for Marine Protected Areas. She has been highlighting issues related to environment and climate change through her writings, and advocacy through seminars and moderation of panel discussions and round tables. She is also a development practitioner, and current elected President of Baanhn Beli and Chair Board of Trustees Indus Earth Trust. She can be reached on Twitter @afiasalam Hamera Aisha works with WWF-Pakistan as the Manager conservation which includes developing and leading projects and research studies that can support the protection of diminishing biodiversity and their habitats in Pakistan together with addressing key drivers of poverty affecting lives of natural resources dependent communities.
Arslan Athar
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Arslan Athar is a writer based out of Lahore, Pakistan. He was part of the inaugural "South Asia Speaks" cohort and was mentored by author, Fatima Bhutto all through 2021. Arslan has written extensively on fashion, identity, and sustainability. His work has appeared in Dawn, Dawn Images, and Newsweek.
Safia Minney
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Safia Minney, MBE, is an award-winning social entrepreneur & internationally recognised for the company she founded, People Tree, a pioneer of sustainable fashion. She led the business as Global CEO for 20+ years in Japan & Europe. Safia is recognised by the World Economic Forum as an Outstanding Social Entrepreneur and is a leading influencer and international speaker on sustainable business and supply chains, climate action and Fair Trade. Safia is an advisor, executive coach and author of 9 books including; ‘Slave to Fashion’, campaigning to eradicate modern day slavery in the fashion industry and ‘Slow Fashion - Aesthetics meets Ethics’
Khadija Rehman
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Khadija Rehman is the Director of Generation, Pakistan’s pioneering ready-to-wear women’s clothing company engaged in designing, manufacturing and retailing. Under her leadership, Generation has grown into the must-have pret brand today and continues to innovate on many different intersections of fashion and art.
Onaissa Imtisal Abbasi
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Has been an educator for more than two decades, teaching Literature in English in government and private sectors, and an experienced college & career counselor. She is an accomplished professional, passionately engaged with her career which she regards as ‘my calling’, repeatedly training herself in Pakistan and from U.K. to be at the top of her game. Her passions are reading and writing. And her desire to help comes from a deep compassionate place; its an extension of her literary soul.
Onaissa is a passionately curious traveler in the world of literature, theatre, arts and music. She loves reciting poetry and learning new things. She misses her two sons who at college now. She lives for meaningful connections .
Onaissa is also a co-founder-director of her charity trust ECC, and has always felt the pull of communal work; She believes that every little bit counts, every kind word spoken has significance. Starting small, her contribution includes work in orphanages, health services, schools and food facilitation.
Onaissa believes that our responsibility is to pay attention to the community we belong to: No real human progress can occur if communities don’t work together to change themselves.
Tooba Saad
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Tooba is a curious explorer in all fields of life - whether it be travelling, music, literature or food. As a current first year student she is a council member for the Psychology Society - an enriching experience that has taught her to develop a multifaceted approach towards society at large. She has come across an array of students, through which her passion for helping those around her, thoroughly shines through.
As an experienced public speaker, Tooba has won the Outstanding Diplomacy award at the Model United Nations Nationals conference at LUMS just this year. She’s participated in multiple English and Urdu Elocutions alongside winning the Runners Up award at the KGS Interhouse Mock Trial competition. This has impeccably honed her ability in being articulate, bold and confident.
As a 17 year old girl, whose discovering the intricacies of young adulthood, she believes that as a leader - one must always strive to inspire, influence and impact. And through the platform given to her today, she hopes to achieve just that.
Areesha Rahim
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A feminist in progress, Areesha is in her first year of A- levels at the Karachi Grammar School, aspiring to have a career in Journalism. She has written for The Tempest and Buzzfeed, as well as her school paper’s opinion column. She is now the deputy editor of her school publication, which she feels is an important platform in empowering and representing all the voices of the student body. Areesha is currently writing a research paper on the Women’s Movement in Pakistan, as she is committed to understanding the nuanced history of women’s struggles and its consequent impact in shaping their identity in present day Pakistan.
Inshal Shakeel
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An A level student at KGS who is studying History, Literature, Maths and Economics. She is a history enthusiast who takes an interest in analyzing our current situations through the lens of the past. Her passions also include reading, writing, and debating. She has experience in public speaking as she was part of the KGS parliamentary debate team and is appreciative of the analytical skills she gained through it.
Inshal is a travel enthusiast who hopes to one day visit all seven continents and explore what the world has to offer. She is a passionate advocate of mental wellbeing as seen through the EQ initiative she started with the DIL foundation. Inshal’s motto can be summed up to be one of constant self-improvement and inculcating a growth mindset.
Nayma
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Nayma
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Nayma is a literary enthusiast, a passionate descriptivist and a hopeless romantic. She has been a volunteer ethics teacher at various levels for the past five years and is currently pursuing her A-Levels, focusing on Literature in English and English Language. She is particularly interested in pluralism and its role in finding hope for tolerance in an increasingly interconnected world, and how this sort of tolerance is vital for people to grow as individuals. As such, she is interested in creating safe spaces for people to truly be themselves without fear of being ostracized.
WOW Films and Q & A
Sana Jafferi
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Sana Jafri is a performer, director and producer based in Pakistan. She graduated from the National College of Arts with a distinction in 2018. Drawn to non-conformist subjects, her work focuses on confronting and dissecting cultural, political and social binaries. She has worked as a director, casting director, assistant director and producer on various notable projects. Jafri is co-producing her first feature length film with Khoosat Films. She worked on Darling by Saim Sadiq that won the best short film at the 76th Venice Film Festival in 2019. Darling also premiered and won prizes at various other festivals across the globe including TIFF and South by Southwest. She was the assistant and casting director of a critically acclaimed web-series Churails by Asim Abbasi. Jafri is the first emerging producer who got selected by DAP to attend the prestigious Rotterdam Producer's Lab as a participant in January 2022.
Areeba Naveed
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Areeba Naveed is a writer and director based in Lahore. She graduated from National College of Arts with a distinction in 2019. In the course of four years she has written and directed two short films and a music video, while working on more than 6 short films in different capacities. Upon graduation, she made her third short film ‘A Coup’ which was selected at various international film festivals. The following year she co-directed a documentary for BBC on the 1983 WAF protest in Lahore. She has also worked as an assistant director in various short films, music videos and commercials. Currently she’s working on a web series which is in post-production.
Vicky Zhuang Yi-Yin
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Vicky Zhuang Yi-Yin is a storyteller, theatre and film productionist, performer, writer, poet, singer and academic and always in constant wanderlust mode. She graduated from the Lahore School of Economics in 2011 in BBA (Hons) majoring in Finance and Minoring in Mathematics and Statistics. She Co-Founded OLOMOPOLO Media in 2013, and works towards art and performance in Pakistan, with a lot of focus on high quality theatre productions and providing space for expression to young artists. She regularly conducts and designs art and theatre activities for youths and young children to help them gain confidence and learn to express themselves. While at OLO, her current designation is Director of Communications and Media Strategies, she also teaches O Levels IGCSE Drama, and works on her own passion project extravaganza, The Cheeni Chronicles. She has directed, written and designed sound for a myriad of theater performances, and worked on several film projects. She has taken some training from artists like Adrian Lukis (Actor), Jim Robinson (Comedian), Laurent DECOL (Mime), Sania Saeed (Actor), Sarmad Khoosat (Actor and Director), Adania Shibli (Writer) and Mehreen Jabbar (Filmmaker).
Tazeen Bari
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Tazeen Bari is a documentary director, producer and cinematographer based in Pakistan. Her documentary “Letters From Death Row” was acquired by Al Jazeera for Witness in 2019. “Vote for X” that follows the election journey of a transgender candidate in the 2018 general election screened widely at film festivals across the globe. In 2017 her documentary “Qandeel" on social media star Qandeel Baloch was released by Guardian Documentaries UK. It has over a million views and won the Women Voices Now award. In 2016 she was selected to attend a workshop conducted by legendary Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami in Cuba. Tazeen has worked as a producer for two time academy award winning director Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy and also produced an episode for the Emmy Nominated Vice series WOMAN with Gloria Steinem. Tazeen is the co-founder of the Documentary Association of Pakistan and is also currently developing her first fiction feature.
Ms. Ali
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Ms. Ali
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Ms. Ali is a researcher, Author, renowned Human Rights Defender, and Social Scientist, with 10 years professional experience of working on gender equality, livelihoods and economic empowerment. She has a background in human and institutional capacity development; and expertise in social research. She is the Laureate of Franco German Human Rights Prize 2020, APCOM HERO Asia Award, International GALAS Activist Award 2020 for her tremendous contribution in rule of law and human rights. She contributed to the Transgender rights welfare policy in Punjab and founded the first school for the transgender community in Okara. In 2018 she contested in the General Elections from NA142 Okara. She is the National Coordinator of All Pakistan Transgender Election Network in Pakistan and is actively engaged in the political empowerment of her community. As an acid survivor herself she has worked extensively with various communities on GBV sensitization. Recently she was also elected as the co-chair of Ending Violence Against Women &Girls (EVWAG) Alliance Pakistan.
Fatimah Sattar
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Fatimah Sattar is a filmmaker from Pakistan who aspires to create stories that are meaningful and thought provoking set against her local background. She draws her inspiration from the ambiguous nature of morality. She has worked on television series and films such as Zindagi Tamasha and Kamli.
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Lala Ahsan
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Muhammad Ahsan aka Lala has been playing music for the last 13 years. He is an active contributor to the Lahore music scene and now a permanent member of the band, Badnaam. He graduated from NCA in 2013 and has also been producing music and working as a music teacher at Beaconhouse Newlands.
Agha Haider Ali
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Agha Haider Ali is a musician, leading the band, Mousiqa, who also teaches Music to primary level children at Beaconhouse Newlands. He has been a active since 2005 and has performed on various platforms including Pepsi Battle of Bands in 2019 and 2018, and various food festivals across the country. Haider is a prominent member of the OLO TATOLO family, where he is known as Music Chacha, lovingly by the kids, where he has composed songs for children and reviving Urdu music in the storytelling sessions.
Yamina Peerzada
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Yamina Peerzada, is an award winning Actress and Puppeteer. She also voiced and manipulated the female puppet protagonist ‘Rani’ on Sim Sim Hamara - A Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop and Sesame Street Collaboration in 2011.
Mina Malik-Hussain
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Mina Malik-Hussain is a writer and poet based in Lahore. Her work has appeared in Vallum, Architectural Digest, The Aleph Review and Scroll, amongst other literary magazines and journals
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Sania Saeed
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Sania Saeed is a veteran actor from Pakistan, her career spans over more than two decades. She has acted in a number of award winning productions, on both big and small screen and on the stage. Sania has been involved on the production end of a lot of quality entertainment work. She is the president of OLOMOPOLO Media an organization dedicated to performing arts, culture and dialogue. Sania is also a founding member and producer of Katha Theatre, an organization committed to bring theatre to the masses. Sania’s accolades include acting awards by PTV and LUX style awards. Most recently recognized for her portrayal of Safiyah in the film ‘Manto’ by the ARY Jury Award, she is no stranger to being in the spotlight for outstanding work. She has also been a part of the team that was recognized by the Population Communications International (PCI). She has represented Pakistan at the Emmys and Banff Television Festival in Canada. Her educational background of psychology and sociology lends itself well to her understanding of the human condition which she translates beautifully into her hart, engrossing the audiences in the situation of her character.
Mira Sethi
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MIRA SETHI is an actor and a writer. She grew up in Lahore and attended Wellesley College, after which Sethi worked as a books editor at The Wall Street Journal. She has written op-ed pieces for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Guardian. Sethi regularly appears in mainstream Pakistani drama series on television. She lives in Karachi.