Baela Raza Jamil

Baela Raza Jamil is a distinguished educationist, policy advocate, and the CEO of Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA) Centre for Education and Consciousness. She is widely recognized for her pioneering efforts in transforming Pakistan’s education landscape through advocacy, research, and innovative learning initiatives.

As the founder of the Children’s and Teachers’ Literature Festivals in Pakistan, Baela has played a pivotal role in fostering a culture of reading and learning. This initiative has since evolved into the Pakistan Learning Festival, a nationwide social movement dedicated to promoting literacy, creativity, and critical thinking among children and educators.

Her contributions to education have earned her global recognition, including being the sole Pakistani finalist for the prestigious World Education Medals. Under her leadership, ITA and the Sanjan Nagar School have reached over 20 million children and trained hundreds of teachers, significantly improving learning outcomes across the country.

Baela is a passionate advocate for the right to education (Article 25A), early childhood care and education (ECCE), and girls’ empowerment through education. She has spearheaded key initiatives such as the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) Pakistan and the foundational learning program Chalo Parho Barho (CPB)/Teaching at the Right Level (TARL), which focus on improving literacy and numeracy skills among children.

Beyond Pakistan, Baela represents the country on global education platforms, serving as an advisor and board member for various educational and learning innovation programs. Her unwavering dedication continues to shape policies and initiatives that aim to create an inclusive, equitable, and quality education system for all.

Arif Soomro

Arif Soomro is among the renowned writers and researchers of Karachi and Sindh. He completed his matriculation and intermediate studies in Karachi and graduated with a master's degree from Shah Latif University, Khairpur. 

He gained recognition through the publication of research articles about Sufi poets and writers of Sindh in the Mehran Rang section of the Daily Jang. He began contributing research articles to Sindhi Wikipedia and Urdu Wikipedia, with close to a thousand articles published.

Various countries, including the Philippines, Ukraine, and Taiwan, have awarded him shields in recognition of his services to Wikipedia. 

His father, Faqir Muhammad, Uncles Mir Muhammad and Naseer Soomro are also poets and writers. Arif Soomro initially participated in general knowledge quizzes, winning awards, and he currently serves as the General Secretary of the Pakistan Quiz Society International, along with being associated with other literary organizations.

Badiuddin Akber

Mr. Badiuddin Akber has more than 20 years of diversified senior management experience in the fields of finance and operations. He has served in various renowned conglomerates in Pakistan as Head of Finance and Company Secretary. He has also served as the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer at the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.

Mr. Akber was previously serving as the Chief Compliance and Risk Officer at CDC since June 2015 before being elevated to the position of Chief Executive Officer on January 01, 2019. He was also the nominated Chairman of the Oversight Committee formed by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan under Joint Inspection Regulations, 2015.

Mr. Akber has demonstrated extensive expertise in the spheres of Financial Management, Clearing & Settlement, Risk Management, Operations, Product Development and Project Management in the Pakistan Capital Market. As Chief Operating Officer at NCCPL, he played an instrumental role in the implementation of various significant products, services and reform measures which include Revamping of Capital Gain Tax Regime, Unique Identification Number (UIN), Institutions’ Risk Management System, Straight Through Processing of Market Settlements and UIN Information System (UIS) and the introduction of Leverage Products such as Margin Trading, Margin Financing and Securities Lending & Borrowing.

After completing his Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce from the University of Karachi, Mr. Akber attained various professional degrees in accounts and finance from prestigious national and international institutions. In addition to being a Fellow Member of the Institute of Cost & Management Accountants of Pakistan (FCMA), he also holds ACMA-CGMA (Chartered Global Management Accountants) qualification from the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA – UK) and qualification of Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CMA – Ontario, Canada).

He is also serving as Chairman of the Board of Directors of CDC Share Registrar Services Limited. Moreover, he is also serving as a Director on the Board of ITMinds Limited.

He has attended the Annual International Institute for Securities Market Growth and Development by the US Securities & Exchange Commission and various seminars and conferences in UK, India, Europe and Far-East countries on risk management, clearing & settlement and surveillance of capital market operations.

Ajeet Kumar

Mr. Ajeet Kumar is a thorough capital market professional with 14 years of experience and has been a core member of Regulatory Affairs Division (RAD) since demutualization of the stock exchange. Mr. Ajeet is the head of RAD and also acts as Secretary to the Regulatory Affairs Committee of the Board of Directors, Chairman of Oversight Committee constituted by SECP under the Joint Inspection Regulations, 2015 and member of Risk Committee of NCCPL. Prior to joining PSX, he was associated with SECP for over 4 years in Securities Market Division.

He is well versed with the local capital market dynamics and global practices governing securities market and is considered as dedicated professional who is analytical, detail and target oriented with strong abilities to manage large teams to fulfil diverse responsibilities in a fair and transparent manner. He has expertise in advisory, policy making, research, compliance and enforcement and has been instrumental in formulating effective regulations and strategies for the development of capital market of Pakistan. During his tenure as CRO, Mr. Kumar has transformed to risk based supervision and enforcement regime with emphasis to enhance compliance culture for ensuring investor confidence and trust.

He has played key role in various PSX projects where major ones on his credit include deployment of a robust surveillance system as part of new trading system, digital onboarding of customers, migration to e-filings of reports by regulated entities, integration and self-listing of PSX; framing of regulations for Market Makers, Index Options, ETF, SLB, GEM Listing, Index/ Market Halts, Privately Placed Debt Instruments, risk management regime etc. Mr. Ajeet was actively involved in establishment of first-ever on-site joint inspection regime for brokers, introduction of first-ever Rulebook of PSX and its re-introduction pursuant to promulgation of Securities Act, 2015 and Futures Market Act, 2016 and implementation of clients’ assets segregation reporting framework as a landmark breakthrough.

Mr. Kumar is an MBA in Finance from IBA Karachi and has cleared Level II of CFA program. Besides, he has also been awarded relevant certifications from the Institute of Financial Markets of Pakistan.

Dr Fawad Farooq

Professor Fawad Farooq is an exceptional Cardiologist working at the National Institute of Cardiovascular Disease since 2009. He has earned a Fellowship from the College of Physicians and Surgeons (FCPS) in Cardiology. He has specialized in the field of Interventional Cardiology. He has also specialized in the field of Interventional Cardiology. He actively participates as a speaker and moderator in national scientific meetings and has facilitated multiple Continuing Medical Education (CME) workshops. He is presently the coordinator of the Pakistan Cardiac Society Karachi Chapter as well.

Ayaz Dawood

Mr. Ayaz Dawood is serving BRR Investments (Private) Limited (Managers of BRR Guardian Modaraba and Crescent Standard Modaraba) as its Chief Executive. He has the distinction of being the Founder of Burj Bank (Dawood Islamic Bank), Dawood Family Takaful, Dawood Equities Limited, First Dawood Investment Bank, Dawood Capital Management, managers of First Dawood Mutual Fund, Dawood Money Market Fund and Dawood Islamic Fund. Mr. Dawood has also served Modaraba Association of Pakistan s its Chairman. He is a director of Japan Power Company Limited Chairman of its Human Resource Committee and a director of Systems Limited and Chairman of its audit committee. A member of the Young Presidents Organization, Mr. Dawood is a graduate of Economics from McGill University, Montreal, and completed his MBA in Finance and Money Market and Financial Markets with distinction from Columbia Business School, New York.

Ayesha Khan

Ayesha Khan is Director at the Collective for Social Science Research in Karachi. She researches gender and development, social policy and conflict/refugee issues in the region. She is author of The Women’s Movement in Pakistan: Activism, Islam and Democracy (2018).  

She has served on the governing bodies of leading NGOs and advocacy-related task forces to influence government policy. Currently,the  she is Visiting Faculty at the Department of Social Sciences and Liberal Arts at IBA.

Ayesha has previously served 2 terms on the Aahung Board.