Region: South and Central Asia
Shamil Ibragimov
Shamil Ibragimov is a highly experienced professional with over 17 years of expertise in the fields of social development, local governance, and media development. He previously served as the Executive Director of Soros Foundation Kyrgyzstan, an affiliated part of the Open Society Foundation, where he established himself as a prominent figure in civil society development, anti-corruption initiatives, community mobilization, and social accountability. In addition to his professional work, he is a co-founder of Ilim Educational Complex, the oldest private school in Kyrgyzstan, where he holds position of Director for International Programs and Development and founder of Ilim College, an innovative professional education institution that prepares students for the challenges of the…
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Hussain Nadim
Hussain Nadim is a renowned policy expert, innovator, and a published author. He pioneered the use of data analytics and digital technologies to transform the policy sector and assist policy leaders in Pakistan with evidence-based decisions that serve public good. Hussain has held key policy positions, including serving as Executive Director of the Islamabad Policy Research Institute at the Prime Minister's Office of Pakistan and as Special Assistant to the Federal Minister for Planning & Development & Reforms. He was also a member of the Prime Minister's Special Committee on Digital Media and Forensics and Chief Minister’s Committee on Web 3.0. Additionally, Hussain has served as a Senior Policy Expert…
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Azizullah "Aziz" Royesh
Azizullah "Aziz" Royesh is a leading advocate for equal access to primary and secondary education and Founder of Marefat High School for Afghan refugees in Pakistan. With a focus on critical thinking and human rights, the school flourished and eventually moved to Afghanistan in 2002, where it now teaches more than 3500 Afghan students, about half of whom are girls. Marefat High School has become a highly respected and well-known model for a new approach to community-building in Afghanistan. Aziz has written textbooks on humanism, human rights, democracy, social studies, and Quranic interpretation and is a frequent speaker on the concept of a tolerant community. Aziz and his colleagues established…
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Raheel Khursheed
Raheel Khursheed has 15+ years of experience helping global tech firms grow exponentially. In very short periods of time, he has helped launch some of the world’s most popular tech firms in some of the world’s toughest markets. Currently splitting time between Toronto, Boston, and Kashmir, Raheel is the co-founder of Laminar, a 21st Century Streaming/Video infrastructure OS/platform. Prior to Laminar, Raheel successfully co-founded Anthro.ai, an AI X Anthropology startup that specializes in supercharged insights at scale. Anthro.ai continues to deliver high quality research projects to a select set of global clients. Before taking the entrepreneurial route, Raheel led Snapchat in India as their sole expert guiding the integration of…
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Bakhodir Ganiev
Bakhodir Ganiev is a consultant to the Asian Development Bank where he consults on issues of education, finance, and small business development. A native of Uzbekistan, he also works to advance its economic growth, social transformation, and political modernization, and supports active participation of youth in development processes. He previously chaired the Central Council of the Civic Movement of Youth of Uzbekistan "Kamolot", the largest NGO in the country, which has over 4 million members. He is also a member of boards of numerous organizations and many minister-level state commissions, including commissions on prevention of human trafficking, AIDS, and juvenile crime. A member of the Liberal Democratic Party, he was elected to…
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Imtiaz Ali
Imtiaz Ali is a Non-Resident Fellow with the Center for Global Policy – a Washington D.C.-based non-partisan think tank working exclusively on issues at the intersection of U.S. foreign policy and Muslim geopolitics. He is currently based in Washington D.C. and working as a public policy analyst and consultant focusing on political, security, development, and media-related issues related to Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the wider South Asia region. Imtiaz was born in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, where he worked for several years as a journalist for local and foreign media organizations such as the Washington Post, London’s Daily Telegraph, BBC, and prominent Pakistani newspapers The News and Dawn. He…
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Manasi Subramaniam
Manasi Subramaniam is Editor-in-Chief at Penguin Random House India, where she heads the literary division's flagship imprints: Allen Lane, Viking, Hamish Hamilton, Penguin Paperbacks, Penguin Classics. She has published some of the most exciting new voices across South Asia, including two winners of the Booker Prize, one winner of the Pulitzer Prize, and several winners and finalists of international awards including the National Book Awards, Folio, JCB, Andrew Carnegie Medal, Women’s Prize, Desmond Elliott, among others. Manasi has been recognized for her contributions to global publishing and has been invited to the Frankfurt Buchmesse fellowship, the Bureau International de l'Édition Française fellowship, the Australia Council for the Arts Visiting International Publishers…
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Nikita Lalwani
Nikita Lalwani is a law clerk on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York. She previously served as a law clerk on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. At Yale Law School, from which she graduated in 2020, she was the Yale Law Journal's Executive Editor for Articles & Essays and helped advocate for a fairer census as a team leader in the Peter Gruber Rule of Law Clinic. She was also the co-president of the Yale Law National Security Group, co-director of the Yale chapter of the International Refugee Assistance Project, and a Kerry Fellow at the Jackson…
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Raheela Khan
Raheela Khan is Director of Business Development and Strategy at R2 Business Advisory Consultants, a multidisciplinary consultancy. She facilitates value chains and the strategic implementation of DEI frameworks between Canada, Pakistan, and the Middle East, promoting effective, responsible funding for financial inclusion to bring about profitable social change. Currently based in Vancouver, Raheela has initiated and led community awareness programs on the importance of cultural confidence, integration, diversity and avoidance of self-exclusion. Her current initiatives are borne of her experiences of being a mother of two, which she uses to offer support to new mothers with postpartum depression as well as new immigrants and refugees. Canada's open border policies, offering…
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Nandita Das
Nandita Das is a filmmaker, actor, and social advocate. She has acted in more than 40 feature films in 10 different languages. Her directorial debut feature film, Firaaq, premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in 2008 and has travelled to over 50 festivals and won more than 20 awards. Nandita was a member of the main jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 2005 and 2013 and the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in 2007 amongst others. She also wrote, directed and acted in the play, Between the Lines, in 2012, that dealt with the subtle gender inequalities that exist amongst the affluent, educated, and urban couples. Nandita's second directorial…
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