Successfully Impacting Policy Change
This panel aims to integrate stakeholders in the varying yet related fields of healthcare, rights advocacy and policy-making, with a view to social reform. Leading off from the Keynote Address by Ms. Sania Nishtar, the ensuing panel looks towards bringing together highly acclaimed and well-grounded professionals to discuss and debate their experience in bringing about policy change, specifically in the context of healthcare and human rights. Some of the key questions we look to answer include: What are the social and institutional constraints on health care workers and human right advocacy groups? What creates such barriers? What policy measures can be adopted in order to reach the ideal levels of social reform our panelists strive for?
Tarim Wasim
Managing Director at Hellman & Friedman Tarim Wasim is a Managing Director at Hellman & Friedman, a leading private equity firm with offices in San Francisco, New York and London. He is the co-founder of the Association for the Development of Pakistan (ADP), a volunteer-driven engaged philanthropy organization that has funded over 50 non-profits in Pakistan to build schools, clinics, biogas plants, water and sanitation facilities. Tarim previously worked at Bain Capital and began his career as a consultant at Bain & Company. He graduated summa cum laude from Dartmouth College and earned an MBA from the Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar. Tarim lives in San Francisco with his wife and three children. |
Ahsan Jamil CEO, Aman Foundation In August 2008 Ahsan Jamil joined Arif and Fayeeza Naqvi on an inspirational journey of adventure, exploration and hope called the Aman Foundation. As Chief Executive Officer and one of the Founding Trustees, Ahsan met with numerous challenges while setting up Aman. The organization meant for the uplift of the underserved is not a charity; it is a NFP business that aims to achieve impact through the relentless pursuit of sustainable, scalable and systemic development in areas of health, education and capacity building, thus providing the underserved with choice. Ahsan helped navigate early stage risk for the Foundation and its different health and education startup businesses. A conscious approach that put service quality and reliability as a design priority, thanks to the trustees commitment to international standards, meant that quality is well and truly in the organization's DNA. By nurturing a culture of transparency and trust at Aman, critical for any learning organization, high performance teams were fostered which accounted for the Foundations quick rise to prominence through its flagship emergency ambulance service and vocational training institute. Ahsan helped incubate a number of innovative initiatives at Aman. Some of them hand-picked from world class programs such as Teach For Pakistan, a 'Teaching as Leadership' initiative and INJAZ Pakistan, a junior achievement program and Basic Needs Pakistan, a psycho-social development program to name a few. Given Aman’s track record for effective execution and strategic management, partners like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the British Asian Trust, Real Madrid Foundation, Harvard University's South Asia Institute, City & Guilds of UK and GIZ of Germany to name a few soon joined hands to invest and work alongside Aman to help bring global expertise to solve local problems. Ahsan has a degree in Mathematics and Economics from Reed College, USA. Before joining Aman he worked at E. F. Hutton on Wall Street, Chase Manhattan Bank in Karachi before spending four years in brand management and sales at Unilever, Pakistan. Then in1991, Ahsan went down the entrepreneurial track and co-founded Ecopack Limited, a PET bottle manufacturing business that became a market leader and the primary supplier to both Pepsi and Coca-Cola in Pakistan. During his 17 years at Ecopack, phenomenal growth in the business was achieved and he successfully helped take the company public. He chairs the boards of Karachi Organic Energy Limited, Amanhealth, Amantech and Teach for Pakistan and is on the Advisory board of Acumen Pakistan. He lives in Karachi and is married with two teenagers! |
Samar Minallah Khan
Documentary Filmmaker and Anthropologist Samar Minallah has been referred to by the media as ‘The Savior of Soul’ ,' Women who Rock the world' ,‘The Crusader with the Camera’, ‘Women that changed Pakistan’ (Newsweek, 2010) and the ‘Mover and Shaker’.(The News,2009). Hailing from Khyber Pukhtunkhwa, Samar’s work focuses around women, girls and children from Pakistan and Afghanistan. As an anthropologist and a documentary filmmaker, Samar has been a pioneer in using film and traditional culture as a tool for change and development in Pakistan. Having graduated from the University of Cambridge with an MPhil in Anthropology and Development, she uses innovative forms of media such as truck art and folk music to reach out to her audiences. One of her documentaries ‘Swara—A Bridge over Troubled Waters’ has won several national and international awards for breaking the silence around a practice that violates rights of girl child and women. It helped in legislation against a culturally sanctioned form of violence against minor girls. The documentary is currently being used for advocacy in the tribal areas to generate a dialogue with the tribal leaders. Her work challenges the stereotypical portrayal of rural women. She has been highlighting the unrecognized cultural, social and economic input of women through film. She has won several national and international awards including Roberto Rosellini Award, Maori Film Festival, Canon Premio Internationale, Vital Voices Global Leadership Award, Pakistan Women’s Day Award,The Asia Foundation’s Chang Lin Tein Fellowship, Perdita Huston Award etc. www.samarminallahkhan.com |
Adil Najam
Dean, The Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University Prof. Adil Najam served as Vice Chancellor (equivalent of president) of Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) in Lahore Pakistan from August 2011 through June 2013. He served as the Director of the Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future at Boston University from November 2007 through August 2011, and he remains a Professor of International Relations and of Earth & Environment. In 2014, he was appointed Dean of the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University. Prof. Najam was a co-author for the Third and Fourth Assessments of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC); work for which the scientific panel was awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for advancing the public understanding of climate change science. In 2008 he was invited by the United Nations Secretary General to serve on the UN Committee on Development (CDP). In 2010 he was awarded the Sitara-i-Imtiaz (Star of Excellence), one of Pakistan’s highest civil awards by the President of Pakistan. He also serves on the Advisory Board for the 2011 Human Development Report of the UNDP. Prof. Najam has taught at Boston University, MIT, University of Massachusetts and at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University. His research focuses on issues of global public policy, especially those related to South Asia, Muslim countries, environment and development, and human well-being. Prof. Najam has written nearly 100 scholarly papers and book chapters. He is a past winner of MIT’s Goodwin Medal for Effective Teaching, the Fletcher School Paddock Teaching Award, and the Stein Rokan Award of the International Political Science Association, the ARNOVA Emerging Scholar Award, and the Pakistan Television Medal for Outstanding Achievement. Prof. Najam also serves on the editorial boards of various scholarly publications, including Global Governance, Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, The Journal of Ecological Economics, Annual Editions: Environment, and The Encyclopedia of Earth. Prof. Najam is frequently interviewed by and writes for the popular media and is the founding editor of the blog Pakistaniat.com (voted the Best Current Affairs Blog in Pakistan (2010) and also won the 2010 Brass Crescent Award for Best Muslim Blog from South Asia). Adil Najam is an expert in international diplomacy and development. His research interests include sustainable development, Muslim and South Asian politics, environmental politics in developing countries, and philanthropy among immigrant communities in the United States. Much of his work has focused on longer-term global policy problems, especially those related to human well-being and sustainable development. He contributed to Pakistan’s first environmental policy document, as well as to that country’s report to the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, has worked closely with governments and civil society in both industrialized and developing countries, and regularly collaborates with the United Nations. He is a Senior Fellow at the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), a Visiting Fellow at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), and serves on the Boards of the Pakistan Institute for Environment-Development Action Research (PIEDAR) and the Centre for Global Studies at the University of Victoria, Canada. |
Ahmer Bilal Soofi
Advocate for the Supreme Court of Pakistan Ahmer Bilal Soofi served as Federal Minister for Law and Justice in the caretaker government in 2013, and is the founding member of the Research Society of International Law and the Senior Partner of the well-reputed law firm ABS&Co. In 2011 he was elected as a member of the Advisory Committee to the UN Human Rights Council, and the Vice-President of its Asia-Pacific group. He has represented Pakistan as an expert in international law matters before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) and International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). |
Asher Hasan
Founder & CEO of Naya Jeevan Dr. Asher Hasan is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of NAYA JEEVAN (‘new life’ in Urdu/Hindi; http://www.njfk.org) a hybrid social enterprise dedicated to providing low-income families in the emerging world with affordable access to high quality, healthcare. NAYA JEEVAN’s operations are currently focused on Pakistan with plans to replicate this model in India, Philippines, Mexico and other emerging markets. Asher was most recently selected to join the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council for Social Innovation for 2012-2014. He is a 2011 World Economic Forum/Schwab Foundation Asian Social Entrepreneur of the Year, a 2013 Synergos Senior Fellow, a 2009 TED fellow, a 2011 Ashoka US fellow, a 2011 Ariane de Rothschild fellow and an invited member of the Clinton Global Initiative for 2009, 2010 and 2014. He has also been selected as an Asia 21 young leader in 2010. In addition, NAYA JEEVAN is a recipient of a 1st prize in the 2008 New York University Stern Business Plan Competition - social entrepreneurship track. Most recently, NAYA JEEVAN received the Rockefeller Foundation Centennial Innovation Award and the Asia Society Public Service Award for 2013. Prior to launching NAYA JEEVAN, Asher served in the capacity of Senior Director and Head of the US Medical Affairs Obesity team for Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a biotech company in San Diego, CA. He spent six years at Sanofi as a Medical Director in their US headquarters. During his tenure in New York City, Asher also completed an MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business. Asher attended Oberlin College where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience and biology with an additional concentration in international relations. This was followed by clinical research at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital followed by training in general surgery at Beth Israel Medical Center. Asher can often be seen hurtling down alpine ski slopes, is a voracious reader and loves to cruise the Caribbean. Istanbul, Bali and Rio de Janeiro are his favorite destinations for spiritual rejuvenation. |