Anita Ghulam Ali has been the Chief Executive of the Sindh Education Foundation (SEF) since the 4th of October, 1992. This set up undertakes various educational initiatives and consultancies both for local and international organizations. Professor Ali has contributed innumerable exposes on education, development and civil society to many leading national English and Urdu daily newspapers; and several research and analytical assignments. Professor Ali was appointed as Minister for Education, Culture, Science, Technology, Youth and Sports twice. She was later also appointed as the Advisor on Education to the Governor. Prof. Ali is a recipient of the Sitara-e-Imtiaz award for her lifetime contribution to educational and community development issues of the country.

Internationally Awarded CLF Ambassador Zubeida Mustafa - written many articles for CLF and participated in many Plenaries and Sessions -illustrative of her committment to Children and Learning In Los Angeles and in New York, Zubeida Mustafa was honored by the International Women's Media Foundation and the U.S. media elite with the Courage in Journalism Lifetime Achievement Award.

Adeel Hashmi is one of the most popular and well known young director, Actor and model in the world of media in Pakistan. He is a popular personality in pakistani youth. Adeel Hashmi has been writing, acting, anchoring and directing for and on Television for the past 10 years. His dramas are not only trend setters in every way but are hugely popular both with Pakistani audiences and abroad. Adeel Hashmi is one of the most popular and well known young directors in the world of media in Pakistan.

Adeel's sense of humor, his inclination towards literature & reading and family background, all insisted him to be a part of Children's Literature Festival.

Rumana Husain cofounded the Bookgroup in 1988, focusing on children’s Urdu language books. She has written and illustrated over 50 children’s books and numerous teacher’s manuals for the Bookgroup, for the Oxford University Press, the Education Research and Development Centre (ERDC) and for Peak Publications (Danesh Publications). She has conducted a number of teacher-training workshops in Pakistan. In October 2010 she was invited to attend a children’s book festival in South Korea as an illustrator for a Peace Story book, an anthology with 22 stories from around the world. Currently she is working on a book on street professions. She also contributes articles to daily Dawn and The News, and to Libas magazine.

Kishwar Naheed, Sitara-e-Imtiaz is an Urdu poet from Pakistan known for her pioneering feminist poetry. Kishwar Naheed held administrative roles in various national institutions. She was Director General of Pakistan National Council of the Arts before her retirement. She also edited a prestigious literary magazine Mahe naw and founded an organisation Hawwa (Eve) whose goal is to help women without an independent income become financially independent through cottage industries and selling handicrafts. Kishwar has published six collections of poems between 1969 and 1990. She also writes for children and for the daily Jang, a national newspaper. Her poetry has been translated into English and Spanish and her famous poem We Sinful Women gave its title to a ground breaking anthology of contemporary Urdu feminist poetry translated and edited by Rukhsana Ahmad published in London by The Women's Press in 1991. She was awarded for Adamjee Prize of Literature on Lab-e-goya (1969), UNESCO Prize for Children's Literature on Dais Dais Ki Kahanian, Best Translation award of Columbia University, Mandela Prize (1997) and Sitara-e-Imtiaz (2000).

The Alif Laila Book Bus library is exclusively for children up to 8 years and below. The bus has two decks; the upper deck is for story telling where a female teacher narrates stories to children while the lower deck is stacked with books.
Its basic objective is to promote reading culture in Pakistan and evolve solutions to Pakistan's educational problems within the given socio-economic constraints, find strategically effective paths to universal literacy and educational modernization, which would show the quickest results and the most favorable cost-benefit ratios.

Basarat Kazim is director of Alif Laila Book Bus Society. She is also the author of several storybooks for children. For decades she has been providing meaningful education in Pakistan to children, especially girls, from disadvantaged backgrounds. She is responsible for the growth of the Alif Laila (1001 Nights) Book Bus Society that began as a children's library and has grown into an entire educational ethos. Active in a range of pursuits – from art exhibitions in major cities and learning centers in the North West Frontier Province to children's protest marches when a children’s library is threatened with closure – Basarat has introduced the concept of project-based learning in government schools, developed and produced an Urdu literacy kit and initiated child-to-child teaching programs. She is a National Book Foundation award winner and a presenter of seminars and papers. Basarat represents Pakistan at the IBBY Congress, and at NAMBOOK. She resides in Lahore and continues to share her love of books with her grandchildren – and all the children of Pakistan.

Fauzia Minallah is a prominent and a well known artist, author, photographer, environmentalist activist and a political cartoonist based in Islamabad. She is also the founder of Funkor Childart Center.
She has been painting since the age of 12 when she was a student of SS Haider (eminent artist from Peshawar). She thinks of her art as windows to the soul that reflects her inner emotions.
Fauzia Minallah's passion for art and books is an outcome of her activism for heritage, conservation, environmental and social matters. Through children literature she raises issues of peace, tolerance and justice. Her involvement with children is through a platform that she has provided to them in the shape of Funkor Child Art Centre, carrying out art and book reading workshops for children living in shanty towns, for special children; refugee and Internally Displaced children (IDPs) and so on. Funkor distributes picture books and notebooks with messages on Hygiene, Sanitation and environment protection, free of charge among children. Funkor was short listed for the Bremen Peace award in Germany in 2009, as one of the nominated projects and organizations, which are exemplary in their work for peace, justice and integrity of creation. For democratizing art education and making it accessible to kids from low-income families, so that they too can playfully discover their own creativity

Samar Minallah is a Pakistani documentary filmmaker and a human rights activist. For the past 20 years, Minallah has been advocating for the rights of rural women in Pakistan, first as a freelance journalist and then as an activist documentary filmmaker. She is recipient of the Perdita Huston 2007 Award for her effective media campaign against Swaara and Vaani tribal customs in parts of the North-West Frontier Province and Punjab. She has also won Roberto Rosellin Award in 2009 for highlighting women's rights issues through films. The founder of Ethnomedia, Minallah has been described by the media as the 'Crusader with the Camera,’ an activist fearlessly breaking the silence against various forms of human rights violations in Pakistan through the use of various forms of media. She believes in the power of film to generate dialogue and understanding on issues that are otherwise invisible and unheard. By doing so, she has managed to give a new meaning to advocacy and documentary filmmaking in Pakistan.

Its real life heroes like Master Ayub Khan who make you believe this country has a bright future ahead. For the last 25 years, this selfless school teacher has been teaching underprivileged in a park in Islamabad. Every evening more than 150 children gather to get education at this make-shift school. Does Ayub get paid for his services? Not at all, he does it for the sheer happiness and joy one gets for giving back to the community.

Fahd Husain, Ambassador for CLF, is a senior journalist and television anchor. He has assisted ITA on various platforms, most importantly, ensuring right to education for every child between 5-16 years. As our ambassador he has conducted journalist trainings across the country about writing and reporting on Child Education across Pakistan.
Fahd has more than two decades of experience in print and television. Among other assignments, he has served as an Editor and head of the News Divisions for national TV channels like Express News, Dunya TV and Waqt News. He is currently the CEO for a private channel by the name of Capital TV. He hosts a primetime talk show on Capital TV and is a regular columnist for various newspapers.
Fahd has a Masters degree in TV Journalism from Columbia University in New York. He was the first Pakistani to win the prestigious Pulitzer Fellowship for graduating as the top student from the Columbia Journalism School.

Swaleha Alam Shahzada has been involved with The Citizens Archive of Pakistan (CAP) since May 2008. She launched CAP’s flagship program The Oral History Project in June 2008. Currently she holds the position of the General Secretary on the Governing Board while in June 2012, she was appointed the Executive Director.

Swaleha has had extensive experience in the field of Finance and Education. She graduated from Greenwich University, Karachi, and worked as a banker and foreign currency trader before realizing her calling was the education sector. She taught Accounting, Economics and Business Management courses to CIE Ordinary and Advanced Level Students for 17 years and held the position of Head of Business Studies Department. Before heading CAP, she worked as the Academic Head at a private school in Karachi.

Zubaida Jalal Khan pursued her early education in Quetta, and then completed her Masters degree in English Literature from the University of Balochistan. After completing her education, she became an active social worker, and participated in a number of ‘family planning’ programmes, creating awareness among illiterate people. In 1982, she established a Girls Primary School in her native town of Mand, in the Kech District of Balochistan. Based on her work, she was appointed ‘Federal Minister for Education’ by President General Pervez Musharraf. Her work has been highly commended, and she has won a number of awards over the years which include the ‘Pride of Performance’ presidential award for education in 1993, and a gold medal from Balochistan National Foundation for Education in 1998.

Internationally acclaimed author Bapsi Sidhwa was raised in Lahore, Pakistan. She now lives in Houston, Texas. She graduated from Kinnaird College for Women, Lahore. Her 5 novels: Cracking India, The Pakistani Bride, The Crow Eaters, An American Brat, and Water, have been translated and published in several languages. Her anthology City of Sin and Splendour: Writings on Lahore was published in 2006.
Among her many honors Sidhwa received the Bunting Fellowship at Radcliffe/Harvard, the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Writer's Award, the Sitara-i-Imtiaz, Pakistan's highest national honor in the arts, and the LiBeraturepreis in Germany and the 2007 Primo Mondello Award in Italy. Read more about her awards.
Sidhwa, who was on the advisory committee to Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto on Women's Development has taught at Columbia U, University of Houston, Mount Holyoke College, Southampton University and Brandeis.
Cracking India (a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and a Quality Paperback Book Club selection), was made into the film Earth by Canadian director Deepa Mehta. Her novel Water is based on Mehta’s film of the same name.
Sidhwa’s play, An American Brat, was produced by Stages Repertory Theater in Houston March 2007. It played to full houses and received critical acclaim. Her play, Sock ’em With Honey, played in London in 2003.

Munir Ahmed Badini is a Balochi language novelist and a renowned Balochi writer in Urdu and English. A master's degree holder in philosophy from the University of Punjab, he is the first CSS degree holder in the Nushki district and the second Baloch to become a CSS officer. He has served as the deputy commissioner, commissioner, director and secretary at different posts in the government. He is the author of many Balochi books and was awarded a literary award by the Pakistan Academy of Letters for his first novel, ‘Rekan-e-taha-halke’, which means ‘village in a desert’. He was awarded a pride of performance civilian award by the President of Pakistan for his contribution towards literature. His recent three-volume Balochi novel, ‘Shale-gulen-bazar’ is in fact the largest and most complete Balochi novel to date. He is currently working on other novels as well.

M. Akram Dost Baloch is one of the founding members of the Department of Fine Arts at the University of Balochistan. He is also the director of ‘Mehrgarh Studio’, and is a member of the Board of Governors, National College of Arts, in Lahore. He developed a keen interest in the history, arts and crafts of his regional homeland, and much of that was incorporated in his work. His bold and reflective paintings are emblematic of Pakistan’s prevalent socio-economic conditions, and frequently have mask like faces and figures. Mr. Baloch has had over 20 solo exhibitions all over Pakistan. His numerous group exhibitions, however, have given him international exposure as well. In 2004, Akram Baloch received the President’s Pride of Performance, the highest art award in Pakistan.

Sania Saeed is a Pakistani actress who is renowned nationally as well as internationally. She has done numerous memorable roles on television. She has been working for Pakistani theater since the age of 10 with her parents. She is just not an actor but also works for women and children.

I am honored to join CLF as a CLF Goodwill Ambassador,” said Ahsan Khan. “My passion for accessible, effective and universal education is known well and I am glad to have found a platform to support a cause, which has always been very important to me. I have been aware of the tremendous work done by CLF for quite some time and am glad to have been appointed as a CLF Goodwill Ambassador. Pakistani people face a very large number of problems today and education is one, if not the only, solution, which can make the problems go away. I plan to work tirelessly as a CLF Goodwill Ambassador and do my part in helping spread modern education throughout Pakistan.

All hope for a successful, prosperous and thriving Pakistan lies in the future of the country’s children,” commented Ali Hamza. “CLF is playing an extremely important role in building a solid foundation for that future. I admire the inclusive, egalitarian and equalizing philosophies used by the organization to promote education in Pakistan. In addition to happiness and honor, I feel immense gratitude on becoming a CLF Goodwill Ambassador because the position will allow me to contribute my two bits towards fulfilling a crucial social responsibility.

CLF is the epitome of my conviction that positive change occurs only when a person believes in one’s own self,” said Ali Noor. “The system of education advocated by CLF fosters CLF Goodwill Ambassador a sense of self-confidence, independence and individuality in students. The inspiring environment of CLF creates a thrilling experience not only for participating children but also for adults. The organization creates non-traditional means of learning, using art, dance, literature, multimedia platforms, poetry, puppetry, storytelling, and theater, in which children become active participants in the process of education. As a CLF Goodwill Ambassador, I plan to work on creating enjoyable, inspiring and liberating learning experiences for children.

I am honored to become a member of the CLF family and look forward to working as a CLF Goodwill Ambassador in the future,” commented Ally Adnan. “Pakistan is beset with a huge number of problems and, in my opinion, education is the one solution to all of the problems. A well-educated, well-informed and well-read populace will never tolerate corruption, ineptitude, incompetence, and dishonesty in any organization, public or private, and force all Pakistanis to do their best for the country. I believe in the power of education and want it to be affordable, accessible and effective for all Pakistanis. I have enjoyed working with CLF in the past and am glad to be a part of an organization that supports a cause, which is very near and dear to my heart. As a CLF Goodwill Ambassador, I plan to do any and everything in my power to help spread modern education all over Pakistan.

I am honored to have become a member of the CLF family,” said Faysal Qureshi. “I have always been passionate about education and am very happy to have found the right platform to support the cause of education. The lack of a proper, solid education system has always been a core issue of my country. I have known of the tremendous work done by CLF for quite some time and am glad to have been appointed as a CLF Goodwill Ambassador. Education is an essential investment for the future of our country and a necessity for our human, cultural and economic development. Sadly, it has never received due focus in Pakistan. I, therefore, plan to work diligently as a CLF Goodwill Ambassador and do my part in helping spread modern education and internationally recognized techniques of learning and instruction throughout Pakistan.

The benefits of good education are innumerable but, in my opinion, the greatest one is the assurance of dignity, self-respect and independence that it affords to sincere students,” observed Hasan Khan. “I have followed the CLF’s excellent work for several years, with both admiration and awe, and am glad to have been appointed as a CLF Goodwill Ambassador by the venerable organization. I am a big believer in education and spent three (3) full years at NAPA studying acting before making it my career. As a CLF Goodwill Ambassador, I will be traveling all over the country to promote the benefits of modern education. This is my chance to do meaningful work for the advancement of my country and I plan to do all that I can to be an effective campaigner of education.

The fundamental goal of education is to give people a real opportunity to build happy, successful and respectable lives for themselves,” said Juggan Kazim. “CLF works towards achieving this goal by making students aware of their civil, cultural, economic, freedom, human, political, and social rights. Pakistan will become a successful nation only when everyone believes in these fundamental rights and works sincerely towards ensuring them for all citizens. As a CLF Goodwill Ambassador, I shall use my anchoring, acting and storytelling skills to make learning a more enjoyable, participatory and interesting process, to do all that I can to put a spotlight on the tremendous work done by CLF, and to encourage help and support for this movement.

There is a lot that is good about CLF but what I like the most is its equal and equitable treatment of all participants, irrespective of age, caste, color, creed, financial status, religion, and social standing,” stated Khaled Anam. “It is this fair treatment that demonstrates the core benefit of education: equal, just and similar opportunities for everyone. I received the President’s Pride of Performance Award in 2018 for my contributions towards the arts and for using the media to promote child education. The cause has always been very important to me. I have been a supporter of CLF for a long time and, as a CLF Goodwill Ambassador, will now champion its goals of spreading accessible modern education nationwide, with renewed vigor and energy

Planting literature in the lives of children is like planting trees,” claimed Nadia Jamil. “The love for literature will always give them the shade of a story, the oxygen of creativity, the fruit of knowledge, and the companionship of a friend. CLF is a forest inhabited by the best of children’s literature. It caters to all Pakistani children, without any discrimination, and is truly inspiring, exciting and progressive. More importantly, it is a lot of fun. I am deeply honored and proud to be a CLF Goodwill Ambassador.

CLF has modern and decidedly revolutionary ideas about education, instruction and learning,” remarked Omair Rana. “The organization believes that mere classroom learning is incomplete and ineffective; it needs to be augmented by exposure to the arts, a wide spectrum of sensory experiences, and exercises that challenge, inspire and stimulate the mind. I was an educator long before I was an actor and wholeheartedly subscribe to CLF’s ideas on education. It, therefore, gives me great pleasure to join the organization as a CLF Goodwill Ambassador and do my part in revolutionizing the system of education in Pakistan. The system will succeed only if it makes students better people by focusing on ethics, integrity and character along with encouraging creativity, ingenuity, and originality.

The work done by CLF not only guarantees a better life for students and teachers, but also ensures that our country will be a prosperous, modern and happy place for future generations,” stated Rana Majid. “Our children deserve more than just textbook instruction and are entitled to learning experiences that encourage creativity, afford genuine enjoyment and provide a rich spectrum of experiences. As a CLF Goodwill Ambassador, I plan to work with young Pakistani children and give them opportunities to experience the joys of listening to, writing and telling stories. I believe that my training as actor will help me popularize the art of storytelling, which I believe is an important pillar of education, and help students push the boundaries of imagination, creativity and thinking.

CLF does not believe in the traditional methods of teaching and learning, which are largely archaic and take all fun out of education,” noted Sami Khan. “I subscribe to CLF’s philosophy that learning should encourage creativity, discovery and invention and be fun both for teachers and students. As a CLF Goodwill Ambassador, my goal will be to use my celebrity to popularize the cutting-edge methods of learning espoused by CLF and help build a nation where everyone has access to affordable, effective and modern education.

I am glad to be a CLF Goodwill Ambassador for an organization that has worked, for years, to spread education, all over Pakistan, in a modern, effective and systematic manner,” said Shamyl Khan. “The work done by CLF will go a long way towards ensuring that future generations of Pakistanis lead lives of respect, happiness, health, prosperity, and peace. I support CLF wholeheartedly in its crusade to make education affordable, accessible and widely available all over Pakistan. As a CLF Goodwill Ambassador, I will work with the CLF team to promote and highlight the causes championed by the organization.

Knowledge, intelligence and character are the three essential attributes of the citizens of a successful, respected and progressive nation” observed Usman Butt. “CLF focuses on all three and is, therefore, working on building a better nation for us and our future generations. I feel honored to be a part of CLF and look forward to supporting the organization in all possible ways. The position CLF Goodwill Ambassador gives me an opportunity to contribute meaningfully to the progress of Pakistan. I plan to seize the opportunity and give back to a country that means the world to me.”
CLF is a social movement founded by Baela Raza Jamil, CEO of ITA, and co-founded by Ameena Saiyid, Founder and Director of the Adab Festival, in collaboration with a number of private and public organizations. The goal of CLF is to promote a culture of learning, which focuses on creativity, imagination, and multi-sensory stimulation, and not just on school textbooks, tests and examinations. CLF is a flagship program of its parent organization, ITA.

Arfa Sayeda Zehra has been a Professor for over forty years and has been intimately associated with issues dealing with women's education and empowerment. She continues to teach as visiting faculty. Presently, Dr. Arfa serves as Chair of the National Commission on the Status of Women, Government of Pakistan. This puts her at the center of discussions about socio-cultural issues in national and international policies that focus on the empowerment of women. Dr. Zehra got her doctorate in History from the University of Hawai'i in 1983 and was a fellow at the East-West Center between 1978 and 1983. She is a member of the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan, a Federal Government institution, established under an Ordinance (XIV) of 1979. The Commission is headed by the Chief Justice of Pakistan and comprises 12 other members.

Haseena Moin is a Pakistani dramatist, playwright and scriptwriter. She has written several plays for stage, radio and television, some of which have even gained international repute. She is the recipient of the ‘Pride of Performance’ award for her services to the performing arts in Pakistan. She wrote Pakistan's first original script 'KiranKahani' aired in early 70's. Before this, PTV relied on novel-based scripts for dramas. She is considered to be the best playwright and dramatist Pakistan has ever witnessed.
Some of the most popular dramas she wrote that gained international repute include “Ankahi”, “Tanhaiyaan”, “DhoopKinaray”, “Aahat”, “Uncle Urfi”, “Shehzori”, “Kohar”, “Des Pardes”, “Pal Do Pal”, “Aansoo”, “Kasak”, “Parchaiyan” and “Parosi”. Other notable works include “Mere Dardko Jo ZubanMilay”, “KaisaYehJunoon”, “DhundleRaaste”, “ShayadkeBaharAaye”, “MohimJoo”, “Tum Se Mil Kar”, “Bandish” and “ZerZabarPaish”. It appears strange that with such a success following even greater success on the TV screen, Moin didn't branch out into other literary forms like novels or short stories which are such a popular genre among Urdu fiction writers.

Haseena Moin is a Pakistani dramatist, playwright and scriptwriter. She has written several plays for stage, radio and television, some of which have even gained international repute. She is the recipient of the ‘Pride of Performance’ award for her services to the performing arts in Pakistan. She wrote Pakistan's first original script 'KiranKahani' aired in early 70's. Before this, PTV relied on novel-based scripts for dramas. She is considered to be the best playwright and dramatist Pakistan has ever witnessed.
Some of the most popular dramas she wrote that gained international repute include “Ankahi”, “Tanhaiyaan”, “DhoopKinaray”, “Aahat”, “Uncle Urfi”, “Shehzori”, “Kohar”, “Des Pardes”, “Pal Do Pal”, “Aansoo”, “Kasak”, “Parchaiyan” and “Parosi”. Other notable works include “Mere Dardko Jo ZubanMilay”, “KaisaYehJunoon”, “DhundleRaaste”, “ShayadkeBaharAaye”, “MohimJoo”, “Tum Se Mil Kar”, “Bandish” and “ZerZabarPaish”. It appears strange that with such a success following even greater success on the TV screen, Moin didn't branch out into other literary forms like novels or short stories which are such a popular genre among Urdu fiction writers.

Warda is a student of grade 12 from Sanjan Nagar Public Education Trust Higher Secondary School (SNPETHSS).
She is very fond of books, reading and writing. She is voluntarily involved in CLF publicity campaigns in schools. She is also an active member of pre-reading activities of CLF.

Tuba is a student of grade 11 from Sanjan Nagar Public Education Trust Higher Secondary School (SNPETHSS).
She is a good reader and writer. She has been actively involved with CLF team in pre-festival readings, publicity campaigns in schools and spreading awareness about CLF to her surroundings.

Kamini Masood is a student of Grade 10 at Lahore Grammar School. She is managing the ‘Bol Key Lab Azad Hain’ segment in CLF. A young aspiring poetess and writer; Kamini’s poetry and writings have been published in different magazines, newspapers and blogs. Her passion in life is literature, music, world history and international relations.