Patron of SNPET
Country: Pakistan


Raza Kazim is a lawyer, activist and former politician in Pakistan. He was involved with the Indian National Congress in British India, then with the Muslim League and later on with the Pakistan Peoples’ Party in its initial days.
Currently, he devotes his time to the Sanjan Nagar Institute of Philosophy & Arts, a non-profit organization based in Lahore working in the fields of Philosophy, Music and Photography.
In 1995, he set up ‘Sanjan Nagar Institute of Philosophy and Arts’ (SIPA), as a laboratory for developing and testing this emerging theory. In the same year he also started the Sanjan Nagar Public Education Trust (SNPET) which runs a free school for girls in a working class area of Lahore.
In 2001, he entered into a ten year private public with NCA for establishing and running a four year Musicology Degree program. This institutional affiliation provided him with an opportunity to set new standards for the theory and practice of music.
To address the issues of musicality and effective communication in music, Raza also got involved with the phenomenon of sound reproduction and started philosophizing and developing new concepts and testing them experimentally for designing and constructing, what he calls ‘Bhulley’ High-End Audio Amplifiers and Speakers.
The designing and making of ‘Sagar Veena’, the first non-fretted stringed instrument for Indian Classical music with a completely original design and structure is another achievement of Raza. Since 1976 he has also been doing Audio recordings of various Pakistani and Indian artists and has developed some important techniques of recording.
Raza has been doing photography since his childhood but not as a profession. He has mainly been doing symbolic photography. In the Institute, he and his wife Rashida have been training a group of young local girls (having no previous training) in both black & white and colour film developing and processing.
So far two exhibitions of Raza’s photographs have taken place; in 1988, his photographs were exhibited at the commonwealth gallery in London and then in May 2003, at the National College of Arts, Lahore, Pakistan. Two of his photographs were chosen for ‘Another Asia’ Noorderlicht Photofestival 2006, held every year in Holland.

Director Programs Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA) Pakistan & Founder of CLF
Country: Pakistan

Baela Raza Jamil is the Director Programs for the Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA), Center for Education and Consciousness (CEC). ITA is a Public Trust, established in 2000, working nationwide in 23 locations of Pakistan. ITA is embedded in the paradigm of education as a fundamental human entitlement; the right to learning, knowledge systems, citizenship skills and 9000 years of living heritage, through active partnerships with public sector and affordable private schools across Pakistan. ITA works with think tanks, universities, civil society organizations and the corporate sector.

She is also a member of the Technical Advisory Group of the UN Secretary General’s Global Initiative on Education, member Advisory Board of the Global Monitoring Report (GMR), and professionally associated with BAICE, CIES, SAFED, ARNEC & ASBAE.

Baela is a public policy specialist, former technical adviser Ministry of Education, Pakistan and activist in the education sector. She has worked extensively in the areas of quality, community based initiatives for education access and quality, popularizing early childhood education; district education planning, local governance, popularizing reading in schools and public private partnerships in three continents and across several countries. Inspired by her identity formations in Pakistan, she has studied comparative education, public policy, and economic history at the Institute of Education, University of London, and Rosemont College USA, Graduate School of Education at Harvard and the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in UK.

She is currently the Director Programs of Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi(ITA); Director Institute for Professional Learning (IPL); Coordinator South Asia Forum For Education Development (SAFED) and Managing Trustee Sanjan Nagar Public Education Trust. Additionally, she serves on several Boards across Pakistan including Pakistan Coalition for Education (PCE).

Baela is a passionate believer in the spirit and ethos of the Children’s Literature Festival (CLF) as a nationwide movement. She believes that this campaign for reading will definitely ensure that reading is valued across all groups and children in Pakistan. CLF has already become a much needed footprint in the country; each year CLF will record milestones beyond belief for action on books and reading and learning in Pakistan.

Adjunct Faculty at LUMS and Lecturer at the University of the Punjab
Musician
Country: Pakistan

Rakae Jamil began learning the sitar when he was 12. His first teacher was Ustad Ashraf Sharif Khan of Poonchwalay, who was the son of one of the greatest exponents of the sitar and vichitra veena, Ustad Sharif Khan of Poonchwalay.

Before joining the National College of Art's (NCA’s) musicology department, Rakae was studying the Theory of Western Classical Music at UBC Vancouver, but feeling detached from the discipline, he met Raza Kazim during his winter break, who informed him about the Musicology department he was opening at NCA, and convinced him to join the program.

To further his training in South Asian classical music, which he had been learning (both instrumental and vocal) for the last 8 years, he decided to pack his bags and move back to Pakistan to study South Asian Musicology, which provided him with a firm base in both the theory and practice of music.

After learning and practicing the sitar for 6 years, Rakae engaged himself in playing a radically new instrument known as the Shruti-Bahar, invented and designed by Raza Kazim. The Shruti-Bahar, a unique instrument which has never been played before by any musician, is a product of modern ideas and scientific thought, but its sound truly captures the essence of our classical music. Rakae has performed the Shruti-bahar at a concert organized by the All Pakistan Music Conference, which was held in memory of its founder, the late Ustad Hayat Ahmad Khan, and has performed several recordings of it at the Sanjan Nagar Institute of Philosophy and Arts.
Rakae has received the Ustad Fateh Ali Khan Gold medal for 1st place at the All Pakistan Music Conference in March, 2006, and the Ustad Sharif Khan Poonchwalay gold medal in April, 2007. In December 2005 he participated in the British Council "Music Masti" program in November 2005, and was awarded a 2-week trip to the United Kingdom for a music exchange program: Trinity College; Warwick University; University of Edinburgh & University of Glasgow.

Rakae has also performed in Coke Studio season 2 with Noori, for which he is the band’s session sitar and keyboard player and has performed with them in various venues across Pakistan as well. He also performed with them at the Pakistan MTV Awards in May 2009, as well as traveled and performed with them in Chatauqua institution in the same year during the month of August.
In the year2011, Rakae has performed for the APMC monthly concert, a fusion concert with Ustad Akmal Qadri and Haider Rahman on the flute at the Guitar School, at the Tehzeeb Foundation Sitar Festival and at Kuch Khaas in Islamabad with Abbas Ali Khan.
Rakae is currently working on his album, which will comprise of instrumental numbers, songs sung by himself and songs in which he has collaborated with other vocalists.

CEO - SUN & SEAM Energy Private Limited
Country: Pakistan

Imran Bajwa is the CEO of SUN & SEAM Energy Pvt. Ltd, an organization with the slogan: Energizing the Future! Its mission is to spread awareness about solar technology and provide solution to Energy Crisis with a reliable, long-term solution.

Sun & Seam is a power company, which promises to provide Energy Independence through quality solar systems from Japan & Europe.

Dr. 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.

She 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.

Author, Novelist and Translator
Country: Pakistan and Canada

Musharraf Ali Farooqi is an author, novelist and translator. He was born in 1968 in Hyderabad, Pakistan, and now divides his time between Toronto and Karachi. His new novel, Between Clay and Dust, was published to critical acclaim by David Davidar’s Aleph Book Company in April 2012. It was shortlisted for The Man Asian Literary Prize 2012 and longlisted for the 2013 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature. An illustrated novel, Rabbit Rap, with art by Michelle Farooqi came out from Viking/Penguin Books India in August 2012. Farooqi’s second novel, The Story of a Widow (Knopf Canada/ Picador India) was shortlisted for the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2011, and longlisted for the 2010 IMPAC-Dublin Literary Award. His most recent children’s fiction is the novel Tik-Tik, The Master of Time, Pakistan’s first English language novel for children. His other children’s fiction includes the picture book. The Cobbler’s Holiday Or Why Ants Don’t Wear Shoes (2008, A Neal Porter Book, Roaring Brook Press) and the collection The Amazing Moustaches of Mocchhander the Iron Man and Other Stories (2011, Puffin India), shortlisted for the India ComicCon award in the Best Publication for Children category. He is also the author of the critically acclaimed translations of Urdu classics, The Adventures of Amir Hamza (2007, Modern Library), and the first book of a projected 24 volume magical fantasy epic, Hoshruba (2009, Urdu Project/ Random House India).

Artist
Country: Pakistan

The artist is a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the National College of Arts. From 2002 to 2011, she taught at the Pakistan Institute of Fashion Design and Kinnaird College.

She also participated in the International Artist Camp in Habarana village, organized by George Kyet Foundation Colombo, Sri Lanka, in 2003. In 2006, she represented Pakistan at “Euphonic Palate” organized by Nitanjily Art Gallery in Delhi and Mumbai at Alliance Francaise, India.

According to her, in her paintings, metaphysical, definite and indefinite presence of different objects tells the story about our society and her. It’s more about the relationship between space and illusion.

University of Warwick Representative and Director Faculty Development & Internationalization, Lahore College for Women University

Saima Asghar Riaz is a Representative of the University of Warwick in Pakistan (the first one in Pakistan). She is also the Director, Faculty Development & Internationalization at LCWU.

In 2011, she founded an after school reading and activity club for 3-12 years old children called “Drop Everything and Read” (D.E.A.R). She is also the Managing Director of “Solutions to Enhance Professional Skills” (STEPs).

In the year 2003, Saima also worked as an examiner for the Speaking and Writing modules of the IELTS Test. Additionally, she also taught core undergraduate level courses in Composition and Writing as the Adjunct Faculty at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) from 1999 to 2004. Between the year 2002-2003, she worked as a Recruitment and Language Consultant Pakistan for Align Technology. Between 1998 and 2001, Saima served at the Kinnaird College for Women as Faculty ELT and Applied Linguistics.

Deputy Director Punjab Institute of Language, Art and Culture (PILAC)

Mr. Khaqan Haider Ghazi holds a Master's Degree in Arabic and Urdu Literature and is also a graduate of Law. Mr. Khaqan Haider Ghazi is a popular literary figure and has written many books on poetry, mainly in Punjabi Language. He has also written script of various dramas and Punjabi songs. Mr. Khaqan has been long associated with FM 103 & FM 95 Punjab Rung and hosting a popular on air program "Naina De Aakhay Lage".

Principal SNPET

Raheela Akram is working as the Principal of Sanjan Nagar School Hima Campus. She has done MSc.Psychology and is a Diploma holder from the Plymouth State University, USA on Leadership and Pedagogy. She is the first girl in her family to get higher education with the support of her father. She began her teaching career at Sanjan Nagar Higher Secondary School as a psychology teacher. She has also worked in Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi as a “manager assessment and learning”. Raheela has been working in the area of Assessment and research (ASER, WSIP,PTAN etc), Administration, Teachers’ training on curriculum, Annual School planning, Lesson Planning, and Inquiry based learning since past seven years. She leads the first initiative on IB-PYP program in her school. She is a very lively and committed learner.

ECE Head at SNPET
Country: Pakistan

Misbah Rani has been working at the Sanjan Nagar School for the last fifteen years. She has worked as an ECE/ECD, teacher, master trainer and now heads the Early Years Section at the same school.
Misbah has an international diploma on Leadership and Pedagogical Skills from Plymouth State University (PSU), USA and attended several trainings (British Council, TRC, ITA, Ali Institute, Rafi Peer and IB PYP) and has been a master trainer across Pakistan for ECE/ECD for DSD- Punjab and ITA. She is currently the coordinator for early years for the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program (IB-PYP) at Sanjan Nagar School. She is also an award winning teacher recipient of the first prize for the Anita Ghulam Ali World Teachers Day Award 2009 for Early Childhood Education.

CLF Coordinator
Country: Pakistan

Maham Ali is the coordinator of the Children’s Literature Festival (CLF). She has organized 2 mega events of CLF in Islamabad and Lahore respectively, in the year 2013 in addition to the 2 school based CLFs in Swat.

She completed her graduation from the Behria University and has been actively engaged in community service since several years. Her activism is not about coming out on the streets to raise slogans only; it is about reaching out and connecting with those fellow citizens who are in need of moral and financial support. Unlike many others, she does not envisage community service as an achievable short-term goal. For her, it is a way of life and an ongoing process.

One of her achievements is garnering the support of Pakistan diaspora for the needy and underprivileged countrymen through extensive fund raising. The funds raised have been used for the benefit of Internally Displaced People (IDPs), victims of natural calamities, victims of terrorism, education of street children and underprivileged minority children.

Maham is also one of the founding members of Shajar-e-ilm (Tree of Knowledge), a group of young students who came together to provide emotional relief to the female students affected by the Taliban in Swat.

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.

The Citizens Archive of Pakistan is a non-profit organization dedicated to cultural and historic preservation, operating in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. They tell history in a way that is exciting, engaging and interactive.
Since the year 2007, its aim has been to foster and promote community-wide interest in Pakistan’s heritage by documenting, preserving and sharing our nation’s history in original and exciting ways.

The name, Google, reflects the immense volume of information that exists, and the scope of Google’s mission: to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.
Google’s mission statement is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.

Discovering New Artists (DNA) is a non-profit organization which aims to provide free education to underprivileged children of Pakistan. DNA envisions a country where each and every child can pursue a quality education, reach their full potential, and contribute to their community and the world. DNA believes that enriching young minds with education will allow them to discover themselves, the hidden artist that could serve humanity in a better way.
It has received 3 awards by the International Research and Exchange Board (IREX), US Department of States.

The Little Art is a registered non-profit arts education organization. It uses the medium of art to promote positive social values through innovative learning opportunities among children and young people, specially marginalized and from low income backgrounds.
It works in public and private education sector to improve children's experience of learning through arts education. Its mission is to establish arts in Pakistan as a major facilitator for children and young people to realize and achieve their dreams; through innovative arts education projects and creative learning opportunities.