Abbas Husain is a Pakistani scholar who has directed the ‘Teachers' Development Centre’ since 1997. He is one of the founders of the ‘Society of Pakistan English Language Teachers’ (SPELT) and has published in many national and international journals. Recently, he launched the ‘School of Intelligences’, a pre-primary and primary school dedicated to the theory of multiple intelligences. The ‘Teachers' Development Centre’ is a collaborator of the ‘Charter for Compassion’ in Pakistan.
Husain has an MA in English Literature and MEd for teaching English to speakers of other languages from Manchester University.
As director of the ‘Teachers' Development Centre’ he has conducted the Master Teacher's Course since 1997 and has so far contributed 289 teacher trainers to the national pool of trainers. Of them, 62 have achieved leadership positions in their respective institutions. He has been invited by ‘Roots School System’ to their Annual Teacher’s Development Conference, as well as the Sindh Education Foundation for keynotes and Seminar Papers. The ‘Teachers' Development Centre’ has been a significant contributor to a variety of training needs and services. The Aga Khan Foundation, CBORC, Sindh Education Foundation, Notre Dame Institute of Education, The City School Network, The Beaconhouse School System, The Defence Housing Authority School Network, Cadet College Petaro, have all invited the Director for an ongoing dialogue on improved education in Pakistan.

Adeel Hashmi is one of the most popular and well known young director, actor, comedian, model, social worker and screen writer in Pakistan’s entertainment industry. He has been writing, acting, anchoring and directing for and on television for the past ten years. His dramas are not only innovative and socially marked but are very popular both with Pakistani audiences and those abroad. 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.

Dr. Afshan Huma is working as a specialist in Educational Planning & Management, Policy Studies, and Curriculum for teachers' professional learning since 1998. She also provides guidance and counseling in social, professional, organizational and educational settings. Additionally, she offers consultancy in designing research and professional learning programs, projects and courses. She has a PhD from Michigan State University, USA and a research Diploma from University College London.

AgyatMitra is an experiential educator working in this field for 15 years and is a Co-founder of ‘Play for Peace’ initiative in India. He works enthusiastically with organizations in India, working to ensure child right and inclusive education for marginalized communities by conducting trainings for them. Additionally, he facilitates programs for organizations on a range of topics including team building, leadership, and campus to corporate, understanding conflict, cultural diversity and ownership. Agyat has lead corporate training for a range of programs and participant pool. He has been the Lead Representative of ‘Play for Peace’ in India for 6 years till 2008 and has also worked in Israel for 8 months as volunteer of Jerusalem International YMCA and Play for Peace (www.pfpisrael.blogspot.com) sharing the process with Arab and Jewish children, youth, adults and Organizations. He has done trainings for Peace Building and Conflict Transformation and Peace Education as member of an International Network ASPBAE (www.aspbae.org). Agyat also worked as Campus Chief for outdoor education programs run by Youreka in 2008-2009 mentoring facilitators and Instructors to run the program for children. Before starting to play and share cooperative gaming process of for Peace, Agyat wrote scripts for Television programs for three years.

Graduated from NCA 1997, Akbar Zia is a professional book illustrator/graphic designer, visual artist and caricaturist. He has worked with different publishers as well as with multinational projects. He teaches his skills to others and conducts workshops in dfferent institutions. He also has numerous publications to his credit and has worked for almost two decades with national and international organizations.

Abdul Hameed Nayyar is a physicist, and is a prominent peace activist. Currently, he is a visiting research scientist at Princeton University. He has worked on many projects at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute in Islamabad. He has retired from ‘Quaid-e-Azam University Islamabad’ after a service of over 30 years. He has also worked at the ‘Lahore University of Management Sciences’ (LUMS) as a visiting professor of physics, ‘Ali Institute of Education Lahore’ as Director, and the ‘Sustainable Development Policy Institute, Islamabad’, as a senior research fellow. His work on education explores problems of access and quality and of curriculum and textbooks in the public education system.

M. Akram Dost Baloch is one of the founding members of the Department of Fine Arts at the University of Balochistan. Currently, he is the chairman of deprtment. He is also the director of ‘Mehrgarh Studio’, and is a member of the Board of Governors at National College of Arts, Lahore. He developed a keen interest in the history, arts and crafts of his regional homeland, much of which has been 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.

An enthusiastic and indefatigable patron of the arts, Ally Adnan is a well-known writer and speaker on topics of culture, history and the arts. His writings on classical music form a valuable treatise on the theory, culture and practice of music in India and Pakistan. Ally speaks on culture and the arts on radio, television, schools, conferences and research symposia, all over the world. He has conducted extensive research in the two areas and is considered a subject matter expert in the field of Qawwali and Sufism. He has conducted seminars, workshops and symposia on Qawwali all over the world. He also writes and speaks about Hindustani Sangeet, Kathak, Urdu Poetry & Literature, Art & Painting, Jewelry, South Asian Musical Instruments, Tea, and numerous other related topics. Ally also regularly writes for a large number of Pakistani and international publications and has an experience of more than 25 years. An engineer by profession, Ally currently works as the Chief Operating Officer for the T-Force group of companies and serves on the boards of several companies including the After Hours Group, 360 Cellutions, Twelve Gates Arts, Sunbonnet Partners, and Dr Muzic.

Ali Nasir Khan Afridi, a Pushto storyteller, has a BSc. (Triple Mathematics) from Peshawar University and MSc. in Statistics from Karachi University. He is an expert in gems and is currently working as Lapidary Incharge - PGJDC (Karachi Project).

Ammar is an anthropologist by training and has an MA (2012) from Columbia University, USA. Ammar is a theatre practitioner (at Theatre Wallay), a researcher and a teacher. He is currently a member of the core production and coordination team and the Research & Creative Coordinator for a project at ‘Theatre Wallay’. He has a two year long experience as an A-level teacher at a private school. He has also worked for ‘The Citizens Archive of Pakistan’ (CAP) where he has been the Project Manager for oral history and exchange for change.

Based in Karachi, Amra Alam has authored over 80 storybooks in Urdu for children of all ages to date. She has also written and translated numerous stories for publication in India, many of which have been further translated into various regional languages. Amra was the Founder and Chief Editor of Suntra, a magazine for children in Urdu, published from 2006 to 2012. She joined the Bookgroup as an in-house story writer where she published 45 books in a short time. She is currently working as Editor of the children’s magazine, Uran Tashtaree – The Flying Saucer. This magazine is being published from the platform of Children’s Literature Festival.

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.

Dr Arfa Sayeda Zehra has served as a Professor of history for over 50 years and has been intimately associated with issues dealing with women's education and empowerment. She is a teacher and researcher and continues to teach as a visiting faculty member. 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 received 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, headed by the Chief Justice of Pakistan along with 12 other members.

Asad Karim, the CEO of ‘Tele Taleem’, is a Serial Entrepreneur credited with multiple successful ventures. Asad has a diversified management exposure of leading Product Development companies and Telcos in Pakistan and abroad for over 30 years. He has effectively implemented several educational innovation solutions for public education systems. He also has a strong operational background in transforming startups to growth mode companies. He led ‘Wi-tribe's technical operations from its inception to commercial roll-out. He also serves as a contributor to Pakistan's IT Policy.

Asad I. Mian MD, PhD is a pediatrician, ER physician and clinical researcher by profession. He is currently an Associate Professor at the Aga Khan University in Karachi. He developed the ‘Biloongra’ series of bilingual (Urdu-English) books for children, a venture that started in Houston in collaboration with the Bookgroup. He is author of ‘An Itinerant Observer’, a book of stories, published by Acacia in the United States. He has been associated with CLF since 2013 as a resource person where he facilitates creative writing/illustration and reading sessions for kids. He writes for newspapers in Houston and Karachi, tweets as @amian74 (twitter.com/amian74) and blogs at biloongra.com.

Asad Umar is currently the Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs Minister of Pakistan, in office since August 2018. He is a senior leader and policy head at ‘Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’ (PTI). He served as CEO and President of Engro Corporation for 8 years during a 27-year career with the company. He resigned from his post at Engro and joined Imran Khan led political party PTI in 2012. He received ‘Sitara-i-Imtiaz’ for his business achievements in 2010. Asad has his MBA from the ‘Institute of Business Administration’.

Asma Mundrawala is a visual artist and theatre practitioner with a PhD from the University of Sussex UK. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Fine Art at the ‘Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture’ in Karachi. Asma is the director and sound designer for ‘Zambeel Dramatic Readings’. She has also been associated with theatre.

Asif Farrukhi is a literary critic, translator, and a fiction writer. He has translated widely from English into Urdu and vice versa and has edited and compiled many anthologies of the writings of Pakistani authors. He also writes on literature for Dawn and other newspapers and periodicals. Asif has published six collections of short stories and two collections of literary criticisms. He is currently editing and publishing a literary miscellany in Urdu called ‘Duniyazad’. He has been awarded the ‘Tamgha-e-Imtiaz’ for his literary contributions.

Asif Sinan is a quintessential 'World Musician' seamlessly blending the genres of Eastern Classical, Jazz and Sufi Music. Sinan has gained international recognition for making his guitar sound like a 'Sitar'. In 2012 Sinan toured and performed in the US as a guest of the US State Department. He also performed in London at the ‘World Islamic Economic Summit’ and represented Pakistan in Germany at the ‘Deutsches Musik Fest’. Sinan's Eastern Classical rendition of Pakistan's National Anthem has been a viral sensation and endeared him to both the young and old.

Atif Badar is primarily an actor with a wide range of experience. From stage, voice-overs, mini screen to a film, he has worked extensively. He started his career in 1993 as a theatre actor and worked in numerous plays with notable directors. Currently he is working in three reputed schools of Karachi as a theatre and creative movement teacher. He has written, directed, and developed concepts of over 50 short plays, etc. and has also conducted theatre workshops at the ‘Aga Khan Medical University’ enhancing communications skills of medical students with their patients.

Attiya Dawood, a celebrated Sindhi poet, writer, and activist, has been hailed as ‘the most important feminist writer in Sindhi’ by Shaikh Ayaz, the renowned Sindhi poet. She has been writing poetry since 1980. Through her writings, Dawood highlights the oppression of women in Pakistani society in the name of tradition. She raises her voice against misogyny and bias and advocates the empowerment of women. Her poems have been translated into German by Annemarie Schimmel, the noted Iranologist and scholar who has written extensively on Islam and Sufism. They have also been translated into English and Urdu. Two of her poems were published in Jan Goodwin’s anthology ‘The Price of Honour’. She has published six books, and her articles on women’s rights, peace, justice, and gender issues have appeared in major national dailies and literary journals. She is a recipient of the ‘Sindh Adeeb Award’ from ‘Akhil Bharat Sindhi BoliAinSahitSabha, India’.

Ayesha Omer is an artist and scholar based in Karachi. At the CLF, she has told stories in English. She trained in Arts Politics at the ‘Tisch School of Art, New York University,’ after receiving a degree in ‘Political Science from Davidson College, U.S.A’. She teaches ‘Cultural Studies and Arts Politics at the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture’. Her art practice is collaborative and cross-cultural. Currently, she is working with artist FahadNaveedZahidi on "Love Letters to Karachi" (2012 - present): a community-based letter-writing and performance project, "Where's My Revolution?" (2011 - present) is a response to social movements in Pakistan and around the world that aims to facilitate collaborative, cross-cultural art projects that build solidarity among activists and artists.

Ayesha Tariq graduated with a Bachelors of Communication Design from the ‘Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture’ in 2011. During her tenure at ‘The Citizens Archive of Pakistan’ (CAP), she participated in the 'Play and Learn with Miffy' Workshop with Butterfly Works, where she worked on 'Laddu is Born' with her fellow 'Chum Chum’ members. Her thesis, 'Suppressed Anger of the Pakistani Obedient Daughter', which was written and illustrated by her, encouraged her to participate in a fiction writing workshop with the Open Letter Society. She also designed and illustrated the first two issues of 'UranTashtaree, The Flying Saucer', the official Urdu magazine for the Children's Literature Festival. She has worked with various clients on freelance and part-time basis, and is currently working as a Graphic Designer at Peace Niche, The Second Floor. Her main interests lie in Publication and Illustration. You may find her work at www.behance.net/ayeshatariq'

Ayub Baloch is a Quetta-based scholar working for the promotion of Anthropology in the Balochistan region. In addition to an LLB, he holds a Masters in Sociology/Anthropology from the University of Karachi and a further Masters in Development Studies from Erasmus University, Holland. He founded in 1995, a research institute, ‘The Institute of Balochistan Studies’, dedicated to the study of the region, its people and their culture. Baloch has also served as Secretary to the Government of Balochistan for about a decade and as Member Balochistan Public Service Commission for five years.

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.

Mr. Aziz Kabani is currently doing his doctorate from Institute of Education from University of London. He has done his Masters of Science in Education Research Methodology from Oxford University, UK and his Post graduate in Islamic studies and Humanities. Mr. Kabani has been working in the Education sector for the past 12 years and is currently designated as Director Programs, Operations and Research at the Sindh Education Foundation.

Azka Khan completed her masters in Linguistics from NUML University and was awarded a gold medal. She currently works at OUP.

Bakhtawar Shah has been a teacher at the ‘KalashDur Private Institute’ of Kalash Cultural & Tradition Centre since 2005. Subjects taught by Bakhtawar include English, Urdu, Science, Kalash language and others. Bakhtawar has also taught at Government schools. He believes that every child should at least be given basic education. He has big dreams for his students at the Institute. Bakhtawar Shah has three daughters.

Internationally acclaimed author Bapsi Sidhwa was raised in Lahore, Pakistan. She now lives in Houston, Texas. She graduated from Kinnaird College for Women, Lahore. She is best known for her collaborative work with Indo-Canadian filmmaker Deepa Mehta: Sidhwa wrote both the 1991 novel Ice Candy Man which served as the basis for Mehta's 1998 film Earth as well as the 2006 novel Water: A Novel on which is based Mehta's 2005 film Water. Her novels 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. Sidhwa, who was on the advisory committee to Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto on Women Development, has taught at Columbia University, University of Houston, Mount Holyoke College, Southampton University and Brandeis.

Basarat Kazim is director of Alif Laila Book Bus Society. She has also authored several storybooks for children. For decades, she has been working to provide 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 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region 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.

Batool Nasir is currently the Manager Museum and Archives at Oxford University Press and has over 20 years of hands on practical experience in graphic/publishing design. She is conversant with all major design development software including Adobe Creative Suite. She is a highly skilled professional photographer. She is considerably well read in Design for publishing, both in print and on the web, and the use of art as a marketing tool. She has excellent communication skills, oral and written in English and Urdu. Batool has attended various workshops, conferences, seminars, lectures to courses on Design in Publishing, Marketing, Sales, Communication Arts, Photography, and Audio-Visual Materials Production.

Chintan Girish Modi, an educator, writer and a peace-builder, is the founder of ‘Friendships Across Borders’, a social media initiative that builds on the power of personal friendships to transform the long-standing hostility between India and Pakistan. The offline arm of this initiative engages with students in schools, colleges and universities around the idea of cross-border friendships for peace building. He has actively participated in programs organized by the ‘Citizens Archive of Pakistan’, ‘Aman Ki Asha’, ‘Pul-e-Jawan’, ‘Idara-e-Taleem-o-Agahi’, ‘Aaghaz-e-Dosti’, and ‘Women in Security, Conflict Management and Peace’.
Chintan has received fellowships from ‘Community – The Youth Collective’, ‘The Seagull Foundation for the Arts’, ‘Foundation for Universal Responsibility of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’, ‘Peace and Conflict Studies programme’ run by the Norway-based Kulturstudier in collaboration with the Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences, and the Vermont-based SIT Graduate Institute’s Conflict Transformation Across Cultures programme in Kathmandu. In his work, he tries to explore the connections between education, social awareness, the arts and peace building. He has also led the educational outreach programme at the ‘Kabir Project’, developing ideas for using folk music and mystic poetry to facilitate conversations around diversity, harmony and peace building. His dissertation was based on a creative writing and peer learning project with Muslim students.

Danish Faruqi graduated from McGill University with a Major in Economics. He has a Masters in Education (M.Ed.), International Education Policy from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education. Currently, he works for Programs in Professional Education at HGSE as an Instructional Facilitator. He has worked with ‘Teach for Pakistan’, teaching English at the Gizri Government School. He also creates electronic music and has produced the original score for Zambeel’s production ‘SamandarkiChori’ at the multi-tiered art and performance project ‘Pursukoon Karachi’.

Faheem Abbasi is Ph.D in Education having more than 10 years of experience in the field of education and development sector with deep understanding about the education system of Pakistan. he is a founding member of ‘Students Corner’, a standardized education system that focuses on skills development. He has deep knowledge about teacher education programs including vast knowledge about best practices on teacher education programs at national and international level. He has also rich experience in policy, planning, designing, implementation as well as monitoring & evaluation of education programs. Dr Faheem is a thorough professional having work experience with USAID-Pakistan, Asian Development Bank (ADB), Education and Literacy Department, National Commission for Human Development (NCHD), Academy for Education Development(AED), Abt Associates Inc., International Relief and Development (IRD), iMMAP and International Rescue Committee (IRC). In addition, Dr Faheem has contributed a lot in research studies and has research papers in his professional career and has several books to his credit. He calls himself a facilitator who has trained thousands of students.

Fahd Husain, an 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 associated with Express Tribune 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.

Fahmida Riaz is a well-known progressive poet and writer. Her works have been translated into many languages. She has written several poems and stories for children and some of them have been published in textbooks for children. She is also a human rights activist and a prominent feminist of Pakistan. she intends to break social taboos through the expression of her writing. She was given the ‘Himmett-Hellman Award’ for writers by Human Rights Watch, New York, in 1997. The Government of Sindh gave her the ‘Shaikh Ayaz Award’ and the Government of Pakistan gave her the award of ‘Pride of Performance’ in 2011.

DaniyalNoorani is no ordinary talent. The writer, composer, animator and musician is one of the more versatile creative forces in Pakistan today. Noorani is the Founder & CEO of ‘KaroKuch’, a studio specializing in media content that brings to light social issues with the hopes of portraying Pakistan in a positive light. Their highly-acclaimed animated series ‘Quaid se Baatain’ was developed to create encouraging community values among Pakistanis.
Daniyal Noorani is no ordinary talent. The writer, composer, animator and musician is one of the more versatile creative forces in Pakistan today. Noorani is the Founder & CEO of ‘KaroKuch’, a studio specializing in media content that brings to light social issues with the hopes of portraying Pakistan in a positive light. He is also the ‘Chief Get Things Done Guy at the Wakhra Studios and is also the founder of ‘Awesamosas’. His highly-acclaimed animated series ‘Quaid se Baatain’ was developed to create encouraging community values among Pakistanis. Noorani hails from Lahore and is an MBA from world-renowned business school INSEAD, specializing in Entrepreneurship and Innovation. He has also established himself as a fine writer with articles published in ‘The Express Tribune’ and ‘The Huffington Post’. In 2013, Noorani released a song and music video ‘Find Heaven’, which was selected for both the London Independent Film Festival and the Boston International Film Festival. Noorani is the jack-of-all-trades and a bright young mind who through his work, wants to encourage Pakistanis to become more open-minded and supportive of breaking down social barriers. Through his music, animation and videos he wants us to think about the bigger picture, look inside ourselves, and decide what makes Pakistan great.

Dr. Faisal Bari, Associate Professor of Economics at LUMS and Director of Academic Programs at the LUMS School of Education, is currently also the Director and Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Development and Economic Alternatives (IDEAS), Lahore. He has been an active researcher in the area of education for the last 10 odd years. His other areas of research interest are game theory and industrial organization. Faisal holds a B.Sc. from Government College, University of the Punjab, a B.A. (Honours) from University of Oxford and a Ph.D. from McGill University.

Faisal Malik is the Founder and the Artistic Director of ‘Thespianz Theater’ (established 2005) giving non-profit performing arts services nationally and internationally. Theatre and art is his zeal and managing arts is his goal. He is an arts manager, director, actor, host and TV anchor. He is certified in Performing Arts from National Academy of Performing Arts in Karachi, Pakistan. He is the State Department Fellow at John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington and Arthink South Asia from Germany, Italy and Sweden. From Chicago Opera Theatre Company in Chicago to Scsha Waltz & Guests in Berlin, Germany, he worked for performing arts. Mobile Theatre (The Flying Theater) is working under his supervision all over Pakistan to spread social issues and awareness through performing arts. Thespianz Theater has performed 56 professional productions, 34 mime & dance productions, 107 theatre & motivational workshops nationwide and internationally.

Farah Sadia is a Pakistani television actress and presenter, whose career started as a side role in a TV drama serial, ‘Bandhan’. Farah played a minimal role but had a very strong character which left her in the hearts of millions of her fans. The character was named ‘DilBaji’ and for a long time people would call her that. In recent years Farah has been the host of a morning shows “A Morning with Farah” with a private channel ATV. The show is a mix of different segments, basically inviting a guest for a light interview. Each segment has a live telephone call and features prominent personalities, fitness, self-grooming and fashion tips, jewelry designs, delicious recipes and more.

Farooq Qaiser is a Pakistani artist, columnist, director, puppeteer, script writer and voice actor. He is also an author of four comic books. Qaiser is well known for his fictional puppet ‘Uncle Sargam’ introduced in 1976 in the television show ‘Kaliyan’. Farooq is also a cartoonist, columnist and writer for the newspaper ‘Daily NaiBaat’ in Lahore and is famous for his pen name ‘Meethay Karelay’ (English: Sweet gourd). He holds a Bachelor of Arts from the National College of Arts (NCA), Lahore. He also has a master’s degree in Graphic Arts from Bucharest, Romania and a master’s in Mass Communication from the University of Southern California, USA.

Fatema Naeem, does storytelling in Gujarati language, has a Bachelor’s in Commerce from Maharaja University of Vadodara in Gujarat, India. She enjoys traveling, camping and storytelling.

Fatima Hussain is the Director of ‘Laajverd’ and an Artist-Curator/Theatre Practitioner based in Lahore and Islamabad. She also runs an artist collective ‘Other Asias’ with Hamja Ahsan. Fatima has presented projects at the ‘Shanakht Festival Karachi’, ‘SPILL Festival 2011, London’, ‘Aicon Gallery London’, ‘The Guild NY’ and many others. Her work over the past few years have addressed multiple issues bringing into it the political, the historical, the everyday, and whether with intention or escape, ‘art’ for her, has fallen within a larger interpretation of the colonized structures, languages and territory. Fatima is a 2005 graduate of NCA (Lahore campus) where she was trained as a painter. She moved on to Central Saint Martins, UAL for her MA in Fine Arts (2007-2008).

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 Child Art Center. She has been painting since the age of 12 when she was a student of SS Haider (an eminent artist from Peshawar). She likes to think of her art as windows to the soul that reflects 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’s literature she raises issues of peace, tolerance and justice. Her involvement with children is through the platform 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 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.

Dr Hamida Khuhro is an intellectual, a teacher and a woman of action and purpose. She graduates from the University of Karachi, Sindh and Cambridge in England. She did her doctorate from London University. She left University teaching to concentrate on writing and politics. She has twice served as Minister for Education and Literacy, Government of Sindh. She has also served as Member and Chairperson of several political, academic, and government committees. Her publications are as follow; “The Making of Modern Sindh”, “Mohammad AyubKhuhro: Life of Courage in Politics”, “Papers of The Separation of Sind from Bombay Presidency (Institute of History and Culture, Islamabad)”
Among her edited works are “Sindh through the Centuries” (OUP, 1981), and as well as a number of colonial texts. She has contributed numerous articles in learned journals and newspapers and has been founder editor of “Grassroots”, a journal of Pakistan Studies, University of Sindh. She has edited the Arts Journal, University of Sindh, and has revived the “Journal of the Sindh Historical Society”.

Harris Khalique is a critically acclaimed poet in Urdu and English, a widely published writer, and a regular newspaper columnist and a civil society leader. He has eight collections of verse and a book of creative non-fiction behind him and his work has been anthologized internationally. Recently, he won the ‘UBL-Jang Literary Excellence Award 2013’ in the category of Urdu poetry for his collection of verse ‘Melay Mein’. He has an MA from the London School of Economics and Political Science, UK. His interests straddle South Asian history and culture, politics, human rights, and international development. He received the President's Award for Pride of Performance as an acknowledgement of his services to poetry on 23 March 2018. Harris is currently the Team leader of a project of Development Alternatives Incorporated (DAI), a private development company, focusing on the rights of women and excluded groups in Pakistan.

HaseenaMoin 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.

Helen Kamal has worked directly with teachers and with governments to design teacher education programmes and to strengthen systems for teacher development and management. Her work has taken her to South Africa, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan and for the last 10 years she has worked in Pakistan. She started her career in the UK as a primary school teacher and she has a particular interest in how teachers learn to teach children to read. Helen is currently a member of a team working with the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to support the implementation of the provincial Education Sector Plan.

Hira Ilyas Bawahab is a wonderfully talented ToffeeTeller who contributes some of her time to being part of ToffeeTV'sKahaani Times for children's theater and fun! She is an architect otherwise.

Huma brings with her rich experience of the education sector having worked in the education sector for 29 years across all sub sectors, including elementary and higher education, teacher education, and youth and adult literacy. As Lead Consultant for a USAID funded project she steered the development of ‘Curriculum Guidelines for Adult and Youth Literacy’ in 2004-5. During the same year she remained associated with the Curriculum Wing, Ministry of Education, where she worked as member of the core team responsible for developing the ‘English curriculum for primary classes’ (2006). Huma served as Long Term Consultant for the ‘Northern Areas Education Project 1999-2003’, she led the quality component that encompassed teacher training, materials development and continuous assessment.
She holds Masters Degrees in English Literature and Teaching of English as a Foreign Language, and professional training from ‘Chester College of Higher Education’, UK. She has extensive experience in teaching and management at leading national institutions such as Oxford University Press and Aga Khan University, Karachi. She is passionate about improving the quality of life for children in Pakistan; outside work, she supports three reading rooms in Lahore and Multan; and a Children’s Activity room at the Punjab Institute of Cardiology in Lahore.

Ilona Yousaf is a poet, printmaker and designer. Her poems have been published as a book titled “Picture This” and thereafter in literary journals, in print and online, in Pakistan and abroad. She has also written essays on Pakistani poetry in English, and worked on editing projects, most recently as a guest editor for a special issue on poets from Pakistan for the Canadian poetry journal,“Valium”. She freelances for several magazines, writing on art and literature. She has recently begun to integrate word and image, making artist’s books.

Rumana Husain has written and illustrated over 60 children’s books and developed numerous teachers’ manuals for several publishers including the Oxford University Press. She co-founded the Book Group in 1988 and worked for it in a voluntary capacity for almost a decade, after which she was its Director for four years. She also co-founded NuktaArt - a bi-annual art magazine, published for ten years, of which she was Senior Editor. She is the author of two major books on Karachi: ‘Karachiwala - a subcontinent within a city’ and ‘Street Smart – professionals on the street’.

Rumana Husain’s book ‘Dr Akhtar Hameed Khan’ in the graphic story series (OUP) won the Jang-UBL Award and her book ‘Laal Badaam’ (Pratham Books) won the All India Publishers’ Award.

Rumana was Headmistress of the junior section of The C.A.S School, and later as its senior school’s Vice Principal (1986 to 1996). She has taught art, environmental studies and illustrations at the Karachi Grammar School, The C.A.S School, and the Indus Valley School of Art & Architecture respectively. She worked as Head Activism and Outreach at the Children’s Museum for Peace and Human Rights (2001 to 2008). She is an Honorary Director on the Board of the Children’s Literature Festival (CLF), Honorary General Secretary of the Karachi Conference Foundation, and Founding Member and Member Executive Committee of the ‘I Am Karachi’ Society, championing one of its core projects; the Walls of Peace.

Shahina Alvi has been in the field of special education for the last 25 years. She was one of the first remedial tutors to be trained at ‘READ’. Other than her teaching experiences, she also screens children for dyslexia and is also one of the course leaders for the teacher training course at READ – the six-month Read Diploma Course. She is presently serving as the CEO of READ.

The idea of Toffee TV stems from arduous hours of searching Urdu stories and songs for children similar to that of ‘Cassette Kahani’. As the search continues, a sad realization has set in, that our heritage has simply not been captured in the realm of providing our children with the opportunity of learning the Urdu language through imagination. Therefore, they are uploading these treasures through YouTube, a public resource, to promote the Urdu language. Content on this site is free as their way of sharing our heritage as widely as possible. The stories and songs at Toffee TV are an attempt to help, inspire and change in learning languages. Toffee TV loves listening to stories and even more, sharing them. Most of these stories have been located in ragged books found in old book bazaars of Karachi, interpreted and transformed in digitized mode to share them with the online world. ToffeeTV.com is run by Talea Zafar (Chief Illustrator) and RabiaGarib (Chief Wrapper)

Ismat Riaz is a veteran in the field of education, having served as a teacher, teacher trainer, and academic coordinator. A graduate of Kinnaird College, Lahore, Ismat has an M.A. in Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment from the ‘Institute of Education, University of London’, UK. She has been a consultant for Pakistan Studies with UCIE, and also for Oxford University Press, Pakistan for Pakistan Studies and secondary history. Her articles on education are published in leading national newspapers.

Sania Saeed is acclaimed and respected as one of the most versatile actors of television and theatre in recent times. She has been acting since the age of ten, doing social and community theatre with her parents and made her first television appearance in 1988. Her interest in issues of women and children was obvious from the beginning. Sania is a Psychology graduate and has most effectively utilized her education in all her projects. As an actor, she makes conscious attempts to empathize with her characters. As a host and moderator, she is aware of the power of effectively constructed questions and listening. She believes in what she is doing and only does what she believes in. Her emotional awareness and communication skills stand her apart from all her contemporaries.

Samar is one of the first Pakistani filmmakers who used video to give voices to the marginalized by making socially relevant documentaries. Her first documentary in Pushtu titled “Swara-Da ZhwandMairman” challenged giving of girls as compensation to end disputes. The documentary was a catalyst in pushing a law against the custom of ‘Swara’. The film was used as evidence in the first ever Supreme Court Case highlighting the issue.
She is the winner of several awards for highlighting this culturally sanctioned form of violence through her films.

He is the Executive Director of ‘Idara Baraye Taleem-o-Taraqi’ (IBT) since 2007 in Swat. He is a prolific writer on many issues from education to current affairs, having been published in ‘The News’, ‘Dawn’, ‘The Express Tribune’, ‘The Friday Times’, ‘Daily Times’, ‘The Viewpoint’, ‘The Faultlines’, ‘The Frontier Post’, ‘The Statesman’, etc. He is involved in a number of activities including social activism, human rights protection moves and writing articles on a variety of topics from extremism to politics and current affairs and education. He also has an interest in developmental and organizational issues including trust building, leadership skills, conflict resolution and personality tracks. To this end, he has undertaken online courses on leadership and conflict resolution offered by LEAD Pakistan, and international network working on capacity building environmental sustainability.

Nasreen Iqbal is the Director of “Pesh Raft Foundation”, “Grammar School Rawalpindi” (GSR) and “Centre for Peace and Human Rights Education”.

Active Youth Organization (AYO) is working voluntarily for the betterment with the youth of universities, colleges and schools of Pakistan.
AYO aims to increase the contribution of community leaders towards achieving sustainable development both locally and globally. It also encourages peer-to-peer relations across cultural, geographic and political boundaries via a lively online social network of participants and Conflict Resolution, Non formal education, and youth development.

Adnan Abbasi is Editor-Digital Publishing, Oxford University Press Pakistan.

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.

Bushra Shahab is working as Academic Coordinator at Oxford University Press Pakistan since 2005. She has also worked in different capacities at prestigious educational institutions of Peshawar and Risalpur. She has conducted more than 900 workshops and trained around 15,000 teachers on different topics like Child Psychology, Effective Teaching, Phonetics, Integrated Approach in Teaching, Remedial Reading etc.

Khaled Anam is a popular Pakistani TV artist as well as a musician and singer. He has an opinion on everything and he doesn’t shy away from speaking his mind. He is passionate about children. In fact, he is passionate about quite a few things: politics, music, parenting, environment, education.
His music album “Ray Say Rail Chali” is geared towards children between the ages of 5 through 10. Abroad, children’s educational music and programming has been popular since the ’80s, just the way it was in Pakistan back in the day. However, after the likes of SohailRana, not much work has been carried out in this genre for a decade or so. Khaled, who has been at the forefront of children’s music and was even involved in the Urdu version of Sesame Street, called Open Sesame, has introduced his album hoping to bridge the gap between then and now. He has been in the Pakistani media industry for over two decades, so it can easily be said that he is one of the experienced heads.

KhursheedHyder is a feature Writer at Dawn Group of Newspapers since the past 6 years.

KishwarNaheed, ‘Sitara-e-Imtiaz’ is an Urdu poet from Pakistan known for her pioneering feminist poetry. KishwarNaheed held administrative roles in various national institutions. She was Director General of Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) before her retirement. She also edited a prestigious literary magazine “Mahenaw” 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 ‘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).

MahvashFaruqi is an educator with a background in theatre for the past eighteen years. She has performed in numerous theatre productions, attended workshops conducted by eminent theatre directors and has toured internationally and within Pakistan. Mahvash is a lead performer and co-founder of Zambeel Dramatic readings.

Mehnaz Aziz is the Founding Director of ‘Children’s Global Network Pakistan’, a leading profit educational institution, implementing education reforms in Pakistan. She has to her credit many innovative interventions and especially creating youth educational entrepreneurs. Her organization introduced child centered methodologies in public schooling systems. She has served as a senior member of the Education Task Force under the Prime Minister of Pakistan and is also the member of Punjab Compulsory Education Commission. She initiated the Early Childhood Care and Development Centre of Excellence at CGN-P and had served on the Board of Directors for ‘Zara Sochiyay’, National Media Campaign on Education. She is also the member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Pakistan. Aziz holds a MSc in Anthropology from ‘Quaid-e-Azam University’, Pakistan and a MA in Gender and Development from the ‘Institute of Development Studies at Sussex University’, UK.

Mr. Zaidi is a leading education campaigner and a political analyst of Pakistan. Mr. Mosharraf has written Op-Ed pieces for various national and international newspapers, including ‘The Wall Street Journal’ and ‘The News’ and he regularly appears in the Pakistani and the international media as an education campaigner and public policy advisor. Mosharraf is a former Advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Pakistan. In his capacity as a political expert, Mosharraf has advised governments and international organizations on topics such as public policy and international aid.

Muhammad Rafique Tahir is the Joint Secretary, Education at Ministry Of Capital Administration and Development, Islamabad. Rafique’s previous services include Director (BS-19), Federal College of Education, Islamabad; Director (BS-19), Federal Directorate of Education, Islamabad; Associate Professor (BS-19, BS-18), Lecturer (BS-17), in F.G. College of Commerce, Islamabad. He has also attended various courses in a number of countries including Nepal, USA, Malaysia etc.

Nadine Murtaza is a teacher, curriculum writer and storyteller. She runs NJ's House, an alternative IB PYP (candidate) school in Islamabad, which employs play-based teaching. She is also an Assistant Director at ‘Headstart School’Islamabad, where she oversees academic programs. Nadine volunteers as a storyteller at KuchKhaas and other children's conventions. She is a mother of two.

Nargis Sultana is currently working with Open Society Foundations (OSF), Pakistan. She has vast experience of working in Education Sector, Economic Sector, other Social Sectors and research on social and economic related issues.
During her academic career, she received several awards and distinctions. She has a number of publications to her credit, some of which have been published in the ‘Pakistan Development Review’, the country's leading journal of economic research. She has also co-authored a book entitled ‘Pakistan's Economic Performance: 1947 to 1993 - A Descriptive Analysis’.

She has worked as Education Specialist at MSU/World Bank, Senior Program Officer (Education) in DFID, Research Manager in IFPRI/USAID, and also worked with FAO/UNDP.

Nasim Zehra is a Pakistani anchor and a columnist. Ms. Zehra, Director Current Affairs at Dunya Television and host of Policy Matters, is trained in international security and business management, writes and lectures internationally and nationally on national and international political and security issues. As an Analyst on Pakistan’s political experiences and international security issues,Nasim has written and lectured widely nationally and internationally. Nasim has written as a Syndicated columnist for ‘Inter-Press Services’ (IPS) and for national dailies and for journals including The News and the Defence Journal. In the Arab world she has written regularly for the two leading dailies, “Gulf News” and Dubai-based “Khaleej Times” and the Jeddah-based “Arab News”. NasimZehra regularly lectures at the ‘National Defense College’, ‘Command and Staff College’, ‘Air War College’, ‘Institute for Strategic Studies Islamabad’ and ‘National Institute for Public Affairs’. She has also lectured abroad in the United States, Germany, India, Egypt, Iran, Britain etc.
As an Expert Commentator, Ms. Zehra is invited by local and foreign television and radio networks including ‘GEO Television Network’, ‘Pakistan Television’, ‘BBC’, ‘Al-Jazeera’, ‘Gulf Television’, ‘Middle East Television’, ‘CNN’, ‘Radio Australia and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’ for expert comments on domestic issues and international security issues.Ms. Zehra has also combined writing with management and development consulting. As a writer she specializes as an analyst and strategist in national and international security. NasimZehra’s employment record includes working with the private sector and CIDA, and consulting assignments for bilateral and multilateral organizations.

NigarNazar is the CEO of ‘Gogi Studios PvtLtf’. A graduate of Punjab University, she went on the Fulbright scholarship for professional up-gradation. Her achievements include, a recent ‘Fellowship in Colorado College USA’, Solo exhibition with ‘PNCA’, ‘Shakir Ali Museum, Lahore’, ‘Karachi Arts Council’, and ‘Abbasin Arts Council Peshawar’. Nigar created ‘Gogi’ comics for national dailies such as ‘Jang’, ‘Dawn’, ‘The News’ and ‘The Muslim’. Bus wrapping with Gogi Cartoons took place in 2004, i.e. 9 buses in Twin Cities and 3 buses in Lahore and 2 coasters. She also prepared cartoon murals for 3 hospitals in Islamabad and Rawalpindi including PIMS, CGH, and DHQ. Nigar authored 7 comic books and illustrated and authored 8 books for different national and international organizations. She has experience in conducting workshops and outreach programs in schools for the underprivileged students, to date 6000 children have been addressed through this program. Nigar was invited to be on the jury in Turkey, China, Malaysia, and Algiers. The Government of Pakistan conferred on her ‘Fatima Jinnah award’ for her contribution in the field of Art.

Pervez Amirali Hoodbhoy is a Pakistani nuclear physicist, essayist and defense analyst. He has also taught as the visiting professor of Physics at ‘Lahore University of Management Sciences’ (LUMS) where he also worked on topics in theoretical applications in the topological insulators, various Hall effects and Graphene. Before joining LUMS, he was the professor of nuclear and high-energy physics, and also the head of the Physics Department at the ‘Quaid-e-Azam University’. Currently, he holds the ‘Zohra and Z. Z. Ahmed’ endowed chair in the departments of Mathematics and Physics at Forman Christian College.
He graduated and also received a PhD from MIT and continues to do research in Particle physics. He received the ‘Baker Award for Electronics’ in 1968 and the ‘Abdus Salam Prize for Mathematics’ in 1984. He has authored various scientific research papers in peer-reviewed journals.
Hoodbhoy is also a prominent environmentalist and social activist and regularly writes on a wide range of social, cultural and environmental issues. He is the chairman of “Mashal”, a non-profit organization which publishes Urdu books on feminism, education, environmental issues, philosophy, and modern thought. Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy is a strong supporter of peaceful use of nuclear technology in Pakistan, nuclear non-proliferation, and nuclear disarmament; he has criticized the United States, Israel, Pakistan's and India's nuclear program in many national and international forums.

Rakae Rehman Jamil is a Lahore-based Sitar-Nawaz, classical musician and musicologist. He spent four years under the tutelage of UstadShujaat Khan, son of the late UstadVilayat Khan, and eight months at the ITC-Sangeet Research Academy in Kolkata, where he learned under the guidance of PanditBuddhadevDasgupta, the legendary Sarod maestro, and PanditUlhasKashalkar, one of India’s leading classical vocalists. He went on to join the Musicology Department at NCA, Lahore, in 2003, where he acquired an understanding of South Asian Musicology. He graduated from NCA with an Honours Degree.
In 2013, Rakae completed his degree in the Master of Arts’ Program in Humanities from the University of Chicago, with a concentration in Ethnomusicology. Currently, he heads the Department of Musicology at the University of the Punjab, and is an adjunct faculty member at the ‘MushtaqGurmani School of Humanities and Social Sciences’ at LUMS, where he teaches the course on Evolution of Music in the Sub-continent. He is also conducting research on the folk and classical musical traditions of Punjab, for which he plans to create a short documentary which was completed by July, 2014.

Professor Rashada Fatima is the Director of Federal College of Education since 2011. She has done M.Sc and M.Ed. apart from her administrative responsibilities, she also teaches at the College.

With a major in English Literature, Saeed is currently heading Girls Education Program of Oxfam GB Pakistan since 2010. He has over decade long extensive experience of leading education programmes/projects which are vertically integrated from grassroots activism to district, provincial and national level Advocacy and Policy Change work involving a range of civil society alliances and coalitions. As an educationist, researcher, certified trainer, writer, and development practitioner, he demonstrates passion and proven track record of rights based gender responsive education programming (especially girls’ education) leading to effective governance in education through citizen-led social accountability. Representing regional and global education campaigning networks, his expertise are well-grounded in systematically connecting informed rights holders with duty bearers at all levels. Saeed’s learning & development has been strongly backed by national, international trainings & exposures (United Kingdom, South Africa, Malaysia, Thailand, Senegal and India,). Representing a leading national level NGO, he is the first South Asian winner of ‘Commonwealth Education Good Practice’ “Special Nomination”Award and Govt. of Malaysia CEGPA (2009) and is the Founder and Chair of the first ever Children Parliament of Pakistan.

Sana Mir, born 5 January 1986, is a female Pakistani cricketer of Kashmiri origin and captain of the Pakistan women's team. She was announced ‘Player of the Tournament’ at the 2008 Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier, and currently ranks 16th in the Women's ODI Bowlers in the ICC Player Rankings. She is also the only Pakistani in the top 20.
By winning the National Championship for the fourth time in a row, Sana Mir has become the most successful captain of Pakistan at domestic level. Her team has yet to lose a game at domestic level in the past four years.Sana Mir also led the Pakistan team to their first ever tournament win in both the T20 and ODI formats when they played in Sri Lanka in 2011. The teams in the quadrangular cup were Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Ireland, and Holland. She was also awarded the ‘Women of the Match’ title in the T20 quadrangular-cup final against Holland.

SaifeHasan initiated his career in the performing arts through theatre in 1997 and has performed in many prestigious theatre festivals internationally and in Pakistan. Saife is also a well-known actor for television and has directed several plays for renowned production houses in Karachi. He now works independently and has recently established his own production house. Saife is a lead performer and co-founder of ‘Zambeel Dramatic Readings’.

SaleemMairaj initiated his career in theatre with the group Katha in the mid-nineties and has also worked with Tehrik e Niswan since 1999. He has participated in several theatre festivals and worked with renowned theatre directors in the course of his career. Saleem is a well-known actor for television and has been commended for his work in films such as “Ram Chand Pakistani” and “Mein HuunShahidAfridi”. Saleem made his debut with ‘Zambeel Dramatic Readings’ with the children’s story “Raaja Kay Do Seeng” for the CLF in Islamabad.

SamanShamsie is an author who specializes in writing books for children. Educated at ‘Karachi Grammar School’, ‘Allegheny College, USA’, and ‘King’s College, London’, she has worked both as a ceramicist and as a physics teacher. She is the author of two children’s books,“The Adventures of Slothful Slough-off” (OUP, Pakistan) and “The Magical Woods” (OUP, Pakistan). She has also written a story titled “The Heartbeat Tree”, published in ‘Magic: Stories for Eight Year Olds’ (Puffin, India).

Saima is an Associate Professor of Physics at the Federal College of Education, Islamabad. She has done M.Sc in Physics and M.Ed.

Sehar Tariq is a development consultant and an English teacher at a private school in Islamabad. She previously worked as Manager Corporate Social Responsibility at Mobilink. She also worked for the Jinnah Institute, a public-policy think-tank based in Islamabad. She has written numerous articles and is also a blogger.

ShafiaHanif is an Associate Professor of Mathematics at ‘Federal College of Education Islamabad’. She has done B.Ed and M.Sc in Mathematics. She studied from ‘Gomal University’,Dera Ismael Khan.