Founder of, and senior advisory and executive functions in, several private and non-profit national and international organizations and initiatives. With a Bachelors (Hons) and Masters Degrees from the University of Cambridge, Simi has 30 years of work experience in women's empowerment, gender mainstreaming, social development and social mentoring, water, environment, sanitation and health, irrigation, drainage, food security, climate change, transport and mobility, and related areas.

Senior executive functions in for-profit and non-profit organizations and initiatives in Pakistan. With a Bachelors (Hons) and Masters degree from the University of Karachi, Zia has more than 15 years of work experience both as a national and an international consultant. Team leader and team member on several assignments, with extensive experience of working with civil society and private sector organizations, bilateral and multilateral aid agencies, and national and provincial government institutions.

Member, Board of Directors, Khushali Bank. Member, Regional Council for South Asia, a multi-stakeholder forum for debating and designing development policies and interventions for funding of Interchurch Organization for Development Corporation (ICCO)/Kerk-in-Actie, donor agencies based in the Netherlands. Member, Board of Governors and Editor, Bookgroup, a research organization that publishes instruments of change (briefing papers, policy papers and books for children) for initiating reform in the public education sector in Pakistan. Member, Council of Hisaar Foundation - a foundation for water, food and livelihood security with a special focus on women. Has served on missions of UN agencies and several multilateral and bilateral aid agencies.

Ms Muneezeh Saeed Khan
Director, Research and Evaluation

With a Masters degree from University of Punjab, Maneezeh has 15 years of work experience in the field of social development. Team leader and team member for several field-based studies including baseline surveys, assessments and evaluations, primary data collection, focus group discussions, quantitative and qualitative data compilation, analysis and report writing. She has extensive experience in reporting on stakeholder consultation workshops with government, local authorities and civil society organizations across the country. Involved in the networking and liaison operations with research-related issues of RAASTA.

Ms Shahida Sajjid Ali
Director, Capacity Building and Training

With an M. Phil from the University of Peshawar, Shahida is a seasoned gender trainer with wide ranging experience in designing and conducting workshops on project development, management, implementation, fund raising and gender mainstreaming. She has developed training materials and worked on numerous handbooks and training modules. She also has extensive experience in evaluations and appraisals of institutions, programmes and projects through institutional development, capacity building and community based approaches.

Ms Kausar Hashmi
Manager, Research and Documentation

With a Masters degree from University of Karachi, Kausar has 15 years work experience in the documentation of research studies, primary and secondary data compilation, stakeholder consultations and workshops, research related networking and liaison operations as well as data processing, tabulation, analysis and report writing.

Mr Ashok Kumar
Manager, Field Operations and Data Processing

With a Masters degree in Business Administration from the University of Sindh, Ashok has 10 years of experience conducting field research, training for and supervising of data collection, and GIS based studies. He has special expertise in data processing including qualitative and quantitative software programmes, compilation of quantitative and qualitative data, tabulation and graphics.

Mr Irfan Yazdani
Manager, Information Technology and MIS

With a Bachelors degree in Computer Sscience and Engineering from the Allama Iqbal Open University, Irfan is Cisco Certified Network Associate. He is a specialist in establishing and developing full IT projects, networks and infrastructures from conception to completion and has extensive LAN, WAN, Hardware, Software experience.

Mr A. G. Pirzada
Financial Management and Planning Specialist

Former Chief Economist with Government of Sindh, Mr Pirzada has 40 years of experience in the agriculture, economic and social development sectors of Sindh and in the international development aid sector. As Director of several Government Departments, he has wide range of experience in resources mobilization and finance management, agriculture, livestock, fisheries, food and food security, wildlife and forest management, and transport and infrastructure development. He has participated in several stakeholder consultations, involving project appraisals, monitoring, evaluation and policy formulation and strategies.

Dr Jamil H Kazmi
GIS Mapping and Environment Specilaist

With a Fulbright Post Doctorate degree from Department of Geography, University of Georgia in the use of remote sensing and GIS techniques, and a Ph. D. from the Department of Geography, University of Karachi, Mr Kazmi is an environmental and GIS specialist. He has extensive experience of designing and conducting research studies and in GIS/ desk top mapping systems. He has also published 15 research articles in various journals of national and international repute.

Ms Johdah Rafiq Bokhari
Evaluation and Field Research Specialist

With a Masters degree from the University of Karachi, Johdah specializes in geographical explorations of social problems. She has extensive experience in designing, pretesting and developing qualitative and quantitative research instruments and conducting field research. She also has extensive experience in evaluations and appraisals of institutions, programmes and projects through institutional development, capacity building and community based approaches.