Gul-e-Mariam Wattoo
Member BOD, National Curriculum Council of Pakistan
Gul-e-Mariam Wattoo, a gold medal recipient in Masters in Educational Leadership and Management, has been promoting literacy in rural Punjab for over 14 years. She is a passionate advocate for female education and empowerment.
As a change catalyst, Ms. Wattoo has successfully introduced ICT in education in the challenging rural environment. In recognition of her services, the Governor of Punjab bestowed the “Outstanding Performance Award” upon her.
In 2014, Ms. Wattoo was selected for the International Visitors Leadership Program (IVLP) by the US Department of State, and has represented Pakistan as a “Woman Social Entrepreneur” delegate along with fourteen other accomplished women from across the globe.
Besides the Pakistan Alliance for Girls Education, Ms. Wattoo also sits on the board of the National Curriculum Council of Pakistan where she is contributing towards devising a single national curriculum. She firmly believes that a nation cannot progress until its women are educated.
Huma Fakhar is a Businesswoman from Pakistan. She is the winner of the 2023 Global Inspirational Award (UK), Hum National Women Leaders Award and Fatima Jinnah Lifetime Award. Huma is a graduate of University of Cambridge and founder of Map Capital and Map Services Group. She has primarily focussed on the dairy and rice sectors in Pakistan and GCC.
Huma’s fund AgriReWild Climate Fund has been launched in Riyadh focussing on regenerative agri and dairy in lieu of climate change. She also serves as an independent director at NASDAQ-listed Netsol Technologies and Nestlé Pakistan’s DRDF.
From boardrooms to grassroots, Huma is redefining women’s leadership. She has empowered one million Pakistani women dairy farmers and authored ‘Dhoodh-Darya’, Pakistan’s Dairy Development Vision.
Parvez Iftikhar
CEO, Universal Service Fund (USF) Pakistan
Parvez Iftikhar has more than 40 (forty) years of field experience in Information Communication Technology (ICT) domain – Public as well as Private sectors, in-country as well as abroad.
Currently he is serving the country pro bono in various capacities, including: Member of ‘Prime Minister’s Task Force on IT and Telecom’; Member of Federal Govt’s ‘Advisory Committee for 5G Planning in Pakistan’; and Member of subgroup of Planning Commission’s Advisory Committee on ICT. Additionally, he also mentors tech startups.
As a professional, he provides consulting services on Telecom Policy and Regulation to various telecom administrations in Asia and Africa (over 14 countries so far), mainly through global organizations like World Bank, International Telecom Union (ITU, a UN body), USAID, DFID (UK), Commonwealth Telecom Organisation, and various private consulting houses in Europe and USA.
He was founding CEO of Universal Service Fund (USF) Pakistan – created for subsidising telecom services in un-served areas of Pakistan under the Federal Ministry of IT, and before that he was the country-head of German multinational Siemens “Com” in Pakistan.
A graduate of UET Lahore, he has been on sabbaticals to Carnegie Mellon University, and Harvard Kennedy School, USA; Oxford University, UK; and National Defense University, Islamabad. He received extensive technical and managerial training at Siemens, mainly in Germany.
Dr Saima Rana is CEO and Principal of GEMS World Academy-Dubai, Chief Education Ambassador for the Varkey Foundation and Founding Trustee of The Shahnaz Foundation. With a background in school improvement in inner-city schools, and a PhD in Education, Dr. Rana has worked in areas with high deprivation indicators throughout her career. She combined traditional school improvement techniques with a commitment to collaboration between the local community and businesses in order to accelerate regeneration and raise standards. Dr Rana has worked as a senior educational consultant for Cambridge Education Islington with a particular focus on Teaching and Learning, Raising Standards, ICT, Assessment for Learning, Curriculum, Change Management and Building Schools for the Future.
Dr Rana is a member of the following boards: The Duke of York Inspiring Digital Enterprise Award (iDEA), Mosaic Community Trust (MCT), University College School (UCS), the Institute for Ethical AI in Education (IEAIED) and the BCS School Curriculum and Assessment Committee. Dr Rana has sat on the Board of International Baccalaureate Schools and Colleges Association (IBSCA), and is also a qualified Executive Leadership Coach.
Dr Rana has devoted herself to a variety of charitable educational projects, with a particular passion for building schools for children in poverty across the globe. She is the trustee of charitable schools in Pakistan and Kashmir, and provides teacher training to schools located in the slum areas in Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Sudan and other parts of Africa. She is a mental health ambassador for Refugee Mothers, where she has worked with a number of organisations to support language learning. She also supports several street schools in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Her latest project is to build an orphanage and a technical skills college in Pakistan. She believes passionately that education is the answer to eliminate poverty, inequality, and injustice, and has dedicated her career to the ideal of giving every child a world class education.
