Sima Kamil was appointed as the Deputy Governor of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) by the federal government on 25 August 2020 for a period of 3 years with immediate effect. She assumed her responsibilities on 26 August 2020, thereby becoming the first woman Deputy Governor of SBP. Before joining SBP, Ms Kamil was the first-ever woman appointed President, United

Safinah D. Elahi is an Early Learning Years Educator. She has been teaching at Pre School Plus, Karachi since 2015. Her interest in the law and world affairs led her to pursue an LLB degree. A mother of two, she often finds herself juggling many roles. She published The Unbridled Romance of Love and Pain with Markings Publishing in August

Mehvash Amin is an English language poet based in Lahore. She has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize for her poem titled ‘Karachi’. Her poems have been published in various literary journals, such as Vallum; New International Poetics (Canada); Sugar Mule (USA); One Hand Clapping (UK); The Missing Slate; and books such as A Khanna’s Capitals (Bloomsbury) and The Stained

Kathy Gannon serves as News Director for Pakistan and Afghanistan for The Associated Press (AP). She has covered the region for the AP as a correspondent and bureau chief since 1988. She is the author of I is for Infidel: From Holy War, to Holy Terror, 18 Years Inside Afghanistan (2005). Gannon was the only Western journalist allowed in Kabul

Anita M. Weiss received her doctorate in sociology from UC Berkeley and is Professor of International and Global Studies at the University of Oregon. She has published extensively on social development, gender issues, and political Islam in Pakistan. She has published eight books including Development Challenges Confronting Pakistan (co-edited with Saba Gul Khattak, 2013), Pathways to Power: The Domestic Politics

Osman Haneef was born in Pakistan and, as the child of a diplomat, grew up in different cities in Europe, Asia, Australia, and the Middle East. He studied creative writing at Stanford and the Faber Academy, and won the Frank Allen Bullock Prize for creative writing at the University of Oxford. He has worked as a tech entrepreneur, and a

Omar Shahid Hamid is a senior police officer and author of four novels, The Prisoner; The Spinner’s Tale; The Party Worker; and The Fix. He has been widely quoted and regularly featured in several publications including The New York Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Times, Le Monde, Reuters, CNN, and BBC. His first novel, The Prisoner (2013),

A poet, fiction writer, translator, and a broadcast journalist by profession, Syed Kashif Raza has authored six books including two volumes of poetry and a novel. His first novel, Char Darvesh aur Aik Katchwa received the UBL Fiction Prize in 2020. The novel was also short-listed for KLF Urdu Literature Prize in 2020. He has translated Mohammed Hanif’s novel, A

Niilofur Farrukh is a Karachi based art interventionist whose work has expanded the space for art publication, curation, and public art in Pakistan. She is the author of A Beautiful Despair—The Art and Life Of Meher Afroz ( Le Topical Pvt Ltd., 2020); Pioneering Perspectives (Feroszons, Pvt. Ltd., 1996); and co-editor Pakistan’s Radioactive Decade: An Informal Cultural History of the

An author, art historian, film critic, journalist broadcaster, and expert in Development and Human Rights. He has served as an advisor at the UN on human rights, gender equality, and culture. Asif has written extensively on literature, art, South Asian cinema, and sociology in English, Hindi, and Urdu. He is currently working on his book on women’s rights movement in