Sherry Rehman
President
Senator Sherry Rehman is Parliamentary Leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in Senate, as well as the party’s Vice-President. She is the Founding Chair and serving President of the Jinnah Institute, Chair of the Climate Change Caucus in Parliament, Chair of the CPEC Committee in Senate and Chair of PPP’s Committee on Foreign Affairs.
She is a third-term Parliamentarian, diplomat, journalist, and civil society activist who has received Pakistan’s highest civil award, the Nishan-e-Imtiaz.
Rehman has served as the Leader of Opposition in Senate, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States and Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting. She has held additional portfolios of Health, Women Development, and Culture as a Federal Minister.
Rehman has received several awards including the title of Democracy’s Hero; The Freedom Award for her work for media independence; the International Peace Award for Democrats; and the Jeanne Kirkpatrick Award for Women. Identified as one of the Top Global Thinkers of 2011 by Foreign Policy magazine, she was cover-titled by Newsweek Pakistan as “Pakistan’s Most Important Woman”.
Salman Zaidi
Director Programs
Salman Zaidi works as Director Programs at Jinnah Institute. He was part of the Institute’s founding team and led its Strategic Security Program from 2010-2015 where his work concentrated on Track 2 diplomacy between Pakistan, India, Afghanistan and the United States. He has led research projects on security sector reform, radicalization, youth, democratic governance and resource conflicts. Zaidi has previously worked with international development agencies and INGOs on recasting federal and provincial policy frameworks for security sector reform, rule of law, countering violent extremism and climate change. He holds an MSc in Violence, Conflict and Development from SOAS, UK.
Salman Zaidi can be reached at salmanzaidi@jinnah-institute.org
Ammara Durrani
Senior Research Fellow
A polymath professional with over 19 years of leadership experience, she works on the inter-sections of Knowledge, Policy, Strategy, Management, Communications, Advocacy and Capacity-Building. Her areas of expertise include: Preventing Violence & Peacebuilding; Sustainable Development; Democracy & Governance; Rule of Law & Justice; Foreign Policy & Security; Health & Education; Media Development & Freedom of Information; Public Diplomacy & Strategic Communications; Arts & Culture; and Gender, Youth & Adolescents.
She has served in senior management roles at UNDP Pakistan, Danish Center for Culture & Development, Search for Common Ground, U.S.A., Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited, Federal Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of Pakistan, USAID Pakistan, and World Social Forum. Earlier, Durrani worked as a senior journalist at The News International, Pakistan, and as Daniel Pearl Fellow at Los Angeles Times and Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, U.S.A.
She teaches Political Economy and Public Policy in Pakistan at Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad. Earlier, she taught Gender Studies. at QAU and Medieval Indian History at University of Karachi. She is a Fellow of the Cambridge Commonwealth Society, a Board Member of The Oxford & Cambridge Trust of Pakistan, as well as a core member of the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism.
Durrani holds M. Phil. in International Relations from the University of Cambridge, U.K. (1999); and M.A. (1998) and B.A. Honors (1997) in General History from the University of Karachi, Pakistan. Tweets: @ammaradurrani.
Ammara Durrani can be contacted at ammara.durrani@jinnah-institute.org.
Raza Rumi
Senior Research Fellow
Raza Ahmad Rumi is a Senior Research Fellow at Jinnah Institute. Raza is an international development expert, a renowned writer and journalist. Prior to joining JI, he was working for the Asian Development Bank, Manila as an economist/governance specialist. Earlier, he has worked for the Government of Pakistan, a number of Pakistani NGO networks, the United Nations and has consulted extensively for various development agencies. Raza is also an academic adviser to Network of Asia Pacific Schools and Institutes of Public Administration and Governance; Public Policy Adviser to Leadership for Environment and Development, Pakistan; and a member of the Advisory Board of ASR Resource Centre and South Asian Institute of Women’s studies, Lahore.
Raza’s research interests and advisory skills include: security, justice and counter-terrorism, public policy, governance & anticorruption; decentralization; capacity development; and change management. He has authored several research papers and publications on governance, institutional development and South Asian arts and culture. Some of his writings are archived on www.razarumi.com. He also writes for the Pakistani and regional media. Rumi has been a consulting editor at The Friday Times and Himal SouthAsia. His columns are frequently published in daily Express-Tribune and The News in Pakistan; and The Hindu, Asian Age and other publications in India. Raza also founded popular blogs such as www.pakteahouse.net; and www.lahorenama.wordpress.com.
Raza holds a Bachelor (Economics) and Master degree (Social Planning) from the London School of Economics, UK. He has also been trained in law and public administration and law at the Civil Services Academy, Pakistan.
Raza Rumi can be contacted on razaahmadrumi@gmail.com.
Zahid Hussain
Senior Research Fellow
Zahid Hussain is an award-winning journalist and writer. He has been a correspondent for The Times of London and The Wall Street Journal. He also has covered Pakistan and Afghanistan for several other international publications, including Newsweek, Associated Press, The Economist and India Today, and is a regular columnist for the Dawn newspaper in Pakistan.
He was Pakistan scholar at Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars, Washington. D.C (2011-2012). He has also been a visiting fellow at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge (1999) and at Henry Stimson Center, Washington D.C (1994)
Hussain has authored two books: Frontline Pakistan: The struggle with militant Islam (2007) and The scorpion’s tail: The relentless rise of Islamic militants in Pakistan (2010). Both books have won widespread acclaim as seminal texts on the subject.
He has also contributed chapters: “ Deliberate nuclear ambiguity” in the book “Pakistan and nuclear bomb”. Notre Dame University Press (1999), and “Battling militancy” in the book “Pakistan-Beyond crisis”.Columbia University Press (2011).
Meera Nadeem
Program Manager, SSI
Meera is Program Manager, Strategic Security Initiative (SSI) and Open Democracy Initiative (ODI) at Jinnah Institute where she is responsible for the strategic planning and execution for the SSI Project activities including its umbrella projects, and manages the Chaophraya Dialogue – the longest consistently running Indo-Pak Track II initiative and its operations; and the ODI Project and its subsidiaries including assisting in business development. She is responsible for monitoring and evaluation of both project streams and deliverables.
She is a McGill graduate with a double major in Anthropology and International Development with a focus on Economic Development. Meera has authored a paper on the role of new media in modern warfare, and occasionally contributes to Pakistani news dailies. In the past, she has worked in the Oil and Gas sector and has professional work experience in technical writing and communications that spans over 2 years.
Meera is also the co-founder of the Islamabad Civic Innovation Lab, a dedicated volunteer run chapter of Code for Pakistan that is a part design lab, part community caucus, and part accelerator of civic startups with a focus on designing real solutions with-and-for communities in-and-around Islamabad by bridging the gap between technology and government interfaces for the public. She has an avid interest in the arts and enjoys creating some in her spare time.
Meera Nadeem can be reached at meera.shams@jinnah-institute.org
Syed Mustehsan Rasool
Manager Finance
Syed Mustehsan is Manager Finance at Jinnah Institute. With 10 years of experience in the field of Accounting and Finance, he is responsible for managing treasury functions of the Jinnah Institute.
He holds an Executive Masters of Business Administration (EMBA) from the Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology (SZABIST).
Syed Mustehsan Rasool can be contacted at mustehsan@jinnah-institute.org
Syed Abdulla Wasti
Assistant Program Manager
Abdulla Wasti is an Assistant Program Manager, Strategic Security Initiative (SSI) and Open Democracy Initiative (ODI) at Jinnah Institute where he is responsible for assisting with the strategic planning and execution for the SSI Project activities including its umbrella projects, and is part of the organizing team for the Chaophraya Dialogue – the longest consistently running Indo-Pak Track II initiative and its operations; and the ODI Project and its subsidiaries including assisting in business development.
He is a George Washington University graduate with a major in Transnational Security and Middle East History. In the past, he has worked in the policy and development sector both in Pakistan and Washington, DC.
Abdulla Wasti can be reached at abdulla.wasti@jinnah-institute.org
Wilson William
Executive Assistant
Willson William is Executive Assistant at the Jinnah Institute. William provides support in maintaining accounts and provides administrative support to the Institute while managing logistics and procurement.