Team | Agahi

Puruesh Chaudhary

Founder & President, AGAHI

Puruesh Chaudhary is a futures researcher, development and strategic communication professional. She has a professional master’s degree in International Negotiation and Policymaking from Institut De Hautes Études Internationales Et Du Développement in Geneva. Her work mostly involves foresight research, knowledge-collaborations and content intelligence.

Melisande Lissa Middleton

Ethics and Values Advisor

Melisande Middleton is the Founder and is on the Advisory board of The Center for International Media Ethics (CIME) in addition to training with Simmons & Simmons LLP in Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) law. In March 2013 she was selected to be a Young Global Leader (YGL) by the World Economic Forum.

Dr Ilhan Niaz

Academic Advisor

Ilhan Niaz is Assistant Professor of History at the Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan, and the author of Old World Empires: Cultures of Power and Governance in Eurasia (New York: Routledge, 2014), The Culture of Power and Governance of Pakistan, 1947-2008 (Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2010, 2011) and An Inquiry into the Culture of Power of the Subcontinent (Islamabad: Alhamra, 2006).

Rufruf Chaudhary

Legal Counsel

Ms. Chaudhary is a Barrister of the Honourbale Society of Lincoln’s Inn and is a Certified ADR ODR International Civil/Commercial Mediator. She currently assists a corporate law firm in Karachi with matter pertaining to Banking and Finance, Commercial and Company law. She is Lecture of Law at Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology and Themis School of Law in Karachi and teaches modules of the University of London International Programme. Ms.

Sohaib Jamali

Economic Advisor

With an academic background in finance, economics and social choice, Sohaib’s work spans more than a decade, spreading across financial, economic and development sector research, as well as economic journalism. In his journalistic hat, Sohaib co-founded Business Recorder’s independent research wing (BR Research) in 2009 as its founding Research Editor.

At BR Research, which focuses on domestic economic reforms, Sohaib has researched and supervised a growing team of analysts on matters related to developmental issues, public policy, macroeconomics, and corporate/industrial affairs. Over the last eight odds years with BR Research, Sohaib has himself published more than a 1000 research notes and over 300 published interviews of business & economic leaders from public and private sector. His areas of interest of late have been public policy and political economy in general, and taxation and governance reforms in particular. His current association with BR Research is in the capacity of consulting Research Editor. He is also associated as a features writer for FDI Intelligence – a FDI specialist division of The Financial Times group. In his prior life, he was a stock broker with brokerage AKD Securities, which he quit before the Global Financial Crisis of 2007-08 to pursue journalism and consulting with initial associations being with Thompson Reuters and Geo TV. Under his consulting hat, Sohaib has project-based associations with Pakistani think tanks, namely PRIME Institute and the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), focusing on democracy, governance, trade and private sector development. Some of the associations with PRIME Institute have taken the shape of published studies on real estate investments and mortgage finance; understatement of inflation in Pakistan; public debt management and the way forward. PRIME has also engaged him in advising Pak-Afghan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PAJCCI) on matters related to bilateral and transit trade. He is also the Series Editor of PRIME’s periodic Policy Studies whose topics have ranged from housing and flat taxation to trade liberalization. He also advises PRIME on its monthly Policy Report, which is a boutique product providing actionable intelligence at both micro and macro levels of the economy. With the SDPI he is currently supervising their USIP-funded study on regional trade in the context of policy, infrastructure and political economy landscape. Previously, he did a study on tax reforms in Sindh that led to the publication of a policy note for stakeholder deliberations. Sohaib also advises a host of Karachi-based SMEs and bilateral donors by providing client-specific unpublished studies or private consultative presentations on various matters relating to business and economy. His volunteering activities include managing an affectees camp in the aftermath of the earthquake that hit northern Pakistan in 2005; raising funds for the flood affectees in 2010; mentoring youth at civic hackathons, and building the capacity of economic journalists in workshops organized by Centre for International Private Enterprise – Pakistan. He holds an MA in Philosophy, Politics, & Economics from the University of York (UK) after completing his MBA from Institute of Business Management (Karachi, Pakistan). He also holds the certification of C.A. Intermediate from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan. His main areas of interest revolve around normative economics, and politics and philosophy of development, broadly conceived. Sohaib enjoys trekking and music with a bias for jazz, classics, qawwali and rock and roll. If he gets a second life he would like to be a high altitude mountaineering guide in the Himalayas.

Commodore Muhammad Azhar

Community Lead

Commodore Muhammad Azhar served in Pakistan Navy for more than thirty five years, after retirement he served in Benazir Income Support Program as Director Field Operations for five years. He was than associated with Inland Water Transport, a Project of Government of Punjab. Later he joined AGAHI as Community Lead. He completed his Masters from University of Karachi and National Defence College, South Africa.

Kirsten Mogensen

Media Development Advisor

Kirsten Mogensen is an associate professor at Roskilde University, Denmark. She speaks about the role of journalism in ensuring transparency and democracy. Before her academic career, Mogensen was for ten years a professional journalist in print as well as broadcast. Her beat was economics, and she covered a number of high-profile scandals within the business world. Following her professional journalism career, she taught journalism for 15 years.

Hasan Saeed

Projects Coordinator

Hasan Saeed graduated from Lahore School of Economics with a degree in Bachelor of Science. He majored in Economics and did his minors in Social sciences. He has worked with Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund in their sector development unit. Hasan also writes regularly for The Nation. Currently he is working as Projects Coordinator at AGAHI.

Azfar Jahangir

Management Associate

Azfar Jahangir started working from the age of ten as a host of a television show which was aired on ARY, ATV and PTV. He worked as an Assistant Administrator Officer at Arizona Associate, an emerging development and construction company. Jahangir later went on to becoming a content writer for Knowzzel an online forum. He freelanced for Rumi strategies. Azfar Jahangir interned at the Consulate of Cyprus in Islamabad.

Sami Qureshi

Manager Finance

Sami possess large spectrum of experience in corporate finance, business modeling and strategic pricing. He is a certified financial consultant and an advanced diploma in accounting. Sami has worked in multiple companies including Interactive Group in Senior Executive Pricing & Business Modeling, and Pakistan Ordinance Factories as their accounts officer.

Rubia Javeed

Rubia Javeed has an MBA and Post Graduate in Human Resource Management from National University Modern Languages. She has Research Thesis in TQM and Participated in Different Projects and Events held at University. Javeed is currently working as a Chief Coordinator at AGAHI. She has been discovered as an upbeat, enthusiastic, self motivated individual who […]

Rubia Javeed has an MBA and Post Graduate in Human Resource Management from National University Modern Languages. She has Research Thesis in TQM and Participated in Different Projects and Events held at University. Javeed is currently working as a Chief Coordinator at AGAHI. She has been discovered as an upbeat, enthusiastic, self motivated individual who is also known as an active team player.

Maria Nosheen

Maria Nosheen has an MSc in Mass Communication specialising in Public Relations. She has previously worked at the Incubation Centre of the National University of Modern Languages. She is currently associated with AGAHI. Nosheen produced a short documentary on “Slums” and I successfully launched a Public awareness campaign on “Save Smiles”. Her interest is in […]

Amna Sabahat

Program Manager

Amna Sabahat did her Bachelor of Science in Mass Communication from NUST. She is currently working with AGAHI as program manager.

Muhammad Arsalan Sajid

Research Coordinator

Arsalan Sajid is a graduate from National University of Science and Technology (NUST) with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. His projects are based around Renewable Energy Systems, specifically Solar Ponds, and Energy Analysis. He works with AGAHI as a Research Coordinator focusing on at least 30 different country development variables.

Humza Haroon

Research and Portfolio Manager

Humzah Haroon graduated with a Bachelors in Economics from COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI). During his time at CUI he majored in subjects such as Development Economics, Applied Econometrics and, Micro and Macro Economics.

Saweed Tariq

Media and Communication Specialist

Saweed is a development professional having an extended experience of the Public Sector, NGOs/INGOs and the Private Sector, having extensive experience while employed at different roles throughout his career. Saweed holds a Masters’ degree in Media Studies from RIPHAH INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY and is currently employed by AGAHI, a nonprofit organization, as a Communication and Media professional. He has an extended experience in Media Research, development of training, marketing research,

Zain Omar

Project Lead

Zain Umar is a Social researcher, co-founder/program and project lead for digital banking awards, development practioner, SDG specialist & a Global Shaper accredited by the World Economic Forum with a 5 yr background of R&D in development sector including engagements with legal and International non-profit organizations & Welsh Assembly Government.

Hamza Nasir

Program Coordinator