Team

We believe that improving lives for generations starts with educating one child, one woman, one community at a time. We welcome you to meet the staff and leadership teams working to make this happen in the communities we serve.

Staff

Genevieve Walsh, Ed.D.

Co-Founder and CEO

Genevieve Walsh first visited Pakistan in 2007 to explore some of the most remote regions of northern Pakistan, Azad Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, and eventually Afghanistan...

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Christopher "CJ" Carter

Regional Planning and Story Advisor

Christopher “CJ” Carter was raised in the mountains of Montana but has been part of the Iqra Fund planning and digital storytelling team since 2018...

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Ghulam Muhammad

Country Director, Pakistan

Ghulam Muhammad has been with Iqra Fund since 2012 and is responsible for cultivating and maintaining our relationships with stakeholders in the Baltistan area...

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Bashir Ahmed

Director of Programs, Pakistan

Mr. Bashir Ahmed has recently re-joined Iqra Fund as Director of Programs. He has rich experiences of working in the field of education in different capacities.

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Saleem Abbas

Operations Manager, Pakistan

Saleem Abbas does finance, budgeting and administration for Iqra Fund’s Pakistan office. He holds a Masters of Business Administration...

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Naila Atiqa

Program Manager, Pakistan

Naila Atiqa has managed relationships with residents of our participating communities since 2014. Working with female students and Mother Support Groups...

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Aiman Fatima

Teacher Educator, Early Childhood, Pakistan

Aiman Fatima provides teacher training and mentorship for Iqra Fund's new Early Childhood Development program, building teacher capacity to inspire our youngest learners...

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Nureen Fizza

Social Mobilizer, Pakistan

Nureen Fizza began her journey with Iqra Fund as a scholarship student in 2012. Inspired by her eldest sister who was the first girl from their village to be accepted into high school, Nureen...

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Jaffar Alyasini

Teacher Educator, Primary Level, Pakistan

Jaffar has a B.Ed. from Notre Dame Institute of Education, Karachi, and has extensive professional and academic experience as an educator and teacher trainer...

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Naseem Hussain

Site Engineer, Pakistan

Naseem Hussain joined Iqra Fund in 2016 as a volunteer and later became our first Technical Staff for four school extension projects in Basha Valley, and now serves as the Site Engineer...

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Muhammad Hassan

Senior Field Officer, Pakistan

Muhammad Hassan has been with Iqra Fund since 2017, and works as a field officer in the Basha and Basho valleys. He was principal of a primary school for two years...

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Mehdi Ali

Finance Officer, Pakistan

Mehdi Ali joined Iqra Fund as a finance assistant in 2019. Working out of the office in Skardu, his responsibilities include maintaining the financial books, visiting schools and community areas...

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Akbar Ali

Field Officer, Pakistan

Akbar Ali is a visionary leader and a passionate advocate for education. A graduate in Mathematics from the prestigious University of Baltistan Skardu, Pakistan, Akbar has been a teacher...

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Tariq Hassan

Internal Auditor, Pakistan

Tariq Hassan is an economics graduate with nine years of experience in accounting, tax preparation, auditing and corporate affairs. He has worked in finance and business management...

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Board of Directors

Our Board of Directors and Advisory Board are strategically diverse. Members have programming and governance skills, as well as monitoring, reporting and fiduciary transparency expertise. All have lived, worked or traveled in Pakistan.

Genevieve Walsh, Ed.D.

Co-Founder, CEO and Board President

Genevieve Walsh first visited Pakistan in 2007 to explore some of the most remote regions of northern Pakistan, Azad Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, and eventually Afghanistan...

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Rahat Azfar, MD

Board Co-Chair

Rahat Azfar is a clinical epidemiologist and board-certified dermatologist practicing in Ohio. She attended medical school at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey...

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Mahira Razzak

Board Co-Chair

Mahira Razzak is Chair of the Common Ground Speaker series at Bellarmine College Prep and is an accounting manager at a medical education startup. She has a background in auditing clients...

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Christine Monaghan, Ed.D.

Board Secretary

Christine Monaghan is a Doctoral Candidate in International Education at the University of Virginia, with concentrations in International Relations and Human Rights...

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Sabiha Chunawala

Board Vice Chair

Sabiha Chunawala is VP & Deputy General Counsel at Contentful Inc., the global leader in omnichannel content platforms. Sabiha serves as global legal advisor...

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Mehreen Mundh

Board Treasurer

Mehreen Mundh is originally from Karachi, Pakistan currently residing in New York City.

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Kathryn Everett

Board Member

Kathryn spent 10 years working as a humanitarian and social justice advocate. Her experience includes organizing rural communities in the Southwest on behalf of President Barack Obama...

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Kamila Islam

Board Member

Kamila Islam trained as an economist and then had a career in banking and research. Born and raised in Karachi, she has been settled in New York City for nearly two decades.

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Saima Machlovi, Ph.D.

Board Member

Saima Machlovi works as an equity research associate for Morgan Stanley where she predicts trends in biotechnology by investigating therapeutic targets and clinical outcomes. Dr. Machlovi has...

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Steve Swenson

Board Member, Chair of Building Committee

Steve Swenson grew up in Seattle and started climbing in the nearby Cascade Mountains at age 14. He graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in CivilEngineering.

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Advisory Board Members

Durre Nabi

Advisor in Memoriam

Durre Nabi served as an Iqra Fund Board Member and Advisory Board Member from 2014 until her passing in 2023. The Durre Shehwar Nabi Scholarship Fund has been established to honor her legacy...

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Rabia Iqbal

Advisor

Rabia Iqbal is co-founder and managing partner of Nural Capital, a web3 investing platform. Prior to founding Nural Capital, Rabia held roles at Mubadala Capital, Coatue Management and Morgan Stanley.

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Natasha Kazmi

Advisor

Natasha Kazmi has spent 15 years in various roles in the financial services industry, ranging from corporate restructurings to asset management, and has worked in Pakistan, Indonesia and...

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Ana Bjelogrlic Canning

Advisor

Ana Bjelogrlic Canning served as Iqra Fund’s Chief Strategy Officer in 2023 and continues to serve as an Advisor. She has partnered with Iqra Fund since 2021 to develop strategic plans...

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Tim Forbes

Advisor

Former Chief Operating Officer of Forbes Inc., Tim Forbes joined Iqra Fund’s team of founding board members in 2012. Tim brings expertise in business...

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Anne Rockhold

Advisor

Anne Rockhold is the Chief Finance Officer at Accel Partners, one of the most successful venture capital and private equity firms in Silicon Valley...

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Jennifer Sweeney

Advisor

Jennifer Sweeney has worked as general counsel for several start-up companies, practiced corporate law for Weil, Gotshal & Manges, and worked in private equity and investment banking...

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Pervez Sajjad

Advisor, Founding Country Director, Pakistan

One of our first staff members, Pervez Sajjad joined Iqra Fund in 2011 as a volunteer, and became our director of operations in mid-2012

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Deidre Combs, Ph.D.

Advisor

Deidre Combs has written three books on resolving conflict and overcoming challenges through integration of common wisdom from the world’s lasting cultural traditions...

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Andleeb Dawood

Advisor

Andleeb Dawood is the founder and owner of Saffron Table, a contemporary Pakistani restaurant in Bozeman. Formerly an investment banker specializing in financing large building and construction...

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Nadia Rehman

Advisor

Nadia is a founding board member of Iqra Fund. She has also managed the local operation of Iqra in Pakistan. Nadia has worked with the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank...

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Tanya Rosen LL.M.

Advisor

Tanya Rosen is as a conservationist with wildlife nonprofit organizations in Central Asia and Pakistan. Working with the Baltistan Wildlife Conservation and Development Organization...

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Jason Smith

Advisor

Jason is the Chief Advancement Officer for the Bozeman Deaconess Hospital Foundation. Prior to that, he led global corporate communications for the International Federation of Red Cross...

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Sabeena Zehra

Advisor

An Iqra Fund staffer from 2013 to 2018, Sabeena Zehra worked closely with our scholarship students and teachers. She also supported new teacher hiring and training...

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Amna Zafar

Advisor

Amna Zafar has an academic background in social sciences and experience working in the development sector with national NGOs in Pakistan...

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Muhammad Ali Khan

Advisor

Originally from Hushe, Muhammad Ali Khan has been with Iqra Fund since 2011. As a field officer in Hushe Valley, Ali is responsible for promoting education...

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Andrea Bennett

Advisor in Memoriam

Andrea Bennett was the owner and founder of Meridian Ltd. in Bozeman, Montana, and CEO and founder of Boutique Franchise Systems, Inc. Traveling the world with extended visits in Asia ...

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