Board of Advisers

The Future Asia Board of Advisers includes a vast range of illustrious and experienced personalities of Pakistan, ranging from foreign policy to human rights. 

Mansoor Ahmed Khan

Mansoor Ahmad Khan is a seasoned career diplomat whose postings and statements reflect steady commitment to pragmatic engagement and national dignity. After rising through Pakistan’s Foreign Service, he served as Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Vienna and Ambassador to Austria and Slovak Republic from June 2018 to August 2020, representing Pakistan at key multilateral bodies such as the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. In September 2020, Ambassador Khan was appointed Pakistan’s Ambassador to Afghanistan—a delicate and pivotal assignment at a time when intra‑Afghan dialogue and transitional arrangements were under way in Doha. As envoy in Kabul, he became the first foreign representative to formally meet Taliban-era leadership, including Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in September 2021. From 2012 to 2012, Mr. Khan also remained Deputy High Commissioner of Pakistan to India. Throughout and after his tenure, Mansoor Ahmad Khan articulated a consistent worldview: Pakistan should chart an independent course—eschewing rigid alignment with either the US or China—and place economic reforms and political stability at the centre of national strategy.

Haroon Rashid

Haroon Rashid is a senior journalist with 35 years of experience of covering the region. Born in Peshawar, he has vast experience of this region. He has travelled Afghanistan, India and Middle East for different coverages. He was associated with the BBC Urdu Service for 21 years and held the last position as Editor Pakistan. He is now Managing Editor of Pakistan’s digital news platform Independent Urdu based in Islamabad. He has masters degrees from Peshawar and City University, London. 

Ismail Khan

Born in 1963 in Peshawar, Ismail Khan began his career as a reporter with The News International at its Peshawar Bureau in 1991. He left The News in 2001 to join Daily Dawn as its bureau chief in Peshawar and rose to become its Editor (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) in 2008. He has worked with various international media outlets including the BBC, VOA, Wall Street Journal, Newsweek and Reuters and New York Times reporting on events from the region. He was one of the recipients of the NYT team winning the prestigious Pulitzer Prize in 2009 for its coverage of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Rukhshanda Naz

Rukhshanda Naz is an activist in the Pakistani women’s movement since the early 1990s. A lawyer by profession, she also worked with a number of NGOs on issues of violence against women and children including women’s empowerment programs. Her work for peace started with issues of Afghan refugees and peace movements for India and Pakistan. In her volunteer capacity, She is a member of Pakistan India People’s Forum for Peace and Democracy and UN Women (Civil Society Advisory Member) and Women Regional Network(Afghanistan-India-Pakistan). As a professional she has served one of the country’s leading civil society organizations for women’s rights, Aurat Foundation, as Resident Director from May 1993-May 2008 and Chief Operating Officer May 2008- Oct 2009. Simultaneously, she ran Global Human Rights Field office(Afghanistan/Pakistan) as head of the Field Office Nov 2000-Mar 2001.
Her last formal job was as head of UN Women Pakistan’s KhyberPakhtunkhwa/Federally Administered Tribal Areas division. She has obtained LLM (Int. Law) and Master in Peace and Reconciliation Studies from the Coventry University.
In 2019, she was appointed as first women Ombudsperson-KP for the Protection of Women against Harassment at Workplace. She has been part of serval research and also gender reviews of legal frames in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Her latest research, ‘Displacement and Rehabilitation: A Continued Struggle for a Gender Sensitive Policy supported by USIP.’ In addition, she has collected testimonies from the conflict areas, Women in Conflict Voices Equality is available on https://www.womensregionalnetwork.org/publications 
Her work has been acknowdged by government and non-government organisations, Provincial Human Rights Award –Defending women human rights in KP and FATA by Women Political Caucus and Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. National Human Rights Award -Working for rights of women in FATA by Ministry of Human Rights, Government of Pakistan. Human Right Defender by Civil Society Network, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Struggle for women legal rights by National Commission on the Status of Women.

Muhammad Amir Rana

Amir Rana is the founding director of Pak Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS) when it was launched in January 2006 and had previously worked as a journalist with various Urdu and English newspapers from 1996 until 2004. He has also been affiliated with the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, Singapore as a visiting fellow. He has also given lectures at several universities and security institutes in Pakistan and abroad.

He has worked extensively on issues related to counter-terrorism, counter-extremism, and political economy. He has published widely in national and international journals, professional publications and magazines. He writes regularly for Dawn, Pakistan’s leading English newspaper. 

He is also the editor of Pakistan Annual Security Report, PIPS’ English research journal ‘Conflict and Peace Studies’ and Urdu monthly magazine “Tajziat”. He has also provided his services as consultants to several international organizations including Adam Smith International.

Shad Begum

Born in Talash, Lower Dir, Khyber‑Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, Shad Begum is the first university-educated female in her family, supported from the start by her father, brothers, and husband—rare support in her conservative community. She founded in 1994 at the age of 16 as Anjuman Behbood‑i‑Khawateen Talash, later renamed the Association for Behaviour & Knowledge Transformation (ABKT). Under Shad’s leadership, ABKT has operated across the underserved areas of KP and merged districts, providing micro‑credit, basic education, health services, and political training to marginalized women.

Despite Taliban intrusion and displacement in 2009–10, Shad ensured ABKT's continuity by relocating and rebuilding operations in Peshawar. Through her advocacy, 104 women were elected to local councils in 2005 in her region, expanding women’s political footprint in traditionally male-dominated decision-making bodies.

She was awarded the U.S. State Department’s International Woman of Courage Award in 2012, presented by Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton. She is also recipient of the Prize for Creativity in Rural Life (2008, Women’s World Summit Foundation), Ashoka Lifetime Fellowship, Reagan–Fascell Democracy Fellowship, and Acumen Fellowship. In a region where women’s voices were once suppressed, Shad Begum stands out as a courageous catalyst of change. Her model demonstrates how grassroots organizing, political action, and community resilience can slowly—but powerfully—transform conservative societies from within.

Prof Dr Shahjahan Syed 

Prof Dr Shahjahan is a senior academician and teacher of journalism. He is former Chairperson Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Peshawar. He is now Director MTRC Media Training & Research Centre in Islamabad.

 

Ziaul Haq Sarhadi

Ziaul Haq Sarhadi is a Peshawar-based senior businessman, writer and social activist. He has vast experience in the field of trade with Afghanistan and beyond. He is senior vice president ofPak-Afghan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PAJCCI). He is President of Frontier Custom Agents Association (FCCA), and was nominated as Honorary Coordinator of Custom Matters to the Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO). He has also served twice as a Member Advisory Committee of the FTO Secretariat.