Ms. Shahnaz Wazir Ali

Chairwoman/Trustee

Madame Shahnaz Wazir Ali has an illustrious career as an educationist, development policy specialist, twice elected to National Assembly of Pakistan, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Sector and as a well-known women’s right activist. She served as a Senior Education Specialist on the World Bank; held the position of Minister of State for Education, Govt. of Pakistan; and is on the Board of a number of prestigious national and international organizations, trusts, advisory councils, educational boards, and universities including SZABIST. Shahnaz Wazir Ali has represented Pakistan at international conferences and as a highly valued speaker for national seminars, forums, conferences on education, health, womens' development, population, and poverty alleviation. She has been a champion of numerous social causes such as education for all, women’s rights, Polio eradication in Pakistan. Currently she is Provincial Coordinator for the Government of Sindh for all primary health care programs including maternal and child health and Family Planning Programs. She is also the President of the Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Sciences and Technology. It’s a university with four Campuses in different cities of Pakistan and 1 Campus in Dubai. SZABIST has a student enrollment of 6500 students. These two positions reflect her deep, abiding and long-term commitment to Health & Education. As a social activist dedicated to the cause of advancy women’s right along with human rights & women rights activist in the early 1980’s she was in van guard of the women’s rights movement in Pakistan that fought against the 11 year long dictatorship of General Zia-ul-Haq. 1986 She joined the Pakistan People’s Party led by the martyred Benazir Bhutto (twice Prime Minister of Pakistan) and was elected twice to the National Parliament of Pakistan. From 1988 to 1990, 1993 to 1996 and 2008-13 she had the unique opportunity to serve in key decision-making positions in government, in the first term as Member of the National Assembly elected on the reserved seat for women and Federal Minister of State for Education and subsequently, in the second and third term, as Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Sectors. From 1997-2001, she served as the Senior Education Specialist at the World Bank in Islamabad. Her career in and commitment to education can be traced back to 1965, when she commenced teaching primary school children of deprived communities in Karachi, and subsequently spent about 15 years in teaching and administrative positions in the private sector, which included being Principal at the Lahore American School. She is also a Trustee of the Education Trust which runs Nasra Schools for children of low-income families in Karachi and provides K10 education to more than 10,000 students. From 1997-2001, she served as the Senior Education Specialist at the World Bank in Islamabad. Her principal assignment was to provide policy, program and technical advice and assistance to the Federal and the 4 Provincial governments to facilitate the implementation of the countrywide Education Sector Social Action Program (SAP). It was in this period of her career that she was very actively involved in the planning for transforming the concept of an institutionalized National Education Assessment System (NEAS) within the Ministry of Education into a reality, for monitoring and improving the quality of education in Pakistan. Ms. Wazir Ali holds a Master's Degree in Education from the University of Arkansas, USA and also a Master's Degree in Education Administration from Trenton College, New Jersey, USA. In addition, she has a Diploma in Principal's Certification from Harvard University, Cambridge, USA. Her Bachelor's degree in Mass Communication is from the American University, Washington, D.C. All her basic schooling has been in Pakistani schools in Rawalpindi and Karachi.

Sobia Mai

President/Founder

Sobia Mai is the co-founder and President of Free Village School Foundation. She was born in rural Punjab, and moved to Karachi, as a young girl. She is a self-taught prodigy, who never went to school, but attend college, eventually obtaining a master’s degree in Education from SZABIST, in Karachi. She is writer, teacher, and humanitarian. She has extensive experience in working with families and teaching street kids of Karachi. She worked for and supported many NGOs in Pakistan. To pursue her dream of building and operating a school for the poor and unfortunate children in the rural part of Pakistan, she moved back to Kahror Pakka, near her birthplace. She selected and purchased the land for the school and is now ready to start building the physical budling. We want to acknowledge the great part Danny Dhalla has played in my life as I struggled to complete my education. He continues to lead our Building Fund Drive in the United States and Pakistan. Thank you Danny Sir.

Nadeem Shahzad

CEO/Founder

Dr. Nadeem Shahzad was born in Nowshera, Pakistan. He is the Co-Founder and CEO of Free Village School Foundation. After attending St. Anthony’s and Cathedral High School, he moved to the United States. Dr. Shahzad’s career has spanned C-Level leadership roles where he served as Head of Human Resources for Interfaith Medical Center, Managing Partner for Whittman-Hart/marchFirst, CIO for Coldwell Banker, CIO for PBS Channel 13, Chief Human Resources Officer for American Lung Association, and Director of Information Technology Planning and Resources for Nassau County Government. In an effort to give back and serve as a mentor to those pursuing a higher education, he began teaching as a professor at the University Level in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and overseas in China. He continues to work as Director of Human Resources for a Service Organization near New York. He graduated from Villanova University with a Bachelor’s degree. He also holds a Master’s degree from Villanova University and a Master’s degree from Long Island University. He holds a PhD from Walden University. Dr. Shahzad travels regularly to oversee the project in Pakistan.

Professor Shireen Khan

Advisor

Professor Shireen Khan was born and brought up in Abbottabad. She is an avid reader with a flair for writing, and as a student she wrote for “the Muslim”. Professor Shireen has over 30 years as an educationist in Higher Education. Her passion has been to educate young Pakistani students to be good citizens, and to instill in them the value of honesty, self-reliance, and caring for others.

Peter and Beverley Ewers

Advisors

Peter and Beverley Ewers have lived in Golden, Colorado, USA for nearly thirty years. Peter has a small architectural firm that focuses on sustainable design for both residential and commercial projects, and he has traveled to central America and Africa to provide pro-bono designs for several schools and other buildings. Beverley is a therapist serving individuals and couples. Together they have been involved in many non-profit organizations that serve people in need both in their own community and around the world.