Sherry Rehman
Chairperson, JI

Sherry Rehman is ranking member of the National Security Committee of the National Assembly of Pakistan for her second term. She has served as Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Pakistan (2008-09). Rehman also held three additional portfolios of Health, Women Development and Culture as Federal Minister, in 2008. Rehman also currently serves as Member on the Azad Kashmir Legislative Council as well as the Gilgit-Baltistan Council. 

Sherry Rehman is founding Chair of the Jinnah Institute. The JI currently consists of Program Director Sarah Khokhar, Associate Research Fellow Huma Yusuf, Security Analyst Salman Zaidi, Program Officer Raniya Khan, Research Analyst Sabina Ansari, Research Analyst Fatima Mujtaba, Program Coordinator Mishael AliKhan, Public Affairs Officer Hisham Mohmand and is supported by a network of policymakers, academics, journalists and professionals.

After her resignation as Federal Minister on the principle of protecting media freedoms, Rehman has authored several legislative bills and resolutions on foreign and security policy, human rights and media protections. She also serves as a member of the Parliamentarians Network for Conflict Prevention at East West Institute in Brussels, and Parliamentarians for Global Action in New York.

Rehman is also an award-winning journalist from Pakistan with 20 years of experience in both the broadcast and print media. Former editor of the "Herald" newsmagazine based in Pakistan, she has studied politics and foreign relations at Smith College, USA, and the University of Sussex, UK. In her capacity as a senior journalist, Rehman has been the first Pakistani media person to be recognized by the UK House of Lords for independent journalism at the Annual British Muslim Ceremony in 2002.

For her services to the restoration of democracy, Sherry Rehman has been awarded the title of 'Democracy's Hero' (2009), by the International Republican Institute. She was also presented 'The Freedom Award' Pakistan in 2009 by the Association of Television Journalists for her work for media independence in Pakistan. In 2008, she was presented the International Peace Award for Democrats by the Human Rights Commission.

Rehman has also been responsible for the formulation and presentation of the only comprehensive briefing on National Security put out by the Government of Pakistan. This in-camera October 2008 briefing, to a joint sitting of parliament, led to the adoption of the Joint Resolution on Terrorism, the first national consensus by public representatives on the issue of terrorism in the country. Rehman has testified to the US Sub-Committee on National Security of Congress, lectured extensively at international and domestic think tanks, and at Pakistan's National Defence University on Pakistan's national security challenges and imperatives. Sherry Rehman is currently Pakistan's Ambassador to the United States.

 

Huma Yusuf
Associate Research Fellow, JI

Huma Yusuf is an award-winning columnist and investigative journalist. She writes a weekly column in the leading Pakistani English-language daily, Dawn, on topics related to security, foreign relations, and human rights. Her column has twice won the Best Column Award from the All Pakistan Newspapers Society (2008 and 2010). She also contributes articles on a freelance basis to papers in the US and India, including The Christian Science Monitor and Indian Express.

In 2010-11, Yusuf was the Pakistan Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (Washington D.C.) During her fellowship, she researched the impact of the independent Pakistani media on politics, foreign policy (particularly US-Pakistan relations), and society for a forthcoming book.

Previously, as a staff writer for Dawn and its current affairs monthly, the Herald, Yusuf specialized in human rights reporting and investigated subjects such as ‘honour’ killings, gang warfare, ethnic conflict, and the state’s ineffective prosecution of rape cases. Her reporting was awarded the UNESCO/Pakistan Press Foundation ‘Gender in Journalism′ Award (2005) and the European Commission’s Prix Natali Lorenzo for Human Rights and Democracy Journalism (2006).

 

Salman Zaidi leads JI's Strategic Security Initiative and works on the Indo-Pak and Pak-Afghan Track II dialogues, in addition the Institute's Water Security project. He has authored multiple institutional papers, including co-writing the report 'Pakistan, the United States and the End Game in Afghanistan: Perceptions of Pakistan's Foreign Policy Elite' and 'Extremism Watch: Mapping Conflict Trends in Pakistan 2010-2011'.

Mr. Zaidi holds an MSc. in Violence, Conflict and Development from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London and has previously worked for the development sector in Pakistan.

 

Raniya Khan is a Program Officer at the Jinnah Institute and works on the Open Democracy Initiative with a focus on projects relating to human rights as well as initiatives for strengthening democracy. She has worked as a consultant in the past, monitoring the work of the Rural Support Programmes Network's social mobilization approaches and their impact on women empowerment across Pakistan. 

Ms. Khan holds a Bachelor's in Economics and Political Science from Franklin and Marshall College and a MSc. in Development Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.

 

Hisham Ghaffar Khan Mohmand
Public Affairs Officer, JI

Before joining the Jinnah Institute, where he is responsible for public communications, Hisham Mohmand worked in the development and corporate sectors of Pakistan. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Business from the University of London. More recently he has worked at the Akhtar Hameed Khan Resource Center, the primary research center of the National Rural Support Program (NRSP).

Hisham has led, organized, managed and coordinated teams going into disaster hit areas such as Mansehra district in the aftermath of the October 2005 earthquake and in the Takht Bhai district during the Swat operation. His academic interests lie mainly in Conflict/Security Studies, Islamic Studies, and Cultural/Social Anthropology.

 

Mehmoona Bashar
Public Affairs Assistant, JI

Mehmoona Bashar is a Public Affairs Assistant at Jinnah Institute where she assists in media and public communications. She also helps undertake research on extremism in Pakistan, maintains and updates the website. She has a keen interest in social justice, human rights and women empowerment. She completed her undergraduate in Business from the University of London.

 

Shemrez Nauman Afzal
Project Coordinator, JI

Shemrez Nauman Afzal is Project Coordinator for the Jinnah Institute’s Strategic Security Initiative and works on projects related to the Indo-Pak Track II diplomacy initiative, the Extremism Watch project and the Water Security Program. Mr. Afzal has previously conducted third-party evaluations for the World Bank, and has served as Research Analyst for Spearhead Research, Lahore. He has written reports on Pakistan’s economic outlook, on Asian and global geo-politics, on third world development models, on the Af-Pak security situation, and on the importance of the counter-radicalization and counter-extremism dimension to counter-terrorism and counter-intelligence operations in Muslim countries.

Mr. Afzal is an alumnus of Aitchison College, Lahore, and has a B.Sc. (Hons) in Economics from the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). Mr. Afzal specializes in institutional political economy and research methodologies, and is interested in social mobilization techniques.

 

Madeeha Ansari
Research Consultant, JI

Madeeha Ansari is a Research Consultant at Jinnah Institute and works as an in-house writer and editor. She has had development sector experience working for a capacity building consultancy, as well as an education trust running non-formal schools in urban slums. As a free-lance writer, she has been contributing to national publications and international policy blogs on issues of social and economic development.

Madeeha graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Her areas of interest include education and media policy.