Baela Raza Jamil

Chief Executive Officer

Baela Raza Jamil, CEO of Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA) centre for education and consciousness and the founder of the Children’s and Teachers’ Literature Festivals in Pakistan. Baela has worked with provincial and federal governments as a technical advisor in education sector reforms, public private partnerships, innovations and financing. She leads the citizen led assessment and accountability initiative, the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) Pakistan which was the trigger for the CLF in 2011 due to the low learning outcomes of children. Baela seeks to mobilize multiple allies to make Pakistan Learning Festival into a Social Movement for - promoting reading, expression and creativity as an Equalizer. She is serving as a Commissioner to the Education Commission and is associated with many global, regaional and national and provincial Boards.

Muhammad Abu Baker

Manager DTP

Muhammad Abubakar was born and raised in Walled City, Lahore. He has more than 20 years of experience as a Graphic Designer in the development sector in Pakistan, with a diverse portfolio comprising a vast ¬¬variety of designs, such as but not limited to logos, brochures, reports, advocacy material, presentations, giveaways, event management tools, digital graphic user interface - GUIs and social media graphics. He is highly skilled with various design tools and programs. He is highly creative with the ability to work well within a team. Extensive experience in managing diverse team of artists like designers, printers, social media handlers and coordinating with them to deliver a single product. Abubakar holds a Bachelor in Arts from the Punjab University, Lahore and he is a qualified Graphic Design from the National College of Arts, all of which only further molded his passion for graphic designing.

Qamar Abbas

Manager IT

IT specialist with a Master’s Degree in Computer Science and having experience in Mysql, PHP, ASP, ASPDotNet, JavaScript, and Photoshop. I have more than 15 years of experience in the industry and I am proficient with a wide variety of Web development, Database Management, security, engineering, and managing operating system software. It is my goal as IT Manager at Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA) to utilize my experience and knowledge so that ITA can enhance and strengthen in IT field.

Sehar Saeed

Deputy Director Research

With a passion to make a career in the development sector, Sehar Saeed has been working in the field of education for the last 10 years. She has worked extensively in the areas of quality, community based initiatives for education, popularizing early childhood education programs etc. across Pakistan. Sehar is presently working as Deputy Director Research at ITA, and oversees large scale surveys, service delivery programs, impact evaluations etc. As part of a geographically widespread portfolio, her work extends beyond research into policy and implementation in the field. She had opportunities to work with researchers, policy officials and education department bureaucrats that play a major role in shaping the educational landscape in Pakistan.

Aftab Ahmad

Assistant Manager DTP

Aftab Ahmad has more than 15 years of experience as a Graphic Designer with a portfolio comprising a vast variety of designs, such as logos, brochures, Training Manuals, Annual Reports, advocacy material, presentations, giveaway materials, and promotional material for various events. He is skilled at working fast and under pressure, able to quickly understand the requirements of the team and produce a plan for achieving success. Aftab holds a Bachelor in Arts from Punjab University and is a qualified Photographer from the Beaconhouse National University.

Waqas Hameed Bajwa

Deputy Director Marketing & Partnerships

Shaukat Hussain

District Project Manager

Shaukat Hussain is serving as District Manager (Program) with Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA) center for education and consciousness since March 2014 in South Punjab (District Multan, Muzaffargarh and Kot Adu). He is working in close coordination with the line departments and ITA has a significant face as leading organization in South Punjab especially for girl’s education programs. He has 18 years of experience in social sector. He is working in leadership role with diversified teams under different programs since 2008.

Waseem Rasheed

Composer & Graphic Designer

Waseem Rasheed is an English, Urdu, and Math composer with additional skills in graphic design. Composing and designing materials for students, educators, trainers, and researchers is an area of expertise for him. Previously, he worked for a renowned publishing house for 10+ years.

Mehwish Nazar

District IT Trainer

Mehwish Nazar is currently working as a project coordinator for (META/WSIP). She started her career in 2014 with ITA and was groomed by handling the administration department and office operations. She is also the part of Children Literature Festival which is ITA’s flagship program.She looks after the field operations by visiting schools and conducting teachers' training. She's also the core part of the survey team who conducts surveys across Sindh.

Sehrish Farooq

Provincial Manager - Sindh

Sehrish Farooq is working with ITA from last 6 years. She appointed as a Coordinator for Children’s Literature Festival- a biggest learning festival and later on promoted as a Provincial Head Sindh. She has closely worked with the ITA’s flagship program Children’ Literature Festival that is now Pakistan Learning Festival, across Pakistan. She has successfully conducted more than 70 events almost in every city including remote areas of Pakistan. Sehrish has diverse experience working in the development sector particularly with teaching and training as an implementing specialist advocating for providing access to quality education systems for all children. She has worked extensively in the areas of assessment, community-based initiatives for education, popularizing early childhood education programs, etc. across Sindh. As part of geographically widespread programs, her work extends beyond research into policy and implementation in the field. She has been engaged working with researchers, policy officials, and education department bureaucrats that played major role in shaping the educational landscape as well as her comprehensive fieldwork across various villages across Pakistan allowed interactions with direct stakeholders including school owners, teachers, parents and students, and communities. Sehrish is a Certified Master Trainer from reputable organizations including British Council, Facebook, and Telenor. She has co-authored a children’s book ‘Corona: Dushman Ya Dost’ (Corona: Foe or Friend) to make children aware about Coronavirus and its precautionary measures.

Waqas Imran

Data Analyst

Waqas Imran is an expert in data and statistics. He has a basic qualification of Master of Phillosophy in Statistics from Riphah International University. He has over 10 years of experience in the development sector with public and private stakeholders and has produced a couple of quantitative research articles on comparative education, public health, social inclusion, financial inclusion, social mobility, and demography. Besides working on research articles, Waqas Imran has worked on SDG 4 reporting from Annual Status of Education (ASER Pakistan). AT ITA, he has been a lead member of the national and international assessments, which include ASER Pakistan and the International Common Assessment for Numeracy (ICAN). He has a strong skillset in tool development for literacy and numeracy assessments, quantitative analysis, and visualization of data. Waqas has skills for developing large databases for literacy and numeracy. Other than learning assessments, Waqas Imran has expertise of Monitoring and Evaluation.

Fatima Jaffar

Project Coordinator

Fatima Jaffar is working in ITA as a Project Coordinator (LSK/PEF/PEIMA) she is a Psychologist and an active human rights defender, working hard for the psychosocial well being and empowerment of survivors/victims and other vulnerable groups of society. She is an Alumni of the International Visitor leadership program (IVLP) supported by the American State Department and visited the USA for a coalition building network on Gender Based Violence. As an organizational member, she is working to ensure basic and life skill based education of children involved in child labour and for empowerment of their families through skill development.

Muhammad Shakeel Ahmad

Training Officer

“I have thoroughly enjoyed my journey with ITA since February, 2018. The dynamic team here has always pushed me to do better." Muhammad Shakeel Ahmad is leading ITA Pakistan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He has majored in Communication and Operations Management and has worked with multiple National and International Organizations during his 11-year professional career. He is a certified trainer of play based learning methodologies and has trained people of all age groups and ranks.

Muhammad Fida Hussain

Manager Academics and Professional Development

Fida works as Manager Academics & Professional Development at Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA). He is involved in diverse activities, however, his main work is around academics and teacher training. His areas of expertise are Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL), creating equitable learning opportunities for all, inquiry and problem-based science education, inquiry-based learning (IBL), project-based learning (PBL), technology in education, instructional design, education leadership, assessment design, arts and drama in the classroom, and play-based learning. He has trained 2000+ teachers on various subjects related to teaching, learning, school improvement and family engagement in education. He strongly believes that teachers are nation builders, and a nation can only be transformed through education which prepares them for the future.

Zubeda Parveen

District Project Manager

Zubeda Hassan District program manager BWP Skills, Strong coordination with Line Departments, Committed team player with strong analytical and problem-solving skills, Willingness to relocate and ability to quickly adapt to new environments and technologies, dedicated to successful project completion. Strong leadership skills and a proven ability to manage and motivate a team.

Syeda Mariam Shah

Manager WSIP/ECE

Mariam Shah has 9 years of diversified experience in education sector and is working with Idara -e-Taleem-o-Aagahi from last 2 years as Manager WSIP-ECE. She holds Master’s Degree in Applied Psychology and is a passionate educationist. Through her various roles she holds proficiency in Early Childhood Education, Art of Storytelling, Curriculum Development, STEAM education, Teacher Training and Capacity Building, with expertise in program design and management.

Farah Shah

District Manager

Farah Shah is currently working as District Manager at Pakistan Literacy Project at ITA . Her core work involves establishing Child-Friendly libraries in the government schools and working closely with the School Education Department Punjab and other stakeholders. Build capacity of teachers, field officers and community members for ensuring functional and sustainable libraries. Prior to this she was working as training associate in academics and training unit at Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA). She has vast experience in the development of teaching and learning materials. She was one of the frontline master trainers of distance and blended learning during COVID-19. She develops engaging contents to teach through interdisciplinary pedagogy which are aligned with Single National Curriculum (SNC-2020). Moreover, she has been part of the technical and editorial review of “Mahol Saheliyan – A trilogy of books on climate justice” which have been well reviewed by the National Curriculum Council (NCC) and the Ministry of Federal Education & Professional Training (MoFE&PT) . She has also implemented these books along with engaging activities in different schools and summer camps with children and teachers.

Sonia Hafeez

Provincial Trainer/Coordinator

Sonia Hafeez is working as Provincial Coordinator/Trainer under the project “We Think Digital” by Meta. In her current role her primary responsibility is to manage the province wise coordination with Govt. and Private schools of Punjab. She is also supervising the process of data collection and reporting under the project. She has also supervised the digital content creation for the “Life skills-based Project” funded by UNESCO where educational videos were created and broadcasted through teleschool across Pakistan.

Waqas Ahmad

District Manager (AAWAZ-II)

I Waqas Ahmad, a project management & professional development expert, have been rigorously engaged in planning, managing, executing and strategically reviewing different development projects and training for Disaster prone areas, Women Empowerment, Child Centered Community Development, Behaviour Change Expert, Early and Forced Marriages, Labor Children, School Education department, Labor Department, Health Department in collaboration with different stakeholders and partner organizations. Working for the promotion of Women Rights and Social Cohesion for marginalized communities ie. Transgenders, PWDs, Minorities. Engaged with ITA in District Rahim Yar Khan as District Manager in Aawz-II Project since 2020. I have done my Masters in Social Work from the University of Sargodha

Rehmat Ghazi

Admin & HR Officer

Rehmat Ghazi has been working with ITA in the capacity of Admin & HR officer and is based in Islamabad. He has versatile experience in the field of Administration, Procurement & Human Resources Management of different NGOs for over a decade. He is an efficient and outcome-oriented management professional with an ambition to facilitate program teams for effective service delivery.

Zainab Umar

Program Manager Advocacy and Content

“At ITA, I’m able to transform my passion into action.” Zainab Umar is a development professional who has always been passionate about serving the underserved and education is one of the causes she deeply cares for. This was one of her motivations to join ITA as a Program Manager. She was able to raise awareness about the digital footprint through reaching 200,000+ students and successful advocacy efforts with the provincial governments to update the curriculum on digital literacy. In addition to this, she’s actively involved in mobilizing support for Education and Skills as a national campaign, taking lead in public policy initiatives such as Pakistan’s first ever Education Parliamentarians Caucus.

Shakeela Maqsood

Cluster Coordinator

Shakeela Maqsood is an educationist and social development professional having 15 years of experience. She is currently working as Education Coordinator in District Rahim Yar Khan. Her ability to build strong relationships with community members and stakeholders has been instrumental in the success of projects. She is equipped with the skills and knowledge necessary to design, implement, and evaluate education programs that meet the needs of diverse populations. Throughout her career, she has worked with a range of organizations and institutions, including schools, non-profits, and government agencies. She has demonstrated leadership in these roles, effectively managing teams and resources to achieve meaningful outcomes.

Hafiz Naveed Ahmad

Admin & Finance Officer

I am Hafiz Naveed Ahmed. I have been working as an Admin and Finance Officer in IDARA E TALEEM O AAGAHI at District Rahim Yar Khan for about one and a half years. I have more than 7 years of work experience in various industries and NGOs in admin, HR, Procurement, and finance departments and working as a freelancer with some expertise in IT including Android Development, Graphic Designing, Web Development, Video Editing and Forex Trading…. I am very familiar with the leadership responsibilities associated with this profession as I have experience working with vendors, clients, and investors, along with each department to coordinate and carry out multiple projects from beginning to end. As admin & finance officer I thrive under pressure and have the ability to work fast, while maintaining a professional, friendly mind-set…. In my previous places of employment I worked hard to drive continuous improvements for Admin & finance operations through the careful implementation of process enhancements. I would very much like to do the same for IDARA E TALEEM O AAGAHI.

Joti Ghani

Research Analyst

Joti Ghani works as Manager Partnerships & Advocacy for ITA. She is responsible for handling the advocacy and impact component of girls’ education programs at ITA. Prior to ITA, she has been involved in teaching at Columbia University, managing a wide range of educational projects in Pakistan along with extensive experience as a trainer for students, teachers, and professionals.

Maryam Noor

Manager Research

Maryam is a passionate public health researcher with the ambition to work on cultural and social elements of human psychology and mental health currently working in Idara Taleem-o-Agahi as Research Manager, She is responsible for the overall supervision and implementation of research programs (health, disability, and all other research programs) at ITA by providing direct input, developing modules/tools, drafting reports, monitoring field, conducting training sessions, coordinating with external and internal stakeholders. Her prominent expertise is mixed-method research, program designing, planning and implementation, grant management, donor reporting, process & impact evaluation, policy advocacy, and system strengthening. During her 12 years’ experience, She had successfully led feasibility studies of multi-country interventions at national and international levels and supported the successful implementation of multiple public health interventions especially community outreach and clinical RCTs.

Hashim Ali

Communication Officer

I am working in ITA as a Communication Officer. My expertise are in communications. I have worked in different advertising agencies which are ORYX Advertising and Crafts Communications and after that I worked with the Primary & Secondary Healthcare Department, Government of Punjab as a Media Consultant. I recently completed my Mphil in Media and communication studies with Distinction (Gold Medal) from University of Central Punjab (UCP).

Maham Afzal

Research Associate

Maham is a recent graduate from the LUMS School of Education. Her research interests include policy, education, gender and postcolonial studies. In spare time, she is mostly found experimenting with food and hanging out with friends.

Talha Iftikhar Butt

Monitoring, Evaluation & Impact Officer

Talha Iftikhar is a business graduate with over 6 years of working experience of project management, monitoring, implementation and data analysis with various organizations including schools, non-profits, and government agencies. Currently working with Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi, monitoring the project activities, conducing field visits to project areas, managing the district teams to ensure the effective implementation of the project.

Bilawal Sajjad

Finance & Admin Officer

My name is Bilawal Sajjad and I am working with ITA in the capacity of Finance & Admin officer and is based in Bahawalpur District.I have an experience in the field of Administration, Procurement & Finance of different NGOs . I am an efficient person who facilitates program teams with administration and finance related tasks for effective service delivery. I have strong coordination,analytical and problem-solving skills.

Mahru Nisa

Coach-Mentor

Mahru Nisa graduated from Lahore college for women’s university in education. She is doing her masters in educational leadership and policy studies. She is currently working as Coach/ Mentor in the Pakistan Literacy Project. she supports and helps educational stakeholders as a coach and mentor specifically in the improvement of child’s literacy.

Amna Javed

Associate Project Manager

Amna Javed is a graduate from School of Politics and IR, Quaid-i-Azam University where she honed her inter-disciplinary research skills. She has over 6 years of professional experience in academia, research and project management. Her main forte is International Development from North-South rerspectives,Education and Development Coalitions and International Strategies in Global Development

Malaika Hameed

Intern - HR

Malaika graduated from LCWU and is a beginner in the development sector. She strongly believes in ethical values, integrity, accountability and transparency. Currently designated as an Intern in the HR department and acquiring experience of the best culture-oriented organization.

Syed Naveed Raza

Regional Finance Officer

Syed Naveed Raza has been working as a Regional Finance Officer in Islamabad office of IDARA ETALEEM O AAGAHI since 2022. He has done MBA (Banking & Finance) having a professional experience of about 18 years. He has worked in corporate & developing sectors and have in-depth knowledge in accounting principles and procedures. He has a proven track record of strong organizational and management abilities. He has very good relations with his colleagues and he proved himself as an asset of organization.

Meenal Javed

Research Analyst

Meenal Javed is a Research Analyst in the ASER Programme team at ITA. Currently, she is providing research and analysis input for implementation and evaluation of the Flood Response Project on Recovery of Foundational Learning. She has around 4-5 years of experience as a researcher within the development sector, having worked both within public and private organizations. She completed her Masters in Economics, with Concentration in Econometrics, from Stockholm University, Sweden. Her research interests include programme evaluation, research design and survey research/analytics.

Alifiya

Communication & Reporting Officer

Anil

Deputy Director Research & Impact Evaluation

Anil leads the Research and Impact Evaluation team at ITA, encompassing workstreams relating to IT, data, traceability and monitoring, evaluation, and learning to further our goals in deepening impact on the education sector. His specialties include project planning and management, research, strategic planning, impact evaluation and assessment, event management and public relations practice, and social management. He had been designing strategic frameworks and using qualitative and quantitative research methods for results measurement and impact evaluation within different interventions. In his current role as a Deputy Director, he's spearheading the digitalization of ASER 2023, Recovery for Foundational Learning, AWAAZ II, GOAL, and other interventions/research undertaken by ITA.

Muhammad Tayyab

Assistant to Team Lead (Book Production & Publishing)

Muhammad Tayyab works as an Assistant to Team Lead in ITA. He is responsible to facilitate the publishers associated with the ITA in reference to producing and developing 15 story books for children. Prior to ITA, he taught politics, history, and gender studies at a Post-Graduate College and he has also been an Academic Writer. Besides his professional career, he is associated with Peace Without Borders-Pakistan, to promote peace and harmony among peoples of different socio-cultural and religious backgrounds.

Izzah Ramzan

Coach-Mentor

Izzah graduated from the University of Punjab having Gender Studies as her major. She is currently working as Coach/ Mentor in Pakistan Literacy Project. She has been working voluntarily on SRHR (Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights), LSBE (Life Skill Based Education), and on the social inclusion and religious harmony for the religious minorities residing in Pakistan.

Saima Aziz Khan

Monitoring & Evaluation Officer

I have extensive experience of Programme/Operations design, planning, management, monitoring, communication & outreach, e- commerce, research and evaluations to address national issues of poverty reduction, social protection, social safety net, social inclusion, financial inclusion, gender equity, communication, human capital development by working with marginalized/vulnerable population for their uplift through concepts/models of social development, social mobilization, community based development, enrolment and retention under the goals of UPE/ EFA/MDGs. I have been part of core team of Federal minister and Chairperson BISP for the largest Social Safety Net Programme of Pakistan (Benazir Income Support Programmes as The World Bank Consultant for more than 86 months while heading the beneficiary outreach, social mobilization, communications, e-commerce, m & e and project management.