Panels
Moving Beyond the Energy Crisis
It is estimated that Pakistan has lost 7.0 percent of its GDP due to electricity outage costs. Due to this loss of output, employment has decreased by approximately 1.8 million. Clearly, the energy situation is a crucial aspect of the future of Pakistan’s economy. We bring together researchers and practitioners to discuss what needs to be done in order to mend broken systems and harness Pakistan’s energy potential. At the policy level, what needs to change? Is the current focus on generation well founded or is there more to be gained by improving transmission and distribution? Finally, which options are most realistic for Pakistan and what are the timeframes for those options?
It is estimated that Pakistan has lost 7.0 percent of its GDP due to electricity outage costs. Due to this loss of output, employment has decreased by approximately 1.8 million. Clearly, the energy situation is a crucial aspect of the future of Pakistan’s economy. We bring together researchers and practitioners to discuss what needs to be done in order to mend broken systems and harness Pakistan’s energy potential. At the policy level, what needs to change? Is the current focus on generation well founded or is there more to be gained by improving transmission and distribution? Finally, which options are most realistic for Pakistan and what are the timeframes for those options?
Bill Hogan
Professor of Global Energy Policy at Harvard Kennedy School William W. Hogan is the Raymond Plank Professor of Global Energy Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. He is Research Director of the Harvard Electricity Policy Group in the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government and a longtime member of the Kennedy School Faculty Appointments Committee. He served on the faculty of Stanford University, where he founded the Energy Modeling Forum (EMF), and is past president of the International Association for Energy Economics (IAEE). Professor Hogan's research focuses on the interaction of energy economics and public policy, with an emphasis on the restructuring of the electricity industry in the United States and worldwide. He has worked to design the market structures and market rules by which regional transmission organizations coordinate bid-based markets for energy, ancillary services, and financial transmission rights. Selected papers are available on his website, www.whogan.com. Professor Hogan received his undergraduate degree from the U.S. Air Force Academy and his PhD from UCLA. |
Hasan Malik
Partner at McKinsey & Company Hasan is a Partner at McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm. He is a core leader in McKinsey’s North American Financial Services and Strategy & Corporate Finance Practices. Hasan has been with McKinsey for over 13 years. During this time, he has advised regional and global Financial Institutions (Banks, Insurers, Wealth Managers) and Principal Investors (Sovereign Wealth Funds, Private Equity Firms) on Corporate & Business Unit Strategy, M&A, Marketing & Sales, and Operations. His client service has spanned North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Asia. Prior to his current role, Hasan also spent significant time co-leading McKinsey’s client service in Pakistan. In this capacity he focused primarily on Energy & Power, Economic Development, and Social Uplift issues for Public and Private sector institutions. Hasan received his M.B.A. from the University of Chicago, Graduate School of Business (Chicago, Illinois) in 2000 in Finance and Entrepreneurship. He is currently based in New York. |
Adil Najam
Professor of International Relations and Earth & Environment at Boston University Dr. Adil Najam is a Professor of International Relations and Earth & Environment at Boston University. Formerly, he was Vice Chancellor of the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) and Director of the BU Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future. He has also taught at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Dr. Najam served as a Convening Lead Author for the 3rd and 4th IPCC Assessment Reports, work for which the IPCC was awarded the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize. Prof. Najam is a past winner of MIT’s Goodwin Medal for Effective Teaching, the Fletcher School Paddock Teaching Award, the Stein Rokan Award of the International Political Science Association, the ARNOVA Emerging Scholar Award, and in 2010 was awarded the Sitara-i-Imtiaz (Star of Excellence), Pakistan’s highest civil award. He has authored over 100 scholarly publications, most recently co-editing: South Asia 2060 (2013), The Future of South-South Economic Relations (2012) and How Immigrants Impact Their Homelands (2012). He has served on the Advisory Board of the Human Development Report and was elected a Fellow at the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and also the Human Development Capability Association (HDCA). In 2009 Dr. Najam was nominated by the UN Secretary General to serve on the UN Committee on Development (CDP). He serves on the international boards of The Asia Foundation, WWF-International, the International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), the Consensus Building Institute (CBI), the Pakistan Center for Philanthropy (PCP), the South Asia Network of Development and Environment Economics (SANDEE), and is Board Chair for LEAD-Pakistan. |
Riaz Siddiqi
Founder and Managing Partner of Denham Capital Management LP Riaz Siddiqi is a Founder and Managing Partner of Denham Capital Management LP and brings over 34 years of experience to the firm in the energy and asset management fields. He is responsible for the Portfolio Services Group and is a member of the Executive Committee, Investment Committee and Valuation Committee. Prior to joining Denham in 2004, he was President and CEO of Capstone Global Energy and held executive positions at Cinergy Capital, Trading and other Cinergy companies. Previously, Siddiqi served as Manager of the Market Management Research for the Electric Power Research Institute, and in various professional capacities with Georgia Power Company, San Diego Gas & Electric and Southern Company, after spending some time as a project engineer in Pakistan. Siddiqi is Chairman of the Board of the American Pakistan Foundation and sits on the Leadership Council of the Convergence Center for Policy Resolution. Siddiqi is also a volunteer pilot for Grace Flight of America, Pilots for Patients and Veterans Airlift Command and is a recipient of the Asia Society Houston Center’s Award for Leadership in Business and Philanthropy. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Cadre Services, Inc., Gradient Resources and Trans-Tasman Resources Ltd., all Denham portfolio companies. Siddiqi received a Bachelor of Science from the Pakistan University of Energy & Technology and a Master of Business Administration degree from the Graduate School of Business at Mississippi State University. |
Afreen Siddiqi
Research Scientist at MIT and Visiting Scholar at Harvard Kennedy School Dr. Afreen Siddiqi received her S.B., S.M., and Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Mechanical Engineering and Aerospace Systems. Afreen has worked as an engineer in software development, oil and gas sector, and in the aerospace sector with multi-national corporations such as National Instruments, Schlumberger, and Orbital Sciences Corporation. Currently, she is a Research Scientist in the Engineering Systems Division at MIT, and a Visiting Scholar in the Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program in the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Her research is on quantitative systems analysis for informing strategic planning and policy decisions for use of natural resources, with a special focus on investigating the emerging couplings between water, energy, and food security in Pakistan and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. |
The Public-Private Education Paradigm
Nearly half of Pakistan’s population cannot read or write. According to the UNDP, Pakistan ranks 177th globally in terms of public spending on education. But all is not lost. Across the country, the private sector is filling the void left by the public sector; in 2005, the LEAPS Project reported that one in every three enrolled children were enrolled in a private school. Following the lead of the private sector, the public sector has followed suit with a 37 percent increase in provincial spending on education over the last three years. The question that arises then is what role these two sectors will play in education reform. How can the private sector further pressurize the public sector into action? Can the private sector improve educational outcomes on a large scale? On the public front, does change have to come at the provincial level or is there a dire need for a federal policy? Pakistan’s education challenge is steep, but not insurmountable. If change is brought to the education sector, human capital development will seed Pakistan’s growth story.
Nearly half of Pakistan’s population cannot read or write. According to the UNDP, Pakistan ranks 177th globally in terms of public spending on education. But all is not lost. Across the country, the private sector is filling the void left by the public sector; in 2005, the LEAPS Project reported that one in every three enrolled children were enrolled in a private school. Following the lead of the private sector, the public sector has followed suit with a 37 percent increase in provincial spending on education over the last three years. The question that arises then is what role these two sectors will play in education reform. How can the private sector further pressurize the public sector into action? Can the private sector improve educational outcomes on a large scale? On the public front, does change have to come at the provincial level or is there a dire need for a federal policy? Pakistan’s education challenge is steep, but not insurmountable. If change is brought to the education sector, human capital development will seed Pakistan’s growth story.
Neelam Hussain
Founding Director of Lahore Grammar School Dr. Neelam Hussain is a founding Director of Lahore Grammar School (Pvt) Limited. She has also served as the CEO and Chairperson of the company over the years. In her capacity as an educationist and an entrepreneur, she has set up educational institutions in several cities across Pakistan including Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar, Quetta, Rawalpindi, and Gujrat. Additionally, Dr. Hussain is currently working towards the formation of the LGS University of Law and Social Sciences. She was appointed to serve as a member of the Punjab University Syndicate from 2009-2012 and a gold medal has been instituted in her name at the university for the most outstanding student in the Department of Educational Research. Dr. Neelam Hussain has also been a member of the Syndicate of the Fatima Jinnah Women University in Rawalpindi. Her involvement in professional and organizational activities is diverse. Dr. Hussain founded a chapter of the International Reading Association in Pakistan. Moreover, she also initiated a chapter of the International Board of Books in Pakistan in 1984. She is a founder member of Language and Literacy in Asia and has served on the Executive Committee of PEN Pakistan. Her civic involvement includes her inclusion on the Board of the Children's Hospital in Lahore in 2002. Moreover, she has also been a member of the Board of the SOS School, a safe house for children. She has also published in international journals on gender, literacy, education, children's literature and higher education. |
Ansaf Kareem
Former Management Consultant at McKinsey & Company Ansaf Kareem worked as a management consultant for McKinsey & Company in New York. He served clients in the financial and social sectors with a special focus on education reform and innovation in emerging markets. Ansaf most recently served as Policy Fellow for former Newark Mayor Cory Booker’s successful campaign for United States Senate. Ansaf was selected as one of the first World Economic Forum Young Global Shapers, and was invited to attend and speak at the Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. He has also been recognized by Secretary Hillary Clinton as one of seventy Muslim-American leaders under the age of 30 and invited to participate in the State Department’s Generation Change initiative. His work has been cited in the Washington Post, Huffington Post, U.S. Department of State, Sojourners, Journal of College & Character, and others. In the past, Ansaf has served on the Board of Directors for the Stanford Alumni Association and as a member of the Aspen Institute’s Impact Career’s Initiative. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Interfaith Youth Core and on the Social Investment Council for Echoing Green. Ansaf Kareem graduated with honors from Stanford University where he studied Political Science and Economics, and served as the President of his class. He wrote his thesis under the Center for Democracy Development and Rule of Law at Stanford’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, entitled “Civil Society in Transition: Pakistan and the Lawyers’ Movement”. Ansaf is currently pursuing a Masters in Business Administration at the Harvard Business School and a Masters in Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. |
Danial Noorani
Founder of The Citizens Foundation (USA) Danial Noorani is the CEO and Founder of "The Citizens Foundation, USA" www.tcfusa.org incorporated in 2002 to work with TCF Pakistan to provide a high quality/modern primary and secondary school education to under privileged children in Pakistan. Since its inception, TCF-USA has funded the construction of one hundred and forty five TCF schools all over Pakistan, a Teaches Training Center in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the operating expenses of hundreds of TCF schools and held teacher training workshops and science camps for underprivileged children in Pakistan. TCF-USA along with its partner agency TCF in Pakistan, played a major role in the relief and rebuild effort following the 2005 earthquake and distributed 20 million meals in the 2010 flood relief efforts. Danial is a past President of "Apna Ghar" (Our Home), a twenty year old Domestic Violence agency in Chicago. Apna Ghar is the first South Asian domestic violence agency established in the US and is considered a leader in social services tailored to needs of the immigrant communities in Chicago. Danial worked for AT&T for 26 years and took a leading role in the efforts to introduce competition in the Telecommunication industry. Danial co-chaired the Illinois Commerce Commission, workshop that created consensus for an industry wide solution for consumers to keep their phone number when changing carriers, allowing for competition in local telephone service. He represented AT&T at the FCC and several state utility commissions. Danial has an MBA from Western Illinois University and a Bachelor degree in commerce and economics from the Univ. of Karachi. He has a wife and three children and has lived in the United States since 1973, when he came as a student. |
Mariam Chughtai
Doctoral Candidate at Harvard Graduate School of Education Mariam Chughtai is pursuing a doctorate in Education Policy, Leadership and Instructional Practice at Harvard University. Her doctoral thesis focuses on the politics of making and breaking national identity in Pakistan through the use of religion in education. Mariam has two masters degrees, also from Harvard, in International Education Policy and Education Policy and Management, and a Bachelors in Political Science from Rice University. Mariam founded the Harvard Pakistan Student Group in 2009 with a small community of less than twenty people. She handed over an organization with over six hundred members three years later, having established Harvard Pakistan Student Group as the first university-wide student organization recognized by Harvard University, and trailblazing the path for thirty other student groups to achieve this status today. As a teaching fellow, Mariam has taught several courses at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, along with Leadership at Harvard Kennedy School and Negotiations at Harvard Law School. After she completes her doctorate, Mariam sees herself returning to Pakistan to run for political office and to work towards systemic social change. She hopes to engage youth in political participation and discourse on their right to quality education. |
Fostering Innovation Through Technology
Pakistan is the untold success story of the technology world. There is a growing movement at the university-level to work on technology focused business ventures. Most importantly, incubators are helping entrepreneurs develop ideas and financing is picking up. But, even though the trends have been promising, Pakistan earns only $2.8 billion per annum from the technology sector, providing approximately 100,000 jobs through the industry. We will hear from our panelists on how reforms in the technology sector can contribute to economic growth in Pakistan. What needs to be done to promote a culture of innovation? How can financing be incentivized and how do we create an ecosystem for technology development? The discussion will shed light on the role technology has to play in shaping the future of Pakistan.
Pakistan is the untold success story of the technology world. There is a growing movement at the university-level to work on technology focused business ventures. Most importantly, incubators are helping entrepreneurs develop ideas and financing is picking up. But, even though the trends have been promising, Pakistan earns only $2.8 billion per annum from the technology sector, providing approximately 100,000 jobs through the industry. We will hear from our panelists on how reforms in the technology sector can contribute to economic growth in Pakistan. What needs to be done to promote a culture of innovation? How can financing be incentivized and how do we create an ecosystem for technology development? The discussion will shed light on the role technology has to play in shaping the future of Pakistan.
Shuja Keen
Managing Director at The Resource Group Shuja is a Managing Director at The Resource Group based out of San Francisco. Shuja joined The Resource Group founding team at inception and his primary responsibility is to help the firm drive value by improving the operational effectiveness, and leading fundraising, liquidity and growth initiatives across TRG's portfolio companies. Shuja has worked on over fifteen completed M&A transactions and three IPOs. He currently serves on the boards of several private companies. Prior to joining TRG in 2002, Shuja was a founder of HauteDecor - an internet platform for high-end furniture and furnishings based in New York. Previously, Shuja held positions at Morgan Stanley and Salomon Smith Barney. Shuja graduated with a Bachelor of Science from Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with concentrations in Finance, Information Technology, and Operations Research and a Minor in Economics. Outside of work, Shuja has been active in numerous charitable organizations, educational institutions and nonprofit entities including MIT Club of Northern California, Association for the Development of Pakistan (ADP), Full Circle Fund and serves on the boards of Invest to Innovate and Developments in Literacy (DIL). Shuja is an avid traveller and is passionate about art and design. |
Saad Khan
Partner at CMEA Capital Saad Khan is a Partner at CMEA Capital where he invests exclusively in bad-asses. That includes leading all seed and early stage investments in the people behind Zaarly, Blekko, Luminate, Jobvite, MediaSpike, Evolution Robotics (now iRobot) and some awesome others you’ll hear about. Prior to CMEA, he was a Venture Partner at Garage.com where he helped build Silicon Valley’s first start-up incubator. In addition to his day job, he co-founded the Film Angels (working with actors and producers like Carlos Santana and Barrie Osborne, producer of Lord of The Rings). He is also an Adviser to Lending Club (peer-to-peer lending platform), SamaSource (micro-work for the next billion), and the Thiel Fellowship’s 20 under 20 program. Saad has been a guest lecturer at the Stanford Design School (the Liberation Technology Program) and the UC Berkeley Business School. He is a frequent speaker at the US State Department and served as a delegate for the Global Entrepreneurship Program (GEP), the initiative started by Hillary Clinton to improve the US ties to the Muslim world. He can be found supporting the cause of entrepreneurs from GEP Turkey, Startup Weekend in Egypt to “Silicon Valley Comes to Malaysia”. He's been featured in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and Forbes, who recently gave Saad a Silicon Valley Makeover (he's also an adviser to Forbes 30 under 30). Saad grew up between Pakistan and the Bay Area, attended an American high school in Karachi where his soccer tournaments and theater performances were often played out in locations including Kathmandu, Delhi, and Islamabad. Saad went to Stanford University where he was a President’s Scholar. |
Imran Sayeed
Chief Techonlogy Officer for NTT Data, Inc. Imran Sayeed is the Chief Technology Officer for NTT Data, Inc. the 6th largest IT services company in the world with $16 Billion in revenue, and part of NTT Group, the world’s largest telecommunications company with $130 Billion in revenue and 220,000 employees. In this role Sayeed works with the leadership to help define the technology strategy and direction for the global organization. Sayeed came to NTT through its acquisition of Keane, where he led a 7000 person technology consulting organization and before that netNumina, a boutique technology strategy and consulting firm that he founded and grew from a 15 person startup to one of Computerworld’s Top 100 emerging companies and Inc 500’s fastest growing businesses. Previously, as a founder of Open Environment, Sayeed grew the company from a 10-person startup to an IPO. Sayeed is also part of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation faculty at the MIT Sloan School of Management where he teaches in the MBA program. He was also the founding global President of OPEN, an entrepreneurship and leadership organization, which has over 4000 executives and entrepreneurs in 9 cities around the world. He also holds a patent on Internet technology he jointly developed with Citibank. Sayeed has also been named by Computerworld as one of the Premier 100 IT Leaders for 2013. Sayeed attended Brown University where he majored in Engineering, and Harvard University, where he did post-graduate work in business, marketing and product development. |
Ali Rehan
CEO and Co-Founder of Eyedeus Labs Ali Rehan is the CEO and co-founder of Eyedeus Labs, a startup based in Lahore Pakistan, which is widely known for their imaging technologies, particularly their product Groopic. Groopic received rave reviews and feedback from top tech websites and international media including CNN, TechCrunch, Gizmodo and many more! At Eyedeus, he handles the business side of the startup, but is also actively involved in the prototyping of new technologies. Apart from working on his startup, Ali is actively working towards the promotion of an entrepreneurial and startup culture in Pakistan. He also acts as the ambassador of Silicon Valley based Blackbox Accelerator in Pakistan, to help the budding entrepreneurs connect with the Silicon Valley eco-system through Blackbox. |
Kewan Khawaja
Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Techlogix Kewan is a Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Techlogix - a global IT Services, Consulting, and Business Solutions company that helps its clients achieve enterprise transformation by harmonizing people, business processes, and technology. While donning multiple hats, Kewan loves playing a motivational role to bring out the best in the company’s multifaceted workforce. Kewan's consulting interests are focused around business process management, business intelligence, supply chain visibility, and alignment of enterprise IT initiatives with corporate strategy. Before founding Techlogix, Kewan worked at Boston-based Cambridge Technology Partners where he developed applications for American Airlines. And at a previous position at Stevenson & Associates, Kewan developed vibration analysis software for power plants and chip-manufacturing facilities. Kewan is the current President of the New England chapter of OPEN, a global entrepreneurship and leadership organization. In the late 90s, he also served as the Vice-President of the Pakistan Software Houses Association (PASHA) and as a Board Member of the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB). Kewan holds a Master's degree in Information Systems from MIT. His research work there was focused on developing spatial analysis tools for the US Army's geographic information system. |
Asad Badruddin
Co-Founder of Pakathon Badruddin is the co-founder of Pakathon where he and his team are creating Pakistan's entrepreneurial ecosystem and connecting the diaspora and US entrepreneurs to that ecosystem. He has worked in advertising companies and tech startups like Twitter, where he was part of the analytics team working with Fortune 500 clients to help them understand how to make an impact on the platform using ad targeting. Separately, he has done research on behavioral economics and Turkish politics. He holds a Bachelor's degree from Tufts University. |
Strengthening Pakistan's Legal System to Facilitate Growth
Pakistan’s legal system receives a lot of criticism. Poor law and order is often cited as a deterrent to international investment. We will explore both the law and order angle and the legal system itself as it relates to economic development. How easy is it to do business in Pakistan? Do domestic and international firms have strong legal protection? Privatizations have previously been botched; what legal structure do these require in order to prove successful? More broadly, what impact does the law and order situation have on day-to-day business?
Pakistan’s legal system receives a lot of criticism. Poor law and order is often cited as a deterrent to international investment. We will explore both the law and order angle and the legal system itself as it relates to economic development. How easy is it to do business in Pakistan? Do domestic and international firms have strong legal protection? Privatizations have previously been botched; what legal structure do these require in order to prove successful? More broadly, what impact does the law and order situation have on day-to-day business?
Salman Raja
Partner at Raja, Mohammed, Akram & Co. Salman Akram Raja (LL.M 2001) is an advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan who regularly appears as counsel in cases of far reaching constitutional as well as corporate and commercial importance. Apart from his adversarial and pro bono work Mr. Raja has appeared as amicus curiae before the Supreme Court of Pakistan and the Provincial High Courts in several cases. Prior to his LL.M at HLS, Mr. Raja graduated from Downing College, Cambridge University in 1989 and from the School of Oriental and African Studies, London University in 1994. Notable cases Mr. Raja was involved in include those concerning: a woman’s right to marry (1996), disposal of foreign currency accounts (1998), Mobashir Hassan against the NRO (2007), PFUJ (2011), Air Marshal (Retd.) Asghar Khan (2012), DNA as evidence in rape cases (2013) and gerrymandering in municipal elections (2014). In addition to his constitutional law work Mr. Raja appears in regulatory, commercial and tax matters for leading corporations and banks. He has represented major regulators such as the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan and the State Bank of Pakistan. Mr. Raja has also been involved in important legislative work. In 2001, as member of the President’s Steering Committee on Higher Education Reform he helped to draft the Model Universities Ordinance of 2001 that provided for far reaching governance overhaul in public sector universities. Mr. Raja is currently a member of the Company Law Reform Commission and has submitted a draft company law for the approval of the Commission. Mr. Raja has also been a lecturer at the Law Faculty of the Lahore University of Management Sciences and the Government College University, Lahore. Mr. Raja is a regular commentator on television in Pakistan as well as an op-ed contributor in the press. |
Muhammad Ali Nekokara
Principal Staff Officer to the Inspector General of Punjab Police Muhammad Ali Nekokara has been serving in the Police Service of Pakistan since September of 1999, performing challenging and high-pressure police field assignments in Lahore and various districts of Punjab. In addition to his field work, Mr. Nekokara has performed staff assignments, most notably as Principal Staff Officer to the Chief Minister of Punjab. Mr. Nekokara, a Senior Superintendent of Police, is also presently the Principal Staff Officer to the Inspector General of Police in Punjab. He holds a Master's in Criminal Justice from the London School of Economics and a Master's in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School. |
Mahmud Awan
Former Presidential Adviser to the Government of Pakistan Dr. Mahmud Awan is a practicing attorney specializing in corporate law and regulatory compliance. A Law Graduate of Punjab University he received his LLM degree from the Boston University Law School. He was awarded a Ph.D. degree in Monetary Economics and International Trade in 1976 from Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. He served as a Presidential Adviser to Government of Pakistan in 1978 and was responsible for denationalization and privatization of industries nationalized during the Bhutto administration. He has served as Senior Legal Counsel to several multinational corporations and was the Chairman of the Board at Technical Communications Corporation of Concord, Massachusetts (NASDAQ listed) from 1998 to 2002. He has held senior higher education leadership position in several countries and was the Dean of the Faculty and Chief Academic Officer at the INCEIF Global University of Malaysia. |
Sameer Ahmed
Senior Associate at WilmerHale Sameer Ahmed is a senior associate at WilmerHale and focuses his practice on complex litigation matters, including intellectual property litigation and appellate and supreme court litigation. Mr. Ahmed most recently served as a law clerk for the Honorable Patti B. Saris, Chief Judge of the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts and Chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission. Previously, he was awarded the Skadden Fellowship and served as a staff attorney at the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, where he litigated a variety of federal civil rights and immigration cases. Mr. Ahmed is a graduate of Yale Law School, where he worked to promote civil rights and immigrants’ rights as a member of both the Balancing Civil Liberties & National Security Post 9/11 Clinic and the Workers and Immigrants’ Rights Clinic. In 2009, he and his clinic team received the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee’s Pro Bono Attorney of the Year Award for their work uncovering Operation Frontline, a secret national security program targeting Muslim immigrants around the 2004 presidential election. As a Marshall Scholar, Mr. Ahmed holds master’s degrees from Oxford University in Legal Research and the School of Oriental and African Studies in Middle East Politics. He received his bachelor’s degree with honors from Stanford University. |