The TEDxKarachi Team for TEDxKarachi 2011 is
TEDIndia
An investment banker with over 15 years of international experience in mergers, Asad Rehman is also a passionate and accomplished filmmaker. His films include “Morning”, a documentary on the discovery of Karachi’s Jewish cemetery, and “Hayat”, a film inspired by the true story about an ex-drug peddler who went on to start a school for street children. Asad is currently working on a short film on the cultural significance and identity of the hijab. Asad received a BA from Brandeis University, a Masters in International Affairs and an MBA from Columbia University and a Certificate in Filmmaking from Ryerson University.
TED Senior Fellow 2011 & TED Fellow 2010
Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is an Emmy award-winning film producer and journalist who has worked on 14 films for major networks in the United States and Britain including CNN, PBS, Channel 4 (U.K.) CBC, Arte and the Discovery channel. Amongst other honors, her work has earned her The Alfred I. Dupont Award, The Livingston Award, The Overseas Press Club Award, The American Women in Radio and Television Award, The One World Media Award and the Banff TV Rockie Award. Sharmeen’s work has taken her to over ten countries around the world where she has worked with refugees, women’s advocate groups and human rights defenders. By bringing their voices to the outside world, she has helped them bring about a critical change in their community. Born in Karachi, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy graduated from Smith College with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Government and then went to complete two master’s degrees from Stanford University in International Policy Studies and Communication. In 2007, after living outside of Pakistan for more than a decade, Sharmeen returned to found The Citizens Archive of Pakistan, a non-profit, volunteer organization that aims to foster and promote community-wide interest in the culture and history of Pakistan. At a time when Pakistan’s youth finds itself caught between religious and state ideology, the organization works with thousands of underprivileged children, inculcating critical thinking skills and instilling in them a sense of pride about their history and identity.
TED Senior Fellow 2011 & TEDIndia Fellow 2009
Dr. Awab Alvi
Dr. Awab Alvi is a dentist & an Orthodontist by profession practicing in Karachi at Alvi Dental Hospital, he has specialized in the field of Orthodontics (Saint Louis University) and Microscopic Root Canal Treatment (University of Pennsylvania). Over the past many years he has maintained a political blog under the pen-name Teeth Maestro, which has become a tool challenging the rampant corruption & terrorism that has plagued Pakistan this last decade. Awab has emerged as a very committed civil society activist in Pakistan. Dr. Awab has been a very active struggling for online freedom of expression in Pakistan. He raised funds for the 2005 Earthquake in Pakistan online via Help-Pakistan. In 2009 he collected over Rs. 30,00,000 to take 5 trucks of relief goods to Swat for providing relief to the IDP people and in the 2010 devastating floods in Pakistan, Awab and the OffroadPakistan team mobilized to raise Rs. 160,00,000 to provide immediate food and emergency relief to over 200,000 flood affected people. Dr. Alvi has been selected as TEDIndia Fellow in 2009 and more recently as 2011 TED Senior Fellow. He has attended a number of conferences – Free Expression in Asian Cyberspace in Manila in 2006, Asia21 in Seoul 2006, Global Voices meetings 2008 and 2010 and the TEDIndia Meeting in 2009
TEDxKarachi 2011 Manager
Sophia Balagamwala is a visual artist with an interest in social issues and visually capturing the cultural Zeitgeist. She is currently the Director of Interactive Projects at the Citizen’s Archive of Pakistan, a non-profit organization that aims to foster and promote community-wide interest in the culture and history of Pakistan. Sophia is currently managing an awareness campaign and exhibition on the impact of violence in Pakistan. Sophia is a graduate of the University of Toronto, where she received a Honours Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Visual Studies.
