Syeda Uruba Nisar Social Media Associate Syeda Uruba Nisar is a Social Media Associate at CRSS. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology, Islamabad. At CRSS, she is responsible for facilitating and assisting project leaders in development of social media strategies and material for all programming in CRSS, along with assisting project leaders in editing/writing/developing of IEC materials, training manuals and project reports. Uruba is also an entrepreneur of an online retail business venture.

Farhana Kanwal Project Coordinator Farhana Kanwal is a Project Coordinator at CRSS, where she works primarily on Pakistan Center of Excellence (PACE), a project countering violent extremism. She has a Master’s degree in Political Science from University of Peshawar. She has previously worked with Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), Sarhad Rural Support Program (SRSP) and a government-run project in different capacities. At CRSS, she is responsible for the coordination, planning, operation, execution and reporting of PACE activities. She is also working as a Research Associate, and has contributed in publication of a research titled The NAP Tracker.

Mohammad Nafees Senior Research Associate Mohammad Nafees is working as a Freelance Journalist and Senior Research Associate with the Center for Research and Security Studies focusing on subjects mainly related with socio-political issues of the country. His columns appear in the print media (The Daily Times and The Financial Daily) and on-line media (Viewpoint). Other than writing columns, he carries out data based research on different socio-political issues of the country. His analytical studies and researches have been used by different national and international organizations. Since May 2013, he has been preparing monthly reports on violence in Pakistan that contain statistical data on violence-related casualties along with a narrative of the prevailing political scenario of the country. These reports are posted on the CRSS website. His professional carrier spans over 33 years of his association with General Electric Aviation Company, USA holding different positions from Technical Representative to the Program Manager at its Karachi Office with PIA. Being a Program Manager of the GE Aviation, USA for Pakistan and Bangladesh, he attended different business related training courses, conferences, and meetings held at different locations in the world. The countries he visited for these official purposes were USA, France, Turkey, UK, Bangladesh, UAE, Italy, Portugal, and Spain.

Malik Mustafa Manager Programs/ Team Leader Malik Mustafa is a development professional working with the CRSS as Manager Programs/ Team Leader. This position implies enormously important roles and responsibilities to promote a discourse embedded in the global democratic values and ideals critical to social peace and cohesion. This is mainly achieved through advocating for respect for fundamental human rights and differences, exhibiting tolerance for diversity, equal citizenry, adherence to rule of law and primacy of constitution, as a measure of strengthening social fabric of the society. Through the course of his work as a non-profit leader, he believes in the change he is working for and is steadfastly striving for a just society where all the inhabitants are acknowledged as equal citizens and have access to fundamental human rights enshrined in the constitution. The endeavors aim to address the critical contemporary issues – such as rule of law, democracy, governance, peacebuilding, social cohesion, counter-radicalization and cross-border engagement - falling within the ambit of the Center's thematic focus. This role complements the said organizational objectives; utilizing his skills/ expertise on devising, implementing and monitoring results based programs and strategies; manifest in strategizing, spearheading and evaluating over 15 different ongoing and completed projects on global democratic values, social cohesion, youth development, counter-radicalization, rule of law, governance, multiculturalism and cross border engagements, as part of Center’s strategic partnership with several international donor partners. This includes supervision of the programs such as i) Heinrich Böll Stiftung’s State, Religion and Democracy and ii) Governance, Community & Religion, iii) DFATD’s Balochistan Youth Forum and iv) Balochistan Democracy Awareness Initiative v) USAID’s Moong Qabail vi) UNICEF’s My Story, Our Voice vii) IRI’s Constituency Hour viii) Deutsche Welle...

Munawar Ahmed Virk Director Finance, Administration & HR Munawar Ahmed Virk is responsible for the financial, administrative and human resource operations of CRSS. He also provides executive administrative support to the offices of Chairman and Executive Director of the organization. Mr. Munawar Ahmed Virk brings with him a combined professional and industry background gained from over 15 years of experience in financial "analysis internal audit" accounting and risk management in both the profit and non-profit sectors. Prior to joining CRSS, Mr. Virk was working as the Chief Financial Officer in Dynamic Crop Sciences (Pvt.) Ltd., one of the largest companies operating in the agriculture sector, where he was responsible for import, manufacturing, distribution and liaison with the government regulatory bodies. Mr. Virk has also worked with Pakistan largest cellular company Mobilink, Pepsi Cola International and United States Agency for International Development (USAID). He has also worked and trained with M/s. A.F. Furguson & Co, which is the highest ranking Chartered Account firm in Pakistan.

Imtiaz Gul Executive Director Imtiaz Gul is the Executive Director of Center for Research and Security Studies that he founded in December 2007, with the support of Germany’s Heinrich Boell Stiftung. The Center is a research and advocacy outfit, focused primarily on security, radicalization and governance. He has been contributing to international and national print media; Foreign Policy, USA, Wall Street Journal, The Friday Times (weekly), Islamabad, Daily Express Tribune, on issues such as militancy, border regions, Afghanistan, and Indo-Pak relations. Besides offering advice as consultant to foreign diplomatic missions and development sector organizations, Gul regularly appears as an analyst/expert on  Pakistani TV channels as well as the Doha-based Al-Jazeera English/Arabic satellite TV channel for his expertise in areas such as Afghanistan/Tribal Areas/ and the Kashmir militancy. Gul has presented papers and given talks at universities and international security and counter-terror conferences in Brussels, Tokyo, Berlin, New Delhi, Kabul, New York, Washington, the Hague, Riyadh, Italy, Oslo, Stockholm, Beijing, and has authored following books Pakistan: Before and After Osama bin Laden (Roli Books, India, September, 2012) The Most Dangerous Place: Pakistan Lawless Frontier (Penguin US/UK June, 2010) Al-Qaeda Connection: Taliban and Terror in Tribal Areas (Penguin-Viking India, August 20, 2009) The Unholy Nexus: Pak-Afghan relations under the Taliban (Vanguard Books, Pakistan, July 2002) Pakistan: Pivot of Hizbut Tahrir’s Global Caliphate (2014) Gul has also been part of an international group, put together by the New York based Century Foundation, that authored the report “Jago Pakistan” (Wake Up Pakistan). He is a member of the Bellagio Forum, Milan, initiative for the establishment of a UN University for Peace and Social Studies, and also participated in a 2-month Asia Leaders Fellowship Program by International House of Japan and Japanese Studies and...

Zeeshan Salahuddin Senior Research Fellow, Director Programs and Strategy Zeeshan is a communications professional with experience in both public relations and media. Recently he made the switch to the development sector, and joined the CRSS family in November 2014. Previously, he has served at Express 24/7, Dunya News and Capital TV in varying management positions. He has a bachelor's degree in Computer Science and Writing, as well as a master's degree in Corporate Communications and Strategic Management from Ithaca College, NY. Zeeshan's research focuses on security studies, particularly religious and political extremism in Pakistan, and how this crisscrosses with human rights. Aside from driving The Center's research portfolio, Zeeshan is also responsible for operations, planning and execution of the CRSS project portfolio. He occasionally writes for The Friday Times, The Express Tribune, the World Policy Journal Blog, and Foreign Policy.