PRIED

Our Team

Muhammad Badar Alam
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Muhammad Badar Alam started his professional career as a journalist in 1992 when he became a researcher and writer for daily Jang’s Sunday magazine in Lahore. Afterwards, he worked on senior editorial positions with several leading news organizations including daily The News International, The News on Sunday and Pakistan’s premium English language monthly magazine, Herald, which he joined as its bureau chief in Lahore in 2007. In 2010, he became the editor of Herald and continued to work on this positon till July 2019 when the magazine’s independent editorial policy and fearless investigative journalism led to its forced closure. In April 2020, Badar co-founded loksujag.com, a news website focused on amplifying voices from the margins of power. He served as its chief editor till 9 November 2022. He has also been the executive director of Rural Development Policy Institute (RDPI), a non-government organization based in Islamabad, between September 2019 and February 2022 and a director of Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), an Islamabad-based think-tank, between August 2019 and March 2020.
Azhar Lashary
Director and Project Lead
With an academic background in mass communication and anthropology, Azhar started his professional career in print journalism and later switched to the development sector. In the last more than two decades, he has worked with different national and international NGOs in different capacities. He has been part of many environmental campaigns on the issues related to land, water, and forest in Pakistan. He occasionally writes for national newspapers on the issues of social, economic, and environmental justice. His skills and expertise lie in designing and executing advocacy campaigns; producing communication material for campaigns and conducting research studies. Being an advocacy lead, he is currently working with Policy Research Institute for Equitable Development (PRIED) on social, economic, and environmental issues in the energy sector.
Naila Saleh
Technical Advisor

Naila Saleh works primarily on decentralised renewable energy, green finance and socio-technical transition. Before joining PRIED , she was a Research Officer at Institute of Policy Studies. Naila is also working as a Project Manager at Agora Energiewende, a leading think tank in Berlin which develops evidence-based and politically viable strategies to advance the goal of climate neutrality. Naila has a MSc in Economics and Public Policy. Currently she is PhD scholar at Technical University Berlin in the faculty of Economics and Management.
Assad Buzdar
Project Manager

Hussain Assad completed his BA Honors in Political Science and MPhil in Anthropology. He has been working in the development sector since 2018. He is leading PRIED’s initiative for establishing a cross-party parliamentary caucus on climate change and green energy. His expertise includes media engagement, networking, and building grassroots alliances. He has good linkages with journalists who are working on climate change and Pakistan’s energy sector. He is also good at networking and making grassroots alliances. He has been extensively engaged with communities who are facing socio-economic and environmental problems due to coal power generation in the Thar region of Sindh. He is responsible for organizing webinars/seminars and other events at PRIED. He also facilitates Content Editor regarding the publication of content on the website and social media platforms.
Kamran Aziz
Researcher
Kamran Aziz Khosa studied anthropology at the Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, and started his professional career in late 2010 with the Trust for Democratic Education and Accountability, TDEA, as a report writer. In 2013, he also became a visiting faculty member of Bahria University, where he taught many subjects including the relationship between livelihood sustainability and economic development and the interface of technology and culture. His courses also included critical debates around questions of modernity and development. Later, he served as a full time lecturer of anthropology and sociology at two public sector universities — University of Gujrat and Fatima Jinnah Women University, Rawalpindi. Besides working with PRIED as a researcher, Kamran is simultaneously pursuing his doctorate degree at the Quaid-i-Azam University that involves an analysis of subsistence economies, productive strategies and livelihoods in the coalfield area of Sindh’s Tharparkar district.
Mehwish
Program Manager
Mehwish did her bachelors in telecommunications from the Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Jamshoro, and MBA from the University of Sindh, Jamshoro. She started her professional career in 2009 with Management and Development Foundation, a non-government organisation based in Hyderabad. She has also worked with the Civil Society Support Program, a non-profit civil society organisation working across Pakistan, on its Voice of New Generation project, and with with another non-government development organisation, Sindh Development Society. In 2015, she joined Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum, a leading civil society organisation dedicated to improving the lot of fishing communities across Sindh. A member of the PRIED staff since November 2022, Mehwish has a long track record of running many successful social mobilisation campaigns particularly concerning the marginalised sections of the society. She possesses an in-depth knowledge and understanding of social, economic and political problems being faced by fishing and farming communities in Sindh and has represented them at numerous national and international forums.
Shaheera Tahir
Researcher
Shaheera Tahir has worked with Rural Development Policy Institute (RDPI) for a brief period. She has obtained Master of Public Administration degree with a focus on Energy and Environment Policy from Columbia University as a Fulbright Scholar (2018‑2020), and has done bachelors in Accounting and Finance from Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). Since the beginning of her career, she has been focused on renewable energy development in the country. Initially she has been engaged with 8.2 Renewable Energy Experts — a German based renewable energy consultancy firm, conducting financial feasibilities of solar power projects and their financial modelling. Later on, she has worked with an Independent Power Producer (IPP) primarily for development of a 50MW solar power project in Gharo, Sindh from inception till successful achievement of financial close. On her current research focused engagement with PRIED, she is working on research topics of economic feasibility of renewable energy, environmental and socioeconomic impacts of coal and thermal power generation, and climate change adaptation and mitigation. She is also involved in advocacy activities of PRIED aiming for phasing-out of thermal generation and promotion of renewable energy in the country.
Rimsha Rehan
Researcher
Rimsha recently graduated from the National University of Science and Technology (NUST), Islamabad, in economics and computer science with a gold medal. She also did a research internship in Turkey in 2022 working on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Climate Policy under a project funded by the European Union (EU). After her graduation, she worked on leading positions at various voluntary organisations such as Ductus Exemplo, a youth-focused environmental education initiative and at Youth Assembly, a forum for young leaders in New York City. She has also founded a digital platform ‘PolicybyYou’ and has won several innovation competitions including FICS, HULT Prize for her innovative idea, SolarClean, to aid rural clinics in Pakistan.
Shan E Zahra Naeem
Assistant Editor
Shan E Zahra Naeem is a graduate in gender studies and anthropology from the Fatima Jinnah Women University, Rawalpindi. As a student, she was selected to represent Pakistan in International Study Visit sponsored by British Council under the training of “Citizenship Education & Community Engagement Program Active Citizens” held in the United Kingdom. After completing her studies, she did a training course on gender, masculinity and campaign designing and works avidly on exploring connections between climate change, fossil fuel-based economic activities and their impacts on women in Pakistan. She also has the experience of doing community work, particularly for the uplift of disadvantaged people including women and transgender communities.
Shafaq Nasir
Graphic Designer
Shafaq received a bachelor’s degree in textile designing from the National Textile Institute in Islamabad but her real passion lies in graphic design which she has learnt virtually. Since 2020, she has worked as a graphic designer first with Jacked Nutrition, an online store selling food supplements, then with Andromeda Productions, a graphic design agency based in Islamabad, and finally with Sooch, a non-profit organization working on various social welfare projects. At Sooch, she was also responsible for creating social media posts, producing videos and taking photographs. Shafaq has simultaneously done several other projects as a freelancer. These include creating logos, designing websites, developing illustrations and making infographics.
Ammara Aslam
Researcher
Ammara has a professional degree in Environmental Sciences from the National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad. She has experience working in the climate change and policy landscape and possesses proven expertise in project management, outreach, and communication. She also has a six-year long experience of devising reports and proposals on diverse themes — ranging from climate mitigation and adaptation strategies to sustainable development initiatives. Working closely with the Federal Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination, United Nations organizations, and local and provincial government departments, she has independently consulted on projects related to voluntary carbon markets, implementation of nationally determined commitments (NDCs), Greenhouse Gases accounting and emissions reduction, plastic recycling and crediting, and climate-energy-water-food nexus with a focus on youth and gender.
Muqaddas Ashiq
Research Assistant
Muqaddas Ashiq started her professional career as a summer intern at PRIED in 2023. She is doing a masters in thermal energy engineering at the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) where her research project is focused on “Electricity demand forecasting and VRE integration in the power sector of Pakistan”. She graduated from Air university in 2022 with a bachelors degree in applied physics. Her final year project on replacing fuel batteries came second for the campus round of Hult prize 2022. As a part of Shaoor Society Air University, she also worked on a project to create awareness among underprivileged children about sexual abuse and served as a volunteer intern with Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF).
Usama Irfan
Associate Producer
Usama Irfan holds a bachelor’s degree in media studies, with a specialization in film, television and advertising. He has worked with several leading media companies as a digital producer, video journalist, and documentary filmmaker. His work at PRIED focuses on documenting issues and problems related to climate justice and clean energy. In his last job, as a videographer at Lok Sujag, he travelled widely to make news features on many public interest subjects such as minority rights, climate change, agriculture and social and economic justice. He has also made a short feature film on domestic violence and child abuse and a documentary film on Punjabi language’s social, cultural and economic status in Pakistan’s 21st century.
Manzoor Ahmed Alizai
Research Associate

Manzoor Ahmed Alizai joined Policy Research Institute for Equitable Development (PRIED) in Nov 2021 as a research associate. He received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from University of Engineering & Technology (UET), Peshawar and M.S. in Energy Systems Engineering with focus on energy and environment from National University of Sciences & Technology (NUST) Islamabad. Previously, he worked as a research assistant on KPK funded project, to conduct a feasibility study on combine cycle power plant for industrial state of Swabi. He also worked as a research associate in Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB). His research work has also been published in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineer (IEEE). He holds professional experience in resource potential assessment of emerging renewable energy generation systems, energy efficient technologies, techno-economic analysis of energy projects, tariff models, off-grid electrification, and net metering. His research interests include, renewable energy adoption, rural electrification, micro grid and smart grid technologies, energy storage systems, efficient use of thermal energy generation systems and climate change.
Qurat Ul Ain
Research Associate
Qurrat-ul-Ain received a bachelors degree in environmental science from the International Islamic University, Islamabad. She is also pursuing a masters degree in the same subject at the National University of Science and Technology (NUST), Islamabad. She has earlier worked as a research assistant at the Rural Development Policy Institute (RDPI), a non-government organisation based in Islamabad, Punjab’s Environment Protection Department and NUST. Her research work has been published by Think Asia, a knowledge sharing platform working in Asia and Pacific regions.
Muhammad Kashif
Manager Finance and Human Resources
Muhammad Kashif has worked with various local and foreign organizations for 17 years in accounting, finance, administration and program coordination. Possessing a master’s degree in business administration with a major in finance, he has worked most recently as a program coordinator at the Institute of Urbanism (IoU) and as a manager finance and administration at the Re Nergy Solution (private) Limited. Well-versed in audit, tax returns, bookkeeping and accounting, he has also worked with the World Wind Energy Association (WWEA) as a program coordinator and as a finance and administration officer at the German Green Party’s political foundation – Heinrich Boell Stiftung (HBS) — from 2016 to 2019. Kashif has attended training courses on the use of financial software and on German Ministry of Economic and Development’s rules and procedures. He has also acquired extensive on-the-job training in many other taxation and financial issues.