Mr. Amjad Ali Arbab

Mr. Amjad Ali Arbab has been working in the development and commercial banking sectors for the past 35 years, with a focus on financial inclusion, SME, Agriculture and digital finance. He has immense experience and success in institutional building and corporate governance. Until recently he served as Senior Advisor, South Asia with CGAP/World Bank, where his main focus was the creation of a $100 million SPV to support SMEs in Pakistan through provision of growth and equity capital. Prior to this, he served as Regional Director at Enclude, a global advisory firm that is supporting financial inclusion through bank downscaling, institutional capacity building, digital and capital advisory services. Before joining Enclude, Mr. Arbab was CEO of the Microfinance Investment Support Facility for Afghanistan (MISFA), a World Bank sponsored Apex institution which has set the global standard for best-practice in developing an effective “capital plus” wholesale and technical assistance facility in the microfinance and SME arenas for post-conflict reconstruction. He was also a founding member of the management team of the Bank of Khyber in Pakistan’s Khyber-Paktunkhwa Province, where he served in several executive roles, including strategic architect and Head of BOK’s small and microfinance division in the mid to late 1990s. In addition, he has served in senior positions with the Aga Khan Rural Support Program and the Agricultural Development Bank of Pakistan.

Mr. Arbab has a strong track record of successfully managing multiple donor and commercial projects and institutions in Pakistan and the region and has led diverse teams of international experts and consultants. He holds a Masters in International Relations from The Johns Hopkins University/SAIS, Washington DC as well as a Masters in Political Science from the University of Peshawar.

Mr. Arbab serves as director on the boards of several reputable financial and not for profit organizations in Pakistan including Kashf Foundation (Lahore), Mehnaz Fatima Foundation (Gilgit), Institute of Management Sciences (Peshawar), Rukhsana Mother and Childcare Trust Hospital (Peshawar). He has recently been appointed President of the Alumni Association of University of Peshawar. Mr. Arbab chairs the board of Taleem Finance Company Ltd.

Mr. Amjad Pervez

The professional career of Mr. Amjad Pervez spans over 37 years of diversified experience of treasury management, banking, accounting, budgeting, project implementation, money market, forex, stock broking and investments.

He is a Gold Medalist and holds Masters Degree in Business Administration. His Professional career started in 1981 from Saudi Arabia and later got promoted as a GM and team leader with Industrial Development Bank of Pakistan. Mr Pervez served on the Board of Directors of different companies including the Bank of Khyber. He was also engaged by Shore Bank International Limited (Consulting firm based in Chicago) as a consultant to set up the Treasury Department of Kashf Microfinance Bank. Later he joined the Bank of Khyber in 1992 as Deputy Director and ascended to the position of Senior Vice President. In 2004, he joined First National Equities Ltd as its Chief Operating Officer and later got promoted as Chief Executive Officer. He served as Financial Advisor to the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pension & Provident Funds from October 2002 to August 2015. Mr Pervez has also been engaged with Pearl Securities Ltd from September 2012 to April 2018 for providing advisory services. He has attended several national & international courses. Currently, he is also working as an independent Director of Pakistan Stock Exchange for a period of three years since April 2018.

Mr. Ali Abbas Sikander

Mr. Ali Abbas Sikander is a certified Independent Director by ICAP. He is an Industry expert in microfinance, digital financial services and digital payments verticals. He has served as industry advisor for MMU, GSMA, CGAP / World Bank, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, DFID and other development organization in the field of digital financial services and microfinance. Mr. Abbas was one of the co-founders and shareholders of Tameer Microfinance Bank (www.tameerbank.com) – a green-field microfinance bank, set up in 2005. He was a key stakeholder Involved in setting up the bank including conceptualization, business plan, investor interface, regulatory approvals, system and product development and operational launch, including the development and launch of ‘easypaisa’ a joint Telenor and Tameer bank mobile money product.

He is currently a mentor and investor in a Fintech company focused on creating a DFS infrastructure in Pakistan and other geographies. Prior to his Microfinance and DFS experience, he spent 11 years with Citibank in various geographies covering corporate clients for transactional banking. He holds a Master’s in Industrial Engineering and Operations research from New Jersey Institute of Technology.Mr. Abbas serves as an Independent Director on the board of TFCL.

Mr. Hammad Umer

Mr. Hammad Umer is an Experienced Investment Manager with a demonstrated history of working in the venture capital and private equity industry. He is a strong investment professional skilled in Management, Financial Analysis, Finance, Social Impact, and Private Equity

Currently he is the Head of Country for Insitor in Pakistan. Insitor is an impact investment fund backing entrepreneurs who build life-changing solutions for low-income consumer.

Ms. Mehvish Arifeen

Ms. Mehvish Arifeen is a people-driven venture operator and builder with over a decade of experience in leading strategy, people operations, and product development. She started her career in Microfinance in 2010 after earning a BA degree in International Development Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. She also completed her Master's in International Business from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University in 2014.

She was most recently the CEO of invest2innovate which plays a key role in connecting and facilitating entrepreneurs and investors in Pakistan and the MENA region. In her role as CEO she led a 3X growth in revenue for the company and increased the ambit of its entrepreneurship and investor networks, expanding the team and their work across the region. Before her role at Invest2innovate Ms. Arifeen, co-founded and scaled her own startup GharPar (a platform that connects freelance beauticians to clients demanding at-home beauty services) in 2016. With a proven track record of successfully working with a broad spectrum of people – junior to senior level execs and clients, she is an excellent culture and bizops growth management coach to founders. In her current role as a freelance for the World Bank Group, she coaches startups in capital raise readiness.