Begum Shahnaz Wazir Ali

Rawalpindi born, a social activist, Begum Shahnaz Wazir Ali had her basic schooling in Rawalpindi and Karachi. She then gained her Bachelor's degree in Mass Communication from the American University, Washington DC. She then earned a Master's Degree in Education from the University of Arkansas, USA and a Master's Degree in Education Administration from Trenton College, New Jersey. She has a Diploma in Principal's Certification from Harvard University, Cambridge, USA.

Begum Wazir Ali has been the Executive Director of Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy (PCP), in Islamabad. She has got a vast experience of over three decades in education sector. She started her career as a school teacher in 1965 and with the passage of time she faced through different positions in education sector and became a renowned chairperson of Higher Education Commission of Pakistan.

Begum Wazir Ali has also served as the Senior Education Specialist at the World Bank in Islamabad. Her principal assignment was to provide policy, programme and technical advice and assistance to the Federal and the four Provincial governments to facilitate the implementation of the countrywide Education Sector Social Action Program (SAP). It was in this period of her career that she was very actively involved in the planning for transforming the concept of an institutionalized National Education Assessment System (NEAS) within the Ministry of Education into a reality, for monitoring and improving the quality of education in Pakistan.

From 1988 to 1990 and again from 1993 to 1996, she had the unique opportunity to serve in key decision making positions in government, in the first term as Member of the National Assembly and Federal Minister of State for Education and subsequently, in the second term, as Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Sectors. Begum Wazir Ali has spent about 15 years in teaching and administrative positions in the private sector, which included being Principal at the Lahore American School. She is also a Trustee of the Education Trust which runs Nasra Schools for children of low-income families in Karachi and provides education to more than 10,000 students.