User:Oozeeashraf1/sandbox

Ms. Uzma Ashraf was born in a small town (Khudian, in District Kasur) in Pakistan and became the first in the family and first woman in the district to qualify the prestigious Civil Services Exam (CSS) of Pakistan. Later, she was nominated as one of the top ten personalities of her native town. She worked at important assignments as Assistant Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner, SO at Prime Minister’s Secretariat and as Second Secretary, Federal Board of Revenue. She scored an LLM (A Cheveing Scholar and topper of LLM cohort at Queen Mary College, 2007-08 session); and an MBA (Tax Management) and a M.Sc (International Relations) - all with awards & distinctions. Currently, she is final year PhD Candidate at the University of Hong Kong (Won HKFP; a Senior Researcher working on projects with across-Atlantic collaborations and a Consulting with International Development organizations.

Ms. Ashraf is Public and Financial Sector Specialist with 13+ years’ experience in Financial Market Reforms, and research and training at international and academic organizations, and in Fiscal Policy and Revenue Administration in the public sector (Policy implementation, change management, and oversight). She has worked across multiple regions (South and East Asia, North America, and Europe) at organizations including the Asian Development Bank/ the World Bank/Ministry of Finance/and Research Grant Council, on a range of issues.

With advanced legal qualifications and currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Hong Kong, she has been involved in various multi-regional academic collaborations with affiliations at the universities such as the University of Hong Kong, Harvard Law School, and Georgetown Law School.

Ms Ashraf has published in peer-reviewed international journals, book chapters, and a book on operational risk management in 2012. She is a regular speaker at various national and international financial, regulatory, political and academic forums; contributes articles on socioeconomic issues in the top English newspapers of Pakistan. Last but not least, has started an annual series of academic conferences in Hong Kong by founding the ‘Bridging Gaps’- a non-profit organization under teh Hong Kong Ordinance.

President & Co-Founder - Bridging Gaps

She co-founded the non-profit, and co-organized following conferences and interfaith-dialogue

	Organised 2-days Intrenational conference on, Religion & Power: Political, Legal and Economic Perspectives, Jan 13-14, 2014, at the university of Hong Kong, in collaboration with the Bridging Gaps, the Centre for Comparative and Public Law (CCPL), and Faith and Global Engagement Initiateive (FGI), HKU. The conference raised sponsorships for over HKD 0.7 mn and invited speakers represented over 30 nationalities. 	Organized & Chaired the public dialogue on Religion in Politics: Power and Empowerment at the university of Hong Kong, Jan 13, 2014 with international and local collaborations. 	Organized inter-faith dialogue on ‘Religion and Human Rights’, on November 19, 2012, at the University of Hong Kong with international participation. This event forms a sequel to an initiative started in Hong Kong since 2011. 	Organized and participated as panellist in an International Conference on “Religion & Violence: Seeing it as it is”, at HKU, on 15 September 2011, the event was attended by the Head of the Supreme Judicial Council of Saudi Arabia, Chief Imam of the Grand Mosque of Kaba’ as well as the Head of the Saudi Consultative Council, as special guest.

Speaking Engagements include:

	Invited by the US State Department, to talk on, Pakistan: Inter-faith harmony & the Political-Religious Dynamic’, January 08, 2015 at Harry S Truman Building, U.S. Dept. of State, 2201 C Street NW, Washington, DC. The Panel included Scholars from the Woodrow Wilson Centre, Washington DC, and from the Office of International Religious Freedom, US Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Washington DC.

	Women in Islam’, at the School of International Service (SIS), American University of Washington DC, moderated by Akbar Ahmed, Ibn-Khudun Chair Professor, American University, November 21, 2014

	Panelist on ‘Enabling Growth: Resolving Key Regulatory, Risk and Shariah Issues Facing the Industry, at the IFN Asia Forum, May 26-27, 2014, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.

	 ‘Hong Kong- Pakistan Economic Cooperation: Prospects & Challenges’, talk given on the Inaugural ceremony of the Pakistan - Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce (PHKCC), held on April 25, 2014, Hong Kong, attended by the Chief Executive of Hong Kong SAR, Mr. Honorable Mr. CY Leung.

	Invited as panelist to talk on, ‘Developing Innovative Islamic Retail, Fund Management and Takaful Products For the Domestic and International Market’, at Islamic Finance news Bangkok, Roadshow - Expanding the Realms of Islamic Finance, December 12, 2013.

	Chaired, session at the themed conference on Research for Development, the Imperial College, London, at the 8th Annual London Business Research Conference, 8 – 9 July 2013.

	Session Chair at the Finance and Economics Conference, organized by the Lupcon Center for Business Research (LCBR), July 4-6, 2013, Frankfurt.

	Cultural & Anthropological experiences of two ex-colonies: Hong Kong vs Pakistan’, talk given at the University of Upper IOWA, Hong Kong Campus, Hong Kong on, Dec 11, 2012, moderated by Prof. Hassan Zand.

	Invited to speak on, “Reform of World Structure, Regional Security, Afghanistan 2014, International Aspects of Domestic Affairs”, in a workshop on “Regional Security Challenges and Multilateral Response in the Asia-Pacific”, held at the Central Party School, Beijing, November17, 2011.

	Delivered a talk as a first Pakistani on ‘Regional Security Disputes’, during a seminar on “The Global Strategic Environment and the Security of the Global Commons”, in cooperation with the China Reform Forum (CRF) and Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS), Beijing, as part of China-India-Germany Trilateral Dialogue, held at Beijing, 15-16 November, 2011

	Participated in the Conference on International Exchange of Professionals (CIEP), on “Further emancipation of mind through bold innovations”, co-hosted by the State Administration of Foreign Affairs (SAFA), and People’s Government of Shenzhen Municipality, October 29-31, 2010, Shenzhen, China.https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=32826962&trk=nav_responsive_tab_profile

MEDIA ENGAGEMENTS/ COMMENTATOR

	Analyst on Vice of America, Washington DC’s radio broadcasts (2014-15); Invited to VoA’s Café DC (2014);

Buddhist Door, Hong Kong;

producing a documentary on inter-cultural dialogue. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QlFFuq1ZFk

PRO-BONO SERVICE & COMMUNITY WORK:

	Ms. Ashraf is the Founding member & President of the ‘Bridging Gaps’ - a non-profit society under the HK ordinance - where she has successfully initiated & institutionalized annual series of academic discourse on Interfaith since 2011.

	Serve as mentor to women from South Asian countries through Asian University for Women, Chittagong.

	Network Nominator for Atlas Service Corps, Washington DC,

	Mentor at Child Development Fund, Kasim Tuet Memorial College, HK.

Her publications are available at: SSRN Link page: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=1376235