Our Advisors
Akademos is advised by a panel of senior independent specialists whose expertise spans development policy, gender and social inclusion, public finance, water governance, and monitoring and evaluation. They bring decades of combined experience across government, multilateral institutions, and academia, and provide independent guidance and technical insight across our research and advisory work.
Samia Liaquat Ali Khan
CEO, QAISEN Strategies
Samia Liaquat Ali Khan
CEO, QAISEN Strategies
Samia Liaquat Ali Khan is a strategic and progressive leader, with over 25 years’ global experience in development. She provides thought leadership and innovative solutions across a number of domains including in gender and inclusion, social protection, women’s economic empowerment, education, health and community-driven development. She has worked closely with the World Bank, International Fund for Agriculture Development, Gates Foundation and others to deliver on projects and policy advisory services. While Senior Group Head at the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF), she designed and led the $150 million National Poverty Graduation Programme, with the aim to lift nearly half a million households out of poverty. Currently, Samia is the CEO of QAISEN Strategies, a development and management consultancy based in Islamabad. She holds an MSc in Development Studies from SOAS and a Masters in Public Administration from Columbia University. Her opinion pieces can be found online at Dawn.
Mehreen Siddiqi
Gender and Social Inclusion Specialist
Mehreen Siddiqi
Gender and Social Inclusion Specialist
Mehreen Siddiqi is a Gender and Social Inclusion Specialist with over 15 years of experience in governance reform, public policy, gender equality and institutional strengthening in Pakistan. She has advised government institutions and development partners, including FCDO, GIZ and UNFPA, on gender-responsive planning and budgeting, inclusive governance, gender data systems, research and policy reform. Her work has focused particularly on promoting gender equality, embedding gender and inclusion within government systems and translating evidence into practical institutional change. Mehreen has a legal background with an LL.M. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and an MSc in Global Affairs from New York University, with a focus on human rights and humanitarian assistance.
Ahsan Farooqui
Doctoral Fellow, ICTD & LoGRI
Ahsan Farooqui
Doctoral Fellow, ICTD & LoGRI
Ahsan is a doctoral fellow at the International Centre for Tax and Development (ICTD) and the Local Government Revenue Initiative (LoGRI), working on property taxation, tax administration, and state capacity in Pakistan. His research examines how compliance and enforcement respond to reform design, and how bureaucratic incentives shape implementation outcomes. Before his PhD, he served as Consulting Lead at various leading research institutes of Pakistan, overseeing the consulting portfolio and leading evidence and learning work with international NGOs and UN partners. As a lead, he designed impact evaluations and mixed-methods research, supervised primary data collection, and supported partners in building survey-based measurement systems for program performance, governance, and service delivery. Methodologically, he combines administrative data, quasi-experimental designs, surveys, field experiments, and qualitative research to explain not only whether reforms work, but also why, for whom, and under what institutional conditions. In addition to public finance, he is also working on the political economy of bureaucratic institutions, including ongoing research on merit-based recruitment of public school teachers across Pakistan.
Senator Muhammad Mohsin Leghari
Water Governance & Public Policy
Senator Muhammad Mohsin Leghari
Water Governance & Public Policy
Senator Muhammad Mohsin Leghari is a senior water governance and public policy leader with over 20 years of executive and legislative experience in Pakistan. As former Minister for Irrigation and Finance, Punjab, he led landmark reforms including the Punjab Water Policy (2018), Punjab Water Act (2019), Punjab Irrigation, Drainage and Rivers Act (2023), and the Punjab Public Financial Management Act (2022). Currently a Senior Policy Expert for UNDP reviewing the 1991 Water Apportionment Accord, IRSA, and CCI frameworks, and a Member-elect of the Oxford Climate Leadership Research Centre (2026–2030), he bridges research, climate resilience, and high-level policy implementation.
Ali Yaseen Khan
Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning & Accountability
Ali Yaseen Khan
Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning & Accountability
Ali Yaseen Khan is a Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning and Accountability specialist with over 10 years of experience in international development and humanitarian sectors. He has designed and managed MEL systems, carried out independent evaluations, mixed methods studies, baseline and endline assessments, and organisational learning processes in Pakistan and other international contexts. His experience spans climate change, education, governance, social inclusion & cohesion, gender-based violence, child protection, youth development, humanitarian assistance and rule of law. Ali has worked with the British Council, VSO International, Coffey International, TDEA, and CRCC on programmes supported by FCDO, the European Union, USAID, UNICEF, GIZ, Education Cannot Wait, the Green Climate Fund and the World Bank.