PALI Event: "Leaders of Today Meet Leaders of Tommorow"

In a response to a growing need for Americans of Pakistani heritage to develop a dynamic network, a new forum has been created entitled Pakistani-American Leadership Initiative (PALI). PALI intends to serve as a forum for young Pakistani-American professionals to develop and enhance leadership skills necessary to represent the interests of the community in all professional and academic fields.

For its inaugural event, PALI held a seminar, entitled "The Leaders of Today Meet the Leaders of Tomorrow" on October 18th, 2003 at the Embassy of Pakistan in Washington, DC. The day-long event was intended to facilitate networking amongst successful members of the Pakistani-American community with the next generation of leading professionals. The panelists consisted of prominent Pakistani-Americans hailing from various spheres of society, including politics, business & finance, public policy and media.

Over 120 young professionals attended the event. Throughout the event, the guests were given the opportunity to meet the distinguished panelists one on one at lunch and the closing chai time in order to network for advancement in their own professions or fields.

The proceedings commenced with the opening remarks by the Deputy Chief of Mission, Mohammad Sadiq. Mr. Sadiq highlighted the changing scenario of the United States after 9/11. Additionally, he emphasized the importance for Pakistani-Americans to assimilate into the social, economic, and political system of the US in order to advance.

The seminar was divided into two sessions, each focusing on the experiences and techniques of successful Pakistani-Americans vying to make a difference both in the United States and Pakistan. The first session was entitled "Visionaries Expanding Horizons" and was moderated by PALI board member, Sadia Asghar. The primary focus of this panel was to include self starters that discussed experiences in organizational development. The panel included: Asif Alam, head of system architecture and market data systems at Reuters; Raza Bokhari, the President and CEO of Lakewood Pathology Associates and Parkway Clinical Laboratories; Shahid Javaid Burki, CEO of EMP-Financial Advisors, LLC; Zia Chisti, co-founder of The Resource Group Asim Ghafoor, founder and managing director of AG Consulting Group; and Saghir Tahir, New Hampshire state representative. The general emphasis accentuated by the panelists during the session was the immense economic and intellectual potential that Pakistani-Americans possess in the United States. Furthermore, there was an optimistic image of the Pakistani economy depicted by the panelists, who encouraged the audience to get involved in initiatives that would help create opportunities for the greater Pakistani community here and in Pakistan.

During lunch, which followed the first session, the Pakistani Ambassador Ashraf Jehangir Qazi gave a few remarks encouraging the young professionals of the Pakistani-American community to take actions instead of merely articulating ideas. He said that the interesting situation created since 9/11 has underlined the need for the potential of our community to "take off". He congratulated PALI and Mohammad Sadiq in helping to create a platform in which the Pakistani-American professionals would be able to network among successful members of the community.

The second session of the seminar was entitled "Media and Politics in the Public Sphere". The primary focus of this session was to show application of professional development techniques in media and politics, giving concrete examples of leadership within these two general fields. PALI board member, Umair Khan, moderated the panel, which included: Omar Amanat, Strategic Advisor for Bridges TV; Amanuallah Khan, private practice physician; Haroon Khan, Finance Director for Senator Dianne Feinstein; Adnan Kifayat, Director for Near East and Economic Affairs in the National Security Council; Faiz Rehman, founder and former Editor-in-Chief of Pakistan Link; and Senior Director National Security Council, Ambassador Shirin Tahir-Kheli. In this session, there was a general concurrence among the panelists that the Pakistani-American community will be able to prosper in the US only by giving back to the local community and bridging the gap between Pakistanis and non-Pakistanis. Also, members of the panel offered numerous thoughts on how Pakistani-Americans can be able to fight prejudice and adversity in the work place in order to become successful in their respective fields.

The successful seminar was concluded by another PALI board member, Nadia Naviwala, outlining the vision of PALI and inviting the guests to become part of the new initiative so it would continue to allow for a broader cross-disciplinary network for Pakistani-American professionals.