Alia Zafar
Alia Zafar is an HR executive and director of human resources at Pakistan Cricket Board(PCB). She is the first independent female to be appointed in PCB in the board of governors. Education. Alia holds a Masters in Business Administration and Master in Arts in English Literature. She also holds a certification in Human resources from NUST business School. Alia was also a member of Civil Services Academy of Pakistan where she was trained in Income Tax group with a background in Strategic Planning and Management. Alia also holds a diploma and certification in learning, innovation and social entrepreneurship  from Germany and INSEAD France. Career. Alia has been associated with Human resources for more than 25 years. She has worked as a Human Resources professional in various Banks as well as the hospitality sector. She has worked in corporate and development sector organizations. She has also been associated with financial management, policy and governance and HR projects. In 2013, Alia worked at Crown Agents, USA as an Expert on Private public partnership programmed. Alia has also been associated with the United Nations having joined the UNDP as the Head of  HR unit. She worked for three years in providing  advice to employees of UNDP, UN Women, UNFPA, UNOCHA, UNODSS, and UNOPS. Alia has also worked with USAID as an expert advisor to support Privatization Commission of Pakistan. In 2018, She worked with WFP( World Food Programme) Rome as the chief HR where she provided technical advice and support to the organization. Alia was appointed as country head in the human resources department at the Askari Bank Limited where she led HR department operations. She has also worked as the head of HR at Bank of Punjab before her latest appointment at PCB. In 2020, Alia was appointed as a  human resources executive in the board of directors, in the process becoming the first women in its 59 years history. The PCB's new constitution made it mandatory to include at least one woman among four independent directors on its board of governors. Along with Alia, Javed Kureishi, Asim Wajid Jawad and Arif Saeed were also appointed as independent members. Kureishi and were appointed for a three-year period, while Jawad and Alia for a two-year period. IAlia's new appointment not only made her the first female to be on the board of governors but also the first  independent director in PCB. Alia also contributes to Newspapers and Magazines, where she has written on gender issues and corporate operations. Awards. Alia was awarded the Soraya Salti award for social entrepreneurship at INSEAD France. She is also recipient of HR professional of the year (2012) award, awarded at the regional HR Congress, India.