Mosharraf Zaidi

Mosharraf Zaidi is a Senior Advisor with ASG’s South Asia practice, where he draws on a long career in government and development to help clients navigate significant and quickly growing markets in Pakistan and across South Asia.

For five years, Mr. Zaidi was CEO of the Alif Ailaan campaign to help address Pakistan’s education crisis. Before that, he served as the principal advisor to Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, working to develop Pakistan’s key strategic international relationships and establishing the Foreign Ministry’s public diplomacy unit.

An expert on development and reform efforts across the region, he has worked on the United Nations’ state-building portfolio in Afghanistan, helped lead the European Union’s work on rule of law and justice in Pakistan, and advised or developed a number of other governance and international aid programs, including with the Canadian, Danish, and UK governments.

More recently, Mr. Zaidi founded Tabadlab, a public policy consulting firm in Islamabad that advises national and multinational firms and government institutions. He writes a regular column for Arab News and The News in Pakistan, and his writing has also appeared in Foreign Policy, The Indian Express, and The New York Times. He is the host of the podcast “How to Pakistan,” and is a frequent contributor to television and radio programs.

Mr. Zaidi received his MPA in Policy Analysis and Nonprofit Management from Baruch College and his B.S. in Economics with honors from Lahore University of Management Sciences.

He is based in Islamabad, Pakistan.