Sabira Qureshi is an independent development consultant, focusing on issues of poverty alleviation, gender equality, and human rights, with a focus on South Asia, primarily Pakistan and Afghanistan.
She specializes in gender assessments and analyses and developing strategies for gender mainstreaming across a range of sectors. Clients have included international funding agencies, (including IFIs, multilaterals and bilaterals), public sector organizations, and non-profits.
Sabira is also the founder and Managing Trustee of the JAQ Education Trust, a non-profit she co-founded in Pakistan 22 years ago, and still manages. The Trust operates the Pehli Kiran School System in Pakistan, a chain of community-based schools, serving the lowest income strata, through high quality Montessori education. The Pehli Kiran Schools is also registered in the US, as a 501c3 non-profit, of which she is the President.
On relocating to Washington, DC from Islamabad, Pakistan in 2004, she continues with her consulting work, in addition to sharing thoughts and experiences with audiences in the US through lectures at universities, writing papers and volunteering with several organizations.
She holds an advanced degree from Kansas State University and a B.A. from the University of Punjab, Pakistan.