Arif Gafur
President (Houston)
Arif Gafur has served on the Board of TCF-USA since 2013 and as the Chief Executive Officer since October 2014. He stepped down from the CEO position to take the role of President, TCF-USA in October 2018.
» Read more
Arif is a Professional Engineer (P.E.) and has worked for major oil companies in a range of senior leadership positions. As a volunteer community organizer in Houston, Arif has initiated and led successful political grassroots efforts to mobilize local communities in the US political process. Arif has a Master of Science in Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. He and his wife Najma have two boys and live in Houston. Najma is committed to TCF, and also volunteers as a physician assistant at a local charity clinic.
» Read less
Tauseef Siddiqi
CEO (Houston)
Tauseef Siddiqui joined TCF as the CEO in October 2018, following a very successful career in the Hospitality industry where he has served in executive positions; most recently as the Regional Director of Operations with the Intercontinental Hotels Group and Pacifica Host Hotels in Texas.
» Read more
Tauseef has served on Boards and committees of professional and non-profit organizations at the local, state and national level. He was Co-Chairman of the United Way, and was elected as President of The Greater New Orleans Hotel & Lodging Association, the President of the Louisiana Hotel & Lodging Association, and as Co-Chairman of the New Orleans Marketing and Tourism Corporation. Tauseef has also served in elected roles in the Pakistani Community Association in both New Orleans and Boston.
Through his contributions, Tauseef has earned the prestigious Louisiana Governor’s Recognition Award and Louisiana’s House of Representatives Commendation Award. He has also received the Mayoral Commendation Award several times for his contributions to the City of New Orleans.
Tauseef is happily married to Rafat and has 3 wonderful children, but 3 even more wonderful grandchildren. In his spare time, he loves reading and listening to Urdu poetry.
Tauseef is a Certified Hotel Administrator with a Master of Science in Management from Frostburg State University and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from New Jersey Institute of Technology.
» Read less
Amjad Noorani
Secretary (San Francisco)
Amjad is a retired physical therapist and safety consultant. He completed his education at the School of Physiotherapy, University of Karachi, graduating in 1969.
» Read more
He operated a clinical practice in California from 1971 to 1999, and has served on boards and committees of professional and non-profit organizations at the local, state and national level. He has been associated with TCF since 1999, and worked in leadership positions in TCF-USA since 2004. Personal interests include hiking, music, tennis, photography and gardening. He and his wife, Najma, live in Los Altos, California. Najma is an active supporter.
» Read less
Faraz (Farri) Khan
Treasurer (San Fransisco / Austin)
Farri is currently the Chief Accounting Officer for University of California San Francisco Health. Prior to that she was the Chief Financial Officer for Universal Healthcare Services (UHS) in South Texas.
» Read more
Farri also served as Vice President Finance at Seton Healthcare Family in Austin for 11 years. She was one of the founders of the TCF-USA Austin Chapter and has been a longtime supporter and volunteer for the cause. Farri has an MBA in Finance from W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University and is also a CPA.
» Read less
Abdullah Jafri
Director (Houston)
Abdullah Jafari was born in Lahore, in a family of educators and poets. After spending approximately four decades in commercial aviation, he retired in 1998 from the position of President & CEO of Skyways International, Inc., a company that operated large corporate jets.
» Read more
Mr. Jafari has been involved in various charitable causes. He served as President & CEO of Shifa Healthcare & Community Services USA, Inc., a non-profit organization. He served on the board and as secretary of SIUT North America, Inc., benefiting the Sind Institute of Urology and Transplantation in Karachi. He was a member of Daya’s advisory board. He completed his term as Chairman of the Board at Amaanah Refugee Services. Jafari is member of the Houston Rotary Club, and past chairman of International Services. He is currently serving as the Chairman of Outreach & Fundraising Committee of TCF USA in addition to his seat on the board.
February 28, 2008 was declared Abdullah Jafari Day in Houston by the, then Mayor of Houston, Hon. Bill White, for his outstanding social services. In the same year Alliance for Multicultural Communities Services, a United Way Agency, honored Mr. Jafari as the Star of the year for his philanthropic services. He is a Paul Harris Fellow of Rotary.
Jafari is married to Anjum Jafari who in her own right is a great philanthropist, social worker and activist. She brings a lot of strength to TCF Houston Chapter.
Jafari was an active sportsman and played cricket representing Karachi & Pakistan International Airline teams in First Class Cricket. He also played for Thailand’s national team. Besides squash, he is an avid golfer.
» Read less
Alia Faiz
Director (Dallas)
Alia Faiz is the CEO of Medfolio Inc, a Health IT company in Dallas, TX. She is a Mgmt and IT Consultant with expertise in Business Strategy, Processes re-engineering, Program Mgmt and IT Risk Mgmt working for firms like KPMG.
» Read more
She played an instrumental role in defining and establishing Solution Delivery Methodologies and forming Strategic Vendor and Service Provider alliances with multi million-dollar budget responsibilities for Fortune 100 companies like AT&T, Texas Instruments, Citigroup & Alcatel.
Alia played a key role in establishing ‘The Charlie Wilson Chair’ in Pakistan Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, the first ever alumni chair in Pakistan Studies at any US college or university. She was an advisor to the ‘Jarvis Christian College Call Center Project’, providing on-campus employment and training opportunities to the African American community in Hawkins, Texas. She was involved in establishing the DFW local chapter of APWA (All Pakistan Women Association). She holds a bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering and an MBA in MIS from University of Texas, Dallas.
Alia played a key role in establishing ‘The Charlie Wilson Chair’ in Pakistan Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, the first ever alumni chair in Pakistan Studies at any US college or university. She was an advisor to the ‘Jarvis Christian College Call Center Project’, providing on-campus employment and training opportunities to the African American community in Hawkins, Texas. She was involved in establishing the DFW local chapter of APWA (All Pakistan Women Association). She holds a bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering and an MBA in MIS from University of Texas, Dallas.
» Read less
Azhar Hameed
Azhar Hameed is a serial entrepreneur whose last company, GfK Etilize, is now part of one of the world’s largest market research company, GfK, based in Nuremberg, Germany.
» Read more
Azhar, a well-respected social activist and philanthropist, is trained in the fields of Computer Science from the University of Oklahoma and Business Management from the Anderson School, UCLA. He leads the TCF-USA Los Angeles Chapter.Azhar, brings to TCF’s and SHINE’s boards, not only the proverbial entrepreneurial energy,but also the discipline and experience to help build projects from the ground up and scale them to global heights. An avid golfer, Azhar has represented Pakistani Golfers Group as a team captain and organizer.
» Read less
Barbara Janes
Director (Chicago)
Barbara Janes was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Peshawar in the early 60s. Barbara and her former Peace Corps group, Friends of Pakistan USA, have raised funds to provide scholarships for ten girls
» Read more
to attend TCF-Phengali Girls High School, located outside of Lahore. Friends of Pakistan USA has also raised money for earthquake relief in 2005, and flood relief in 2010. In 2007, she visited Pakistan to do TCF teacher training workshops in Karachi and Lahore. In 2009, Barbara worked with TCF teachers to run summer science camps.
» Read less
Haji Mody
Director (Dallas)
Haji Vali Mody is the president of a hardware distribution business in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Prior to starting his own business in 1991, Haji worked for Greyhound as the Director of Accounting.
He has an MBA in international business from the University of Dallas in Irving, TX and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Karachi. One of the founding members of TCF-USA Dallas Chapter, Haji serves on TCF-USA’s finance committee. He also volunteers at the mosque in Richardson, participating in various inter-faith activities. Haji and his wife, Jane, live in Dallas and have two children.
» Read more
He has an MBA in international business from the University of Dallas in Irving, TX and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Karachi. One of the founding members of TCF-USA Dallas Chapter, Haji serves on TCF-USA’s finance committee. He also volunteers at the mosque in Richardson, participating in various inter-faith activities. Haji and his wife, Jane, live in Dallas and have two children.
» Read less
Jawaid Ekram
Director (Seattle)
Jawaid Ekram is the founder of the Seattle Chapter, and under his leadership, the Seattle Chapter, along with the community, has built and supports 15+ schools. Jawaid holds an MS degree in Computer Science from IIT.
» Read more
He is a Cloud Computing industry veteran and an entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience in engineering and operations of large-scale systems. Jawaid is the co-founder of Uhuru Software, a platform as a service company. He is a former GM at Microsoft, responsible for Global Foundations Services (Data Center) and Live Meeting Services (SaaS). Before Microsoft, Jawaid was CIO/VP Services of Placeware. He served as Sr. VP of Visa International for 5 years, responsible for global engineering and operations. During his time at United Airlines, he was instrumental in the development of Apollo, one of the largest global airline distribution systems. He is on the Board of Entrust Technology. Jawaid’s passion is to provide education to underprivileged children, so that they may have equal opportunities in life.
» Read less
Shimmi Kidwai
Director (Washington, DC)
ShimmiKidwai has provided valuable leadership since the inception of TCF-USA, and is committed to raising awareness and funds for the cause. Shimmi is the founder of TCF-USA Washington DC Chapter, and along with the DC community, has been instrumental in building over 13 schools.
» Read more
She supports a number of American and Pakistani charities. Shimmi serves on the Board of Friends of Pakistan Club (FOP) and American Pakistani Women’s Association (APWA). Her dedication stems from her belief that quality education for the poor is the best solution for Pakistan’s many challenges.
» Read less
Ejaz A. Shameem
P.E., Member ASCE
Ejaz Shameem has served on the Board of TCF-USA since 2017. He is Senior Vice President and Director of the Energy Business Consulting group, where he is responsible for the overall management and direction of the group’s various global engagements.
» Read more
He has 15 years experience in the nuclear power industry, including seven years on assignment in Seoul, Korea as part of a technology transfer effort with KEPCO. He is a registered Professional Engineer (P.E.) in the states of Arizona, Illinois and Michigan.
Ejaz is dedicated to the cause of education and contributes towards the building of schools through TCF and funds a University of Illinois Foundation scholarship for deserving engineering students.
» Read less
Zarrar Sehgal
Advisor (New York)
Zarrar Sehgal is an attorney and received his JD from Georgetown University Law Center and his undergraduate degree from Boston University.
» Read more
He is a partner in Clifford Chance’s US Finance and Restructuring Group and Co-Head of the Asset Finance Practice. Mr. Sehgal is also head of Clifford Chance’s Global Transport & Logistics sector group. He has extensive experience representing underwriters, lenders, lessors, and governmental agencies in a wide variety of asset finance transactions. Zarrar was named as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. He was also recognized by Chambers USA in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009.
» Read less
Azher Khan
Advisor (Indianapolis)
A native of Karachi, Pakistan, Azher Khan came to the United States in 1972. He earned a Bachelor’s in International Relations from the University of Mankato in Minnesota in
» Read more
1975 and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the American University in Washington, DC in 1979. Azher is President of Calderon Textiles Inc., formed in 1983 in Indianapolis. Azher has served as Treasurer at Al-Fajr Masjid for the past 24 years. He is also Treasurer of the Muslim Alliance of Indiana and President of Seeds of Learning, a non-profit dedicated to building goodwill, friendship, peace and tolerance between the people of Pakistan and America through education. Azher and his wife, Pinky, have three children.
» Read less
Danial Noorani
Founder (Chicago)
Danial Noorani founded TCF-USA in May 2002 and served as President till 2008. Danial was appointed as the CEO and managed the organization in that capacity until March 2015.
» Read more
Danial also served as a member of the Board and past President of ‘Apna Ghar’ (Our Home), a twenty five year old domestic violence agency in Chicago. Danial worked at AT&T for 26 years, where he took a leading role in the efforts to introduce competition in the Telecommunications industry. He co-chaired the Illinois Commerce Commission workshop that set the national guidelines for competition in local phone service. Danial represented AT&T at the FCC and several state utility commissions. Danial has an MBA from Western Illinois University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce and Economics from the University of Karachi. Danial and his wife, Karen, have three children and live in Roselle, Illinois.
» Read less
Uneza Akhtar
Director Administration (Chicago)
Uneza Akhtar joined TCF-USA in June 2006 and manages its operations, including donor and project management,facilitating fundraising efforts for US chapters, and working
» Read more
with volunteers on the Marketing Committee. Uneza was editor for The Review, a weekly magazine for Dawn, Pakistan’s leading newspaper. At Dawn, she led a staff team and supervised an internship program for six years. She also served for three years as a Development Grants Associate for Apna Ghar in Chicago, a domestic violence agency, and as editor and researcher for a development and design firm. Uneza is from Mumbai, India, and went to Elphinstone College. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Literature, from the University of Bombay. She is deeply interested in human rights issues and the arts.
» Read less