The Indus River Valley Institute (IRVI) is Pakistan’s first culture, heritage & identity think tank to reclaim the lost roots to our ancestors who passed through the Indus River Valley or settled there over millennia.

At IRVI we de-colonise and debunk myths of shared & overlapping histories bringing them onto one united, holistic platform from the following regional stories:

- The Silk Road
- The Indus river watershed & delta
- The China connection & KKH
- Kabul, Afghanistan & Peshawar
- Persia; Darius the Great
- Greeks, Kalash & Alexander the Great
- Mohd bin Qasim, the Arabs and Thatta
- Central Asia & the Mughals
- Southern Russia & the Indo Scythians
- The Indus valley civilization, Mesopotamia and Egypt
- Gandhara and Buddhism into India
- Sikhism and Ranjit Singh

IRVI’s vision is a self-sustaining institution to further the discourse that has been started by Architect and Founder Cube Edutours Zain Mustafa through his journey tracing and revealing Pakistan’s broader 7,000 year old cultural identity and its inter-connectivity to the Silk Road in conjunction with the Indus River valley bioregion.

We nurture dialogues and conversations between Pakistan’s provincial archaeological & cultural departments in association with similar intellectual environments of other relevant countries. From China to Portugal, Russia to Africa all their colonial & lost histories will be re-bridged with Pakistan as the pivotal junction between them as it always was. This national repository of material generated by the think tank will leave a legacy for our future generations to learn from and build on.

The Think Tank develops material based on the following five directives:

1. Research and documentation (created and curated)
2. Publication (print reports, blogs & Youtube virtual video tours)
3. Heritage site Community engagement & training/Skill development of guides
4. Quarterly Webinars & Annual International conferences
5. Educational on-site pop-up classrooms (present Edutours)

1) Target Audience:

– Historians
– Anthropologists
– Earth Architects/Artists
– Archaeologists
– Contemporary crafts designers
– Writers on above content
– Film makers
– Performing artists
– Heritage Architecture Conservation experts
– Govt & Pvt sector above
– Policy & strategy writers
– Students of any related programs or heritage enthusiasts
– Organic farmers or builders with earth (Biotecture)
– Folk music documentation experts
– Culinary artists and revival food chefs
– Contemporary designers working with the traditional arts and craftsman
– Organizations working with heritage & traditional arts

2) IRVI offerings:

– Domestic & global network of like minded people working on similar projects
– A place to meet, share ideas, data, solve problems
– Collaborative projects through curated in-residence collisions
– Live in opportunity through academic research residencies and funded fellowships
– Access to funding
– Access to data
– Access to training
– Access to remote travel through edutours
– Shared publishing docs
– And more as it grows
– HQ for all discourses and dialogues and human resource experts on domestic, regional and global indigenous lost shared cultural history
– Organically to define and chart its own path

3) IRVI the farmhouse

– Place to stay for 6 full time
– Place to work meet talk for more as day time visitors
– Conference table set up
– Wifi for Zoom meetings and webinars set up
– Library
– Outdoor space for food farming experiments “food forest”
– Outdoor space for non digital events
– Earth architecture outdoor lab

At IRVI we are also open to co-creating new hybrid programs and events not listed above with individuals or organizations who have an idea they want to develop with us as partners.

Anyone interested is welcome to contact us via email:

info@indusrivervalley.com

Board of Advisors

Zain Mustafa

Founder IRVI Founder Cube Edutours VP The Garage School Trustee Safi Benevolent Trust President SPAR (Society for the Protection of Animal Rights) Architect, Cultural Anthropologist

Zain Mustafa is an Architect and Educationist based in Islamabad. He is also the founder for IRVI (Indus River Valley Institute) & Cube Edutours – a unique heritage architecture education tourism initiative, taking learning about bio regional shared history to heritage sites across Pakistan.

Born in Karachi, 1971, having demonstrated a natural talent for the arts he was accepted into the Parsons School of Design in New York to pursue a BFA program in Environmental Design, concentrating in Architecture, 1993. After graduating he was selected as one of 3 for a full scholarship to Columbia University, at the Institute of Learning Technologies for a 1-year MA in Education with a focus on new technologies in Architectural teaching, 1994.

From 1995 – 2000 Zain taught at the Indus Valley School of Art & Architecture, alongside professional practice in interior design, installation art and fashion.

Having returned to New York in 2000, in 2003 Zain relocated to Dubai after a brief exploration of life as a builder in Santa Fe, and then Tokyo. With 7 years in Dubai, receiving international design awards, Zain finally came home to roost in 2010.

From 2010 to date he has continued to explore and discover Pakistans rich and diverse history through the Edutours and expanded on his professional practice portfolio by designing prestige projects like NIC Karachi or stylish restaurants like Tao, and even the revamp of a new animal-centric sensitive Karachi Zoo. He is president of the Society for the Protection of Animal Rights, on the advisory board Pakistan Chowk Community Center and a trustee on the board for The Garage School.

Having lived worked and been educated across multiple countries throughout his life, as a global citizen, Zain’s experiences and world views are not only unique but also value addition to any global discussions, discourses and issues which need multiple scales of design perspective.

Mr. Ariful Islam

Deputy CEO Meezan Bank Limited

Mr. Ariful Islam is a senior banker with over 36 years of experience with various banks in Bahrain and Pakistan. He is a Chartered Accountant from England and Wales and a Fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan.

Mr. Islam joined Meezan Bank in April 1999 as the Bank’s first Chief Operating Officer and is presently the Deputy CEO of the Bank. He is also the Chairman of the Board of Al Meezan Investment Management Limited – the Bank’s asset management subsidiary.

Mr. Islam has also been on the Board of Honda Atlas Cars (Pakistan) Limited since March 2020 as an Independent Director.

Asad Husain

Asad Husain is a Global HR Executive with over 31 years of experience. His experience in the field is extensive, specializing in Culture and Business Transformations, M&A, Strategic HR Leadership, Talent Management & Engagement strategies, contributing to organizational growth and enhanced performance.

In his last role, Asad served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) of C&S Wholesale Grocers, a $26 billion-dollar company with 17,000 employees across the USA. Before that, he served as the Head of HR for Del Monte in San Francisco and Dun & Bradstreet in New Jersey, and spent 19 years with Gillette and P&G in increasingly senior HR roles.

He has represented organizations on JV Boards in China, Japan, UAE, and India, and has had diversified HR leadership experience at local market, regional, international, and global levels. Asad has a deep understanding of various cultures – traveled, lived, and worked in many countries. He has consistently been a trusted strategic partner, thoughtful leader, internal consultant, and champion of HR.

Asad is based in New Jersey, USA, and has an MBA from the Institute of Business Administration (IBA, University of Karachi).

Ayesha Karim

Ayesha is a start up founder, a product leader and publishing veteran

Broad 18+ years experience focused on propelling business transformation – developing creative digital products and services that leverage emerging technology together with the opportunities offered by changing consumer behavior and expectations.

Currently Head of Product at EQL, a fast growth, health tech startup changing healthcare for good by empowering people to take control of their healthcare needs. She is also on the Board of Sussex Modern, a sustainable tourism development agency for Sussex.

Dr Ayesha Mian

Dr Ayesha I. Mian is a US trained, adult and child and adolescent psychiatrist with extensive experience in teaching, capacity building and program development in the areas of leadership, mental health, medical education, cultural intelligence and gender.

She did her MBBS from Aga Khan University and went to the US for her residency in General Adult Psychiatry. After that she did Fellowship in Child & Adolescent Psychiatry from University of Texas, Houston and joined Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children’s Hospital as faculty member.

She has been internationally recognized for her work; key awards include the Jeanne Spurlock Award for Diversity and Culture by AACAP, the Laughlin Fellowship by American College of Psychiatrists (ACP), Presidential Award and Outstanding Mentor by AACAP, Robert Fellowship for inspirational mentorship (AAP), Fulbright and Jaworski awards in educational leadership by BCM and a Lifetime Achievement Award by University of Missouri, Department of Psychiatry.

She continues to be a Co-Chair of Global Mental Health Committee of AACAP and Executive Council member of Donald Cohen Fellowship Director of IACAPAP

In 2013, she returned back to Pakistan as Chair of Department of Psychiatry at Aga Khan University. She introduced the idea of blended curriculum in the department and worked closely with the undergraduate clerkship program director to redesign the psychiatry clerkship program into an outcome focused curriculum which resulted in better student experience and interest in psychiatry.

Dr Mian created the first child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship training program in Pakistan. She has been instrumental in supporting and mentoring her junior faculty, fellows, and postgraduate trainees and continued to provide an environment conducive to learning.

She became a FAIMER fellow in International Medical Education Leadership in 2017 and Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) for Women alumna in 2019. She was given an additional role as the Founding Dean of Students in 2017 and she developed the Office of Student Experience with a vision to include student voices in issues pertinent to them as much as possible. Being in the leadership position, she felt the need to address the concerns of women leaders and became the Founding Lead of Gender Equity & Women in Leadership program at AKU in 2018. She started the conversation of incorporating gender equity and inclusion in processes and policies of the university and worked to build a leadership program for women.

Dr Mian has recently stepped out of academia to co-lead and create a center of excellence in neuroscience, an institute that seeks to provide evidence based and quality services, teaching and research in mental health, neurology and allied disciplines

She is a board trustee/advisor for Mukhtar A Sheikh Hospital (MASH), Karwan e Hayat, Vital Trust, Kazim Trust, Sabeen Mahmood Foundation and the Entrepreneurship and Youth Development

Society, SEED Ventures, Pakistan.

Kamila Shamsie

Kamila Shamsie is the author of eight novels, which have been translated into over 30 languages, including Home Fire, which won the Women’s Prize for Fiction and was long listed for the Man Booker Prize. Burnt Shadows won the Premio Boccaccio (Italy) and was shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction (UK); A God in Every Stone won the Anisfield-Wolf Award (USA) and was shortlisted for the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature (India). A Vice-President of the Royal Society of Literature and Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Manchester, she was one of Granta’s ‘Best of Young British Novelists’ in 2013. Three of her novels. — In the City by the Sea, Kartography, and Broken Verses — have won awards from Pakistan’s Academy of Letters . A recipient of the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz, she grew up in Karachi, and now lives in London.

Shahjahan Chaudhary

Shahjahan is an entrepreneur, investor and activist. He’s a partner in Machinelab, a fintech innovator and venture builder. He was the Founding Director of the National Incubation Center and a former board member of PeaceNiche and P@SHA. He currently lives in Lisbon with his family.

Shana Sadiq

Shana is a NY bar qualified lawyer with a Masters from Columbia University in law and economics and a Ph.D from Tokyo University in energy economics. She has been the recipient of the prestigious Japanese Ministry of Education Monbusho Scholarship and her work has been cited in academic journals and books.

Shana’s professional focus has been on large scale energy project finance and banking and finance and she has represented large corporates in many cross-border transactions.

Shana has lived and worked around the world and she speaks conversational Italian and Japanese.

She cites having lived in many countries as her most formative personal experience.

For her, societal norms that value women as equal agents, free speech, minority religion, animal rights, and bio-regional connections are essential to elevating the human experience.

In this context, Shana supports IRVI’s mission as the “ultimate identity project in Pakistan and a service to forward-looking history”.

Simi Raheal

Simi Raheal is a rare combination of a development trainer Actor and media professional with over 4 decades of experience in the media Arts education and development sector. She has been an actor and anchor for public and private television Film and theater.

As an actor she began her journey in 1976 from Ptv Lahore. Since then she has been part of countless dramas, films, advertisements and theater productions. Simi is constantly involved with audio visual development for youth.

As an actor SIMI chooses character roles with strength and social comedy. Her pivotal strength is bridging media and development. She has been actively involved in advocacy campaigns on various platforms.

Her unique combination and diversity gives her an edge over most other trainers and activists as she has celebrity status and her reach is further than most other trainers. She has mobilized communities and media professionals at all level through training and media sensitization. By identifying needs she has advocated on behalf of women through media and communication. Some of her key advocacy experience includes gender balance, reproductive health, media, communication and leadership workshops and curriculum design.

She is a master trainer for gender reproductive health leadership, communication and human rights. It is safe to say Simi is the only certified actor and development trainer with this portfolio in the world .Her strength is this unusual combination.

In all her communication she weaves the development message hence this is not her work it’s her life.

She has been teaching the MPhil class at Kinnaird University for Women, a course on media production and development she has designed, also taught at SAFMA over a period of 4 years.

Simi is recognized in Pakistan as an Artist activist, teacher and powerful media professional her voice carries weight in the public and private sector in Pakistan.

Her ideology of practicing the development goals is shared by all who come in contact with her. Over the years and due to her diverse learning she has a network spread across the globe. Her journey has led her to the field of performing arts education, communication, development, leadership and explores countless other new learning.

She has worked with numerous organization as trainer, consultant and program designer. She holds the Fatima Jinnah medal for media and is the fellow of IIE LDM in reproductive, health, gender and leadership, the fellow of FXB Harvard School of Medicine on Health and Human rights and a GWLN Leadership Fellow from Leavy School of Business Santa Clara.

She is also the Reproductive Health ambassador for the organization called LEAD. Over the last three decades she has worked with USAID, UNFPA, DEFID, IIE LDM, SDPI and other agencies as researcher, trainer and consultant.

Fatemah Sultan

Content Contributor & Research Intern, The Lyceum School, Karachi

An aspiring Journalist/Historian, Climate Activist and core representative for Fridays For Future Pakistan

“The work I did for IRVI not only strengthened my writing abilities to curate a narrative through historical events but helped me unlearn the linear trajectory of historical timelines that we are taught in our schooling systems”.

“I was able to see the history of our rich, culture fuelled region from a rounder, more inclusive perspective. I learnt more through my time sifting through field projects, diaries and documentations of the various sub sects of Pakistans regional history than I ever learnt in school”.