Who Stands Behind This Work
None of it was built alone. A co-investigator who is also his mentor, an advisor who takes the psychological counselling, the research coordinator and the research assistant on the AASSREC fieldwork, the AI collaborator behind the broadcasting work, a founding team who gave their evenings to it in 2024, and a volunteer force of ambassadors across Pakistan.
Dr. Asma Imran
Associate Professor, Department of Management Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Lahore Campus
Dr. Asma Imran is Co-Principal Investigator across the Social Impact Projects, and Co-Investigator on the AASSREC study of remote workers' well-being in Pakistan and Malaysia. She was Dr. Nadir's PhD supervisor and remains his mentor.
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Her research spans human resource management, organisational behaviour, leadership, sustainability, social entrepreneurship and the use of artificial intelligence in organisations, published in HEC-recognised and internationally indexed journals. She has supervised MS and PhD scholars, and has contributed to curriculum review, quality assurance and research governance at her university.
She has been an advisor to Unsung Achievers since the founding team was formed in 2024.
Dr. Rao Muhammad Adeel Nawab
Chief Executive Officer, Ilm-O-Irfan Technologies
Dr. Rao Muhammad Adeel Nawab is the AI collaborator on this work. Together, in 2025, they built Avacast and Avinars: AI-enabled academic broadcasting, in formats that run from AI-assisted academic conversations and AI webinars to AI lectures, AI news and avatars. They ran the first of them at COMSATS Lahore on 6 May 2025, with an e-certificate for everyone who attended.
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The principle they both hold to is the one this whole site is built on: scholarship led by people, delivery supported by AI. The technology carries the lesson further; it does not write it.
Two episodes they recorded together: The Creative Code, Understanding Generative AI from Scratch and the world's first Avacast.
Dr. Farzana Ashraf
Associate Professor, Department of Humanities, COMSATS University Islamabad, Lahore Campus
Dr. Farzana Ashraf is an advisor to the social projects, and takes the psychological counselling part of the work: the counselling and well-being sessions for students of public schools, colleges and universities that sit beside career guidance in Noor-e-Ilm.
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Career guidance tells a young person which road is open. Counselling helps them find the steadiness to walk it. That is why the two are offered together.
Her field is psychology.
Mr. Muhammad Haseeb Shakil
PhD Scholar, Management Sciences (Human Resource Management), COMSATS University Islamabad, Lahore Campus
He is a dedicated PhD scholar with a strong academic and research background. He holds his qualifications from COMSATS University Islamabad, Lahore Campus. With over three years of experience at Superior University, he has contributed significantly to various academic and research domains, including the Faculty of Business & Management Sciences, Chaudhary Muhammad Akram Center for Entrepreneurship Development (CMACED), and the Office of Research, Innovation, and Commercialization (ORIC). Additionally, he has been involved with the Directorate of Postgraduate Studies (DOPS), the Center for Interdisciplinary Research, and the Faculty of Engineering & Technology.
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His research expertise is reflected in his impressive portfolio of more than 25 publications in renowned journals. Alongside his academic pursuits, he also has a brief yet valuable working experience in the industry, further enriching his practical understanding of business and technology. His contributions to academia and research continue to make a significant impact in his field.
He is also an ambassador of Unsung Achievers, and works as a research assistant on the AASSREC study.
Mr. Qamar Zaman
Deputy Director, Global Linkages, Minhaj University Lahore
Mr. Qamar Zaman is the Research Coordinator of the AASSREC study and leads its data collection in Malaysia, working with the international collaborator there and with the Principal Investigator in Lahore.
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He brings more than thirteen years of leadership experience across the corporate and higher education sectors, in international partnerships, transnational education, academic administration, quality assurance, business development and alumni engagement. At Minhaj University Lahore he leads the Directorate of Global Linkages and the University's internationalisation strategy, and he also teaches as visiting faculty at Lahore Leads University.
Our Industry Collaborators
Three people from outside the university who came to the work and stayed with it: one from artificial intelligence, one from industry and sustainability, one from the food industry and the bar.
Dr. Wajahat Mahmood Qazi
Artificial intelligence · Industry Collaborator
His was the story that opened the podcast, as Pakistan's AI Hero, and he has stayed with the work since. With Dr. Nadir he made From Reluctance to Mastery in AI, the series for everyone who suspects the technology has already moved past them.
Mr. Muhammad Mushtaq
Advocate · Deputy Manager, HR and Administration, Gourmet · Industry Collaborator
A lawyer working inside an industrial HR department, which is an unusual pair of eyes and a useful one. He came in as an ambassador and has stayed as a collaborator on the industry side, where the questions are about hiring, conduct and what a young person is actually expected to know.
Mr. Khurram Khan
General Manager, HR and Sustainability, Shahkam Industries · Industry Collaborator
The bridge from the classroom to the workplace. He came onto the channel for Leadership in Action, and stands with the projects on the industry side, where a course has to mean something inside a real organisation. He has given a great deal to the teaching of soft skills, the part of a graduate's preparation that a syllabus rarely reaches.
The Unsung Achievers Who Stand With Us
Scientists, vice chancellors, civil servants, industry leaders, psychologists, lawyers and founders. Each one sat down for a long conversation so that a young person in Pakistan could hear how it was actually done, and each has stayed with the cause since. Their stories are the teaching material.
Money Is the Smallest Thing You Can Give
“We sincerely value and respect every contribution, regardless of its form. Every word of encouragement, prayer, piece of feedback, and act of support strengthens this mission.” Dr. Rana Nadir Idrees, replying to a reader
A teacher rarely has money to contribute. That has never meant a teacher has nothing to contribute, and the whole of this work is built on the difference. What is asked of you is whatever you actually hold.
An hour of teaching. A script marked. A question answered properly instead of quickly. This is the one every teacher already has.
Free training in what you know and they do not. Handing on the newest skill you have is a donation, and it is the one that keeps paying after you have forgotten it.
An internship for a deserving and competent student on our recommendation. A first job. A hand with starting a business.
Last on this list on purpose. If it is what you have, it pays for a student's education, and every rupee is recorded and reported.
The Founding Team
Unsung Achievers began with the founder and eight colleagues who gave their time to it. This is the team as it stood in the December 2024 profile of the project.
Dr. Rana Nadir IdreesFounder, Team Leader and Host
Dr. Asma ImranAdvisor · HR and OB
Dr. Muhammad UsmanAdvisor · FinanceDr. Farzana AshrafAdvisor · Psychological counselling
Muhammad AhmedRelation Manager and Coordinator
Sadaat JabirChief Editor
Mr. Usman AliTechnical Advisor
Ayesha ImranMarketing Manager
Fajjar AliEditing Coordinator“Do it yourself with respect, hard work, truth, and honesty for a meaningful change in society.”
Our Ambassadors
More than 150 ambassadors have joined from across Pakistan: students, teachers, doctors, engineers, nurses, software engineers, HR executives, a college principal and business owners. They carry the work into their own campuses, companies and towns, and they are the reason it reaches past one classroom. Below are the ambassadors welcomed in the project's December 2024 profile and the Digital Ambassadors who joined through 2025, from COMSATS and KIPS to Focusteck, Spadasoft, Seven Stacks and the Punjab Group of Colleges.
Become an Unsung Achievers Ambassador
“We need volunteers for every position, but you don't have to fill every role yourself. We welcome contributions of any amount of time and expertise.”
That line has been printed on every ambassador's card since 2024, and it is meant. An hour a week is a contribution. So is one introduction, one edited clip, one school visit arranged in your own town.
What comes back
- A certificate of participation, and a certificate of appreciation for sustained work
- Leadership development sessions, run for the volunteer force
- Your own welcome card, and a named place in the project's record
- The people you meet doing it, which is the part nobody expects
How to join. One email: your name, your city, what you study or do, and the time you can give.
Apply to Be an Ambassador