Ambreen Waheed
Mathematics and Physics graduate from Bahauddin Zakariya University with MPhil in Management from University of Cambridge. Currently working as Executive Director at Responsible Business Initiative, Lahore.
| Headline: | Entrepreneur |
| Website: | http://www.rbipk.org |
| Skills: | Business, Management |
| Location: | Asia Pacific |
| Groups: | International Network of Social Entrepreneurs (INSE), Start-Up@Singapore |
| Interested in: | Brainstorming, Finding business partners, Finding cofounders, Finding team mates, Meeting new people, Professional opportunities, Promoting my startups, Recruiting for my startup |
| Tags: | academic and non-governmental sectors. varied roles include strategic management, change manager, educator, ict & csr expert, Innovation, m&e and mis designer, mentoring, research, researcher and analyst with over 20 years in multinational corporate, social auditing, social entrepreneur social auditor, Teaching , team-building |
| Schools: | University of Cambridge, University of Louisville |
WORK EXPERIENCE
| Employer: | Responsible Business Initiative, Lahore, Pakistan |
| Position: | Executive Director, Head of Research and Business Standards |
| Time period: | July 1999 - Present |
| Description: | Founder RBI, Pakistan’s first internationally recognized CSR Centre that engages government, business, academia and non-governmental organizations (NGOs.) Leading research, development and implementation of appropriate Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) applications for Pakistani businesses, integrated with IT-based MIS solutions:
• Original research and analysis on issues at the business-society interface • Advising & developing CSR Strategy, Policy and Implementation processes • Designing and implementing turn-key CSR-led IT interventions for businesses and executives • Building CSR capacity among participating members through training and linkages • Social Auditing, CSR Gap Analysis, Social Impact Analysis, Image Building, CSR-enabled MIS Design • Conducting Social Audits for business; sourcing guidelines; case studies & research • Enabling organization to develop innovative initiatives for competitive advantages. • Developing and delivering Executive Trainings on CSR-related management topics |
| Employer: | Various institutions |
| Position: | Visiting Faculty |
| Time period: | May 1986 - Present |
| Description: | - Institut des Sciences Economiques et Commerciales, ESSEC Business School, Paris-France
- University of Pennsylvania, the Wharton School, Pennsylvania-USA - University of Michigan, Business School, Ann Arbor-USA - UNIDO-SME Development Project, Sri Lanka Chamber of Commerce, Colombo- Sri Lanka - Apex Business College, Kathmandu-Nepal - University of the Punjab, Institute of Administrative Sciences, Lahore-Pakistan - University of the Punjab, Department of Computer Science, Lahore-Pakistan - National University, FAST Institute of Computer Science, Lahore-Pakistan - Bahauddin Zakariya University, Department of Business Administration, Multan-Pakistan - Pak-American Institute of Management Sciences, Lahore-Pakistan - Beaconhouse-Informatics Computer Institute, Lahore-Pakistan - LEAD-Pakistan, Islamabad-Pakistan Focusing on Project Management, Executive and Decision Support systems introducing case-led teaching at undergraduate level, using practical examples from industry and developing entrepreneur skills. Teaching Digital Logic Design, Information Systems Analysis & Design, IT Management, Human-Computer Interface, Information Management, Computers in Business, Business Ethics, CSR, Social Auditing, Corporate Governance, Business Principles, Organizational Change Management, Supply Chain Management. • Advising students on varied Projects and Project Documentation. • Counseling students for practical life by focusing on communication and project management skill • Running training modules in Corporate Social Responsibility, Brand Codes of Conduct in Practice, Participatory Monitoring of Labor Practice, Advanced Systems Management |
| Employer: | Hassan~Shah Consulting; MAS Associates |
| Position: | Systems Consultant |
| Description: | Evaluation, design and development of customized MIS packages for business, industry and development agency applications. Recent projects include:
• Developed fair trade supply-chain monitoring system for Rattvisemarkt, Sweden • Management Review and MIS analysis for Rosary Hospital, Gujrat and the Diocese of Rawalpindi • Development& project design for Education Development Project in Balochistan • Developed computer education curriculum/teachers training for Sindh Board of Technical Education • Training Workshops on improving efficiency for employees at Unicef, Islamabad |
| Employer: | United Nations Industrial Development Organization, Vienna, Austria |
| Position: | National Expert for Pakistan, Triple Bottom-Line Project in South Asia |
| Time period: | December 2000 - October 2002 |
| Description: | Lead UNIDO’s pioneering triple-bottom-line (TBL) demonstration project that seeks to establish effective methodologies for enhancing enterprise profitability through tracking and improving financial, social and environmental performance, including:
• Developing and coordinating technical assistance for entire UNIDO intervention in Pakistan • Training identified export enterprises to measure their own performance against global TBL standards • Developing effective MIS for enterprises to monitor & financial, social and environmental performance • Documenting Pakistan and Sri Lanka experience for TBL video prepared for UNIDO • Representing the project at the World Summit on Social Development, Johannesburg |
| Employer: | Judge Institute of Management Studies, University of Cambridge, UK |
| Position: | Britannia-Chevening / Cambridge Commonwealth Scholar |
| Time period: | August 1997 - June 1999 |
| Description: | Graduate research towards M/Phil in Management led to first original study of ethical behavior in the Pakistani Sporting Goods Industry as it relates to five leading global brands (e.g Nike, Addidas, Reebok), for the Cambridge Working Paper Series. Worked on social auditing systems for low-tech SMEs.
• Conducted field research in the world’s largest sportsball-making cluster in Sialkot • Participated in development & launch of AA1000 stakeholder engagement process standard, Copenhagen |
| Employer: | Canadian Small Projects Office (SPO), Islamabad, Pakistan |
| Position: | Program Specialist and Head of Learning Information System (LIS) |
| Time period: | December 1994 - November 1998 |
| Description: | Member of organizational change-management team. Led SPO’s nation-wide network through transition into “learning organization”. Completed from-scratch design and installation of community-centered IT-based system to track social development indicators in response to community interventions. Online system involved:
• Developing social monitoring and impact analysis indicators for community development interventions • Choosing appropriate IT processes and procedures for Learning Information System (LIS) • Prototyping, testing, installation & nation-wide user training for M&E impact analysis and on-line LIS • Generating real-time customized reports for management and program-level decision-makers |
| Employer: | Systems Limited, Lahore, Pakistan |
| Position: | Software Engineer/Senior Analyst |
| Time period: | July 1992 - August 1994 |
| Description: | Core professional team member tasked with identifying and channeling organizational resources and development of scientific and client business applications packages in IBM/UNIX and AS/400 environments:
• Strategic assessment of client IT needs and technical inputs for solution development/implementation • Coordination of team responsibilities and task management |
| Employer: | Digital Equipment Corporation (ABS/DEC), Islamabad, Pakistan |
| Position: | Systems Engineer - Special Projects Group; Training Coordinator/Software Engineer - Customer Services |
| Time period: | February 1987 - August 1990 |
| Description: | Part of 4-member elite unit set up to develop cutting-edge solutions for large-scale applications in the corporate and governmental sectors, and coordinating specialized user training, backup support and troubleshooting. Most challenging projects included:
• Graphic and image compression software for the National ID Card project, Ministry of the Interior • Computer literacy development at the National Assembly of Pakistan |
EDUCATION
| University: | University of Cambridge |
| Time period: | 1996 - 1998 |
| Degree: | Management, MPhil |
| University: | University of Louisville |
| Time period: | 1989 - 1991 |
| Degree: | Graduate coursework in Computer Communications |
PUBLICATIONS
| Papers: | 2008 “GRI Sector Supplement for NGO Accountability” Working Group member developing guidelines, GRI, Netherlands
2008 “Regional Strategy Meeting for Global Point Regional Focal Points ”. GC, Korea 2008 “Gaining Competitive advantage: Contouring Bribery & corruption” Business Talk, GCLN, Pakistan 2008 “Responsible Business Framework: CSR Management Model”, capacity building workshop, Bhutan 2008 “Disclosure a Competitive Strategy: CSR and Sustainable reporting”, CSR Training, Bangladesh 2007 “Tools for CSR Implementation”, AF07 Asia Pacific CSR Conference, Moderator and Speaker, Vietnam 2007 “Islamic Finance: How Islamic banking principles apply to microfinance” TBLI Conference, Chair and session organizer, Thailand “ 2006 “Developing Sustainable Small & Medium Enterprise through Triple Bottom Line”, Paper Presenter & Speaker, SAMF Conference, Bangladesh. 2006 “APC Regional Consultation Meeting on ICT Policy in South Asia”, Task Force member, USA 2006 “Reporting Measure of Sustainability: Responding to Emerging Market issues”, GRI Amsterdam 2006 “SRI-Socially Responsible Investment funds in Emerging Markets: barriers and opportunities” TBLI Conference, Chair and session organizer, Thailand 2006 “National CSR Strategy “ Apex Consultative Seminar, Presented recommendation for National CSR Strategy, RBI-SECP, Pakistan. 2006- “Promoting Environment Reporting in Pakistan: GRI a Global framework , speaker, trainer for workshop RBI-CII-WWF, Pakistan“ 2005 “Building an Information Society Road to Tunis”, Speaker (ICT expert), Bangladesh. 2005 “Social Reporting in Emerging Market” presented paper, Chairperson WG, GRI, Amsterdam 2005 “Evaluation of State of CSR in Pakistan” Field Research & Report, SECP-UNDP, Pakistan. 2005 “Globally Responsible leadership: call for engagement” Founding member and Executive Training partner, UNGC-EFMD, NY, USA 2005 “European Business Standard Round Table” Technical partner, GTZ, Germany-Pakistan. 2005 “State of CSR in Asia “Conference Speaker, One world Asia, Delhi, India. 2005 “How Corporate Governance in Emerging markets improves financial viability”, Conference Speaker, TBLI & Brookline Bridge, Frankfurt. Germany 2005 “Promoting GRI in Emerging Markets” GRI Stakeholder Council meeting, Amsterdam, Netherlands. 2003 “Corporate Social Responsibility Indicators for the 22nd session” Member Experts working Group on International Standards of Accounting and Reporting (ISAR), UNCTAD, Geneva, Switzerland. 2005 “Evaluation of CSR in Pakistan” presented research findings to policy makers, RBI-SECP, Pakistan. 2005- “CSR implementation in Asia pacific”, Discussant, Asia-Pacific Business Forum, NESCO, Thailand. 2005 “Corporate Social Responsibility” Developed and taught, IAS-Institute of Administrative Sciences, Punjab University, Pakistan 2005 “Global Responsibility Initiative” Technical partner, UN Global Compact-EFMD, Johannesburg, South Africa |
INFORMATION
| Memberships: | 2008 Board Member, Asia Pacific Roundtable for Sustainable Production & Consumption
2007 Alumnus Prince of Wales Environment Program, UK 2007 Delegate to the Tallberg Forum, Sweden 2006 Member Accountability-UNIDO Panel “SME Clusters and Responsible Competitiveness”, UK 2005 Chair Working Group “GRI for Emerging Markets”, GRI, Amsterdam 2005 Member Accountability-UNEP Review Panel “Practitioner’s Handbook for Stakeholder Engagement” 2005 Member Board Nominating Committee, Global Reporting Initiative, Amsterdam. 2004 Member UNCTAD-Accounting & Reporting Expert Group “CSR Indicators for Corporate Reporting” 2004 Founding Member, Asia Pacific CSR Centres Group, World Bank 2004-7 Judge for Asia CSR Award, AIM, Philippines & Asia Forum, Malaysia 2004 Task Force Member, NGO law Reform, SECP-ICAP, Pakistan 2004 CSR Expert, Corporate Governance Task-Force ICAP, Pakistan 2004 Judge for ACCA-WWF Environmental Reporting Awards, Pakistan 2003 Steering Board Member, Global Compact (GC) in Pakistan 2003 Member Stakeholder Council, Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), Amsterdam 2003 Member Steering Committee, Corporate IT Forum, Pakistan 2002 Founder Member, South Asian Alliance for Responsible Business (SARB), Nepal 2002 Member, South Asia Initiative to Mainstream CSR in Business Curricula 2001 President, Fairtrade Health & Education Trust, Sialkot 2000 Pakistan Delegate, Global Reporting Initiative Symposium, USA 1998 Fellow Cambridge Commonwealth Society 1997 Britannia-Chevening/Cambridge Commonwealth Scholar at Cambridge, UK 1997 Women’s Representative, Pakistan Graduate Students Association, Cambridge, UK 1995-7 Executive Member, Pakistan Women’s’ Action Forum (WAF), Islamabad 1993 Member, Soroptimist International, Lahore/Islamabad Chapter 1984 University Merit Scholar in Computer Science, Pakistan 1984-6 Member Academic Guild, University of Engineering &Technology, Pakistan 1986 Head Girl, University of Engineering & Technology 1983… Member, Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) 1981 President Students’ Union, Government College for Women, Multan 1977-9 National Merit Scholar, Pakistan. |
