Join us for a webinar with Alicia Dean, founder of the Austin+PAK Entrepreneurship Program, Aakif Ahmad, President of OPEN Washington DC, Tau Roberts, Pakistan Public Diplomacy Desk Officer at the U.S. Department of State, and Brandon Thompson from the State Department's Office of Pakistan Affairs. The panel will be in conversation with Shamila Chaudhary, President of the American Pakistan Foundation, as they discuss entrepreneurship in Pakistan, and the potential for intercultural collaboration in U.S. and Pakistani start-up spaces.

Speakers:

Aakif Ahmad is co-founder of Forest Light Capital. Mr. Ahmad is an entrepreneur and investor with 20+ years of professional experience leading teams and growing businesses. He is also President of OPEN DC and premier Washington DC area organization that provides educational and networking services to a diverse community of CEOs, business owners, entrepreneurs, investors and corporate professionals. Mr. Ahmad was also Co-Founder of Convergence, a nationally recognized 501c3 organization that facilitates consensus and cooperation among leading stakeholders across the public, private and non-profit sectors on major policy issues. He also serves on the Leadership Council of the American Pakistan Foundation. Mr. Ahmad earned a B.A. from Yale University in Ethics, Politics and Economics, and M.B.A from the Kellogg School of Management.

Alicia Dean founded the City of Austin’s ATX+PAK: Launch Entrepreneurship Program, a replicable and scalable model for building diverse, sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystems around the world through the power of local government-led public-private partnerships. As a Marketing Communications Consultant with the City’s Public Information, Alicia develops strategic marketing and community engagement campaigns for major City initiatives. She also provides communications guidance for more than a dozen City Departments. Alicia is a seasoned broadcast journalist. Most recently Alicia served as Assistant News Director at KXAN-TV. She is also a proud alumna of the U.S. Department of State Professional Fellowship program and speaks Urdu, Hindi, and Pashto.

Brandon Thompson serves in the Office of Pakistan Affairs within the State Department’s Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, leading U.S.-Pakistan commercial advocacy efforts and bilateral trade and investment between the two countries. Previously he served in Kabul, Afghanistan and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Prior to joining the State Department, he worked for the World Bank in Washington, DC. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia and Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.

Tau Shanklin Roberts is the Pakistan Public Diplomacy Officer in the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs (SCA). Before SCA, he served on the East Africa CVE team in the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations. Tau also served domestically in the Bureau of International Information Programs (IIP), implementing a Department-wide Customer Relationship Management software initiative. His overseas assignments include postings as the Public Diplomacy Officer at the U.S. Consulate General to Hong Kong and Macau and a Consular Officer at Embassy Mexico City. Tau received his M.P.A. from the Princeton University School of Public and International Affairs and his B.A. in Economics from Morehouse College. He is a native Washingtonian.