Iqra Bawany
Soch Conference Chair
Iqra is a junior in Columbia College, majoring in History and Spanish. Although she was born and raised in London, UK, she is extremely fond of Karachi, due to her trips to visit family which increased her appreciation for Pakistani art, food (especially all things chaat!) and fashion. Aside from Soch, Iqra is involved with the Columbia Against Cancer Committee, Columbia International Relations Council (CIRCA) and a member of Gamma Phi Beta. When she’s not holed up in Butler Library, she can be spotted attempting to cook desi food (without much avail) or binge watching shows on Netflix. After serving as the Director of Marketing for Soch 2016 and Conference Co-Chair for Soch 2017, she’s super excited to work with the fabulous Soch board to put together another excellent conference for Soch 2018 and can’t wait to see you there!

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Zehra Naqvi
Director of Communications and Marketing
​Zehra is a freshman at Columbia College majoring in Financial Economics.  Though she was born in Singapore and raised in Hong Kong, Zehra frequently travels back to Pakistan alternating between Karachi and Lahore. From a young age, she was exposed to Pakistani art, textiles, history and fashion.  Besides her involvement in Soch, Zehra is a member of LionFund and runs her own fashion e-commerce business GLO. Other than constantly trying to learn how to cook Pakistani food, Zehra spends her time in the cinema watching any new film she can, reading and following the Pakistan Super League!  

Haris Zia
Director of Finance
Haris is currently a freshman in SEAS and hails from Lahore, Pakistan. He intends to major in Electrical Engineering while trying his hand at Economics as well. Apart from his academic interests, he is also actively involved in the  Columbia University Engineers Without Borders – Uganda Chapter and the Columbia University Robotics Club. Being accustomed to Lahore’s sweltering summer heat, he finds himself actively cursing New York weather, and dreading the snowfall. He is obsessed with anime and Abrar-ul-Haq (much to the dismay of his neighbours). This is his first year as part of the Soch board and he is excited to meet you all.

Shayan Khan
Director of Operations
​Shayan is a freshman at Columbia College, majoring in Economics and Mathematics. Stemming his roots in Pakistan, his knowledge of the culture of Pakistan is very exhaustive, and has aided him in bolstering his prowess in both Eastern Classical music and Indo/Pak food - especially Biryani. He’s the former national music champion in Pakistan, and has been an ambitious and vocal Transgender rights activist. Currently, he’s a Research Assistant at the Columbia Business School, and is also involved with the Columbia Sailing Team, the Columbia Culinary Society, and is working with the Finance committee at Columbia College. If you love arguing about Pakistani politics,  Shayan is the person who’ll keep you engaged.

Ibrahim Nawaz Khan
Speaker Coordinator
​Ibrahim is a sophomore at Columbia College, majoring in Economics and studying Pre-medicine. While his family is based in Lahore and Karachi, he has moved around the world several times and calls multiple cities home. This is his first year in the Big Apple and he is still taking in everything there is to see (and eat!), and hopes his time here might be more permanent. When he’s not studying or procrastinating by watching NBA games or playing basketball at Dodge for way too long, Ibrahim works as a Research Assistant at the Herbert Irving Cancer Center uptown at CUMC investigating prostate and bladder cancer through mouse models. Ibrahim is particularly interested in the modern political history of Pakistan and its role in the South Asian subcontinent and is especially looking forward to the Kashmir panel during Soch 2018!

Mehrose Ahmad
Graduate Student Coordinator
​Mehrose Ahmad is a freshman at Barnard College and is majoring in Psychology on a Pre-Medical track. Although she was born and raised in Queens, New York, she frequently has traveled to Lahore, Pakistan alongside her parents, who have inspired her to embrace her Pakistani culture. Currently, along with being part of Organization of Pakistani Students, Mehrose is involved in volunteering with various organizations in order to empower people of color. Her interests lie in aiding different communities of people who need different resources. As part of Soch and OPS, she hopes to meet individuals who share her passion of learning more about their South Asian roots, and hopes that OPS provides her and others a vibrant, compassionate community on campus.