Sarah Irfan
Soch Conference Co-Chair
Sarah Irfan is a sophomore majoring in Neuroscience with a Cellular Concentration. She grew up in the burgeoning suburbs of Lahore, Pakistan before moving to Houston, Texas six years ago. Although she hasn’t gone back since, she claims to be Pakistani to the very core. After graduation, she hopes to work at the intersection of healthcare and social justice. Passionate about global health and efficient health infrastructures, she hopes to engage in grassroots and community efforts that propel sustainable development in areas that need it most. Aside from being an active member at the Organization of Pakistani Students (OPS), she currently she serves as the Co-Director for Advocacy for GlobeMed at Columbia University. Her other interests include research, community engagement and education. As a co-chair for Soch this year, she hopes to organize a symposium that will allow the greater Pakistani community to engage more meaningfully with some of the challenges back home. She hopes to organize, along with her team, a symposium that provides critical insight as well as practical, innovative and sustainable policy solutions.

Mehrose Ahmad
​Soch Conference Co-Chair
​Mehrose Ahmad is a sophomore at Barnard College and is majoring in Biochemistry. Though 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. As part of Soch and OPS, she hopes to meet individuals who share her passion of learning more about their South Asian roots. Furthermore, she hopes that OPS, and particularly Soch, can provide a critical lens through which the American-Pakistani community becomes aware of the impacts it can have on the issues back home. As conference co-chair for this year’s Soch, she hopes to bring to light issues that people find tangible, interesting, and real to educate the community about the current public health issues faced by the Pakistan’s people.

Asiyah Rajab
Communications and Marketing Director
Asiyah is a freshman in Columbia College studying Political Science and Film and Media Studies. She was born in Queens but spent most of her life in Ft.Lauderdale, Florida so the New York cold has been quite a shock. After completing her undergraduate degree, Asiyah hopes to study law and serve as a part of the Judge Advocate Corps in the United States Air Force. In addition to OPS, Asiyah is part of Hall Council and plays recreational volleyball. When she's not studying or working on Soch, you can usually find her either exploring NYC or watching a Bollywood movie and drinking chai in her residence hall's lounge.

Although not being of Pakistani or even South Asian descent (She's from the Caribbean!), she has an intense love for Pakistani culture and hopes, through OPS and Soch, to not only explore and learn more about Pakistan and South Asian culture as a whole, but to also shed light on major issues affecting Pakistan and become part of the conversation to find solutions.

Arbaz Omar
Director of Finance
Arbaz is a freshman in Columbia College hailing from Lahore, Pakistan. Like pretty much the entirety of Columbia’s undergraduate community, he currently intends to major in Economics while trying his hand in Computer Science. Apart from his involvement in Soch, Arbaz is also a part of Entrepreneurship via Exploration and the Multicultural Business Association. A natural born chatterbox, he can keep you engaged regarding pretty much anything: be it any  incident in the South Asian region to discussing GoT fan theories. During his free time, Arbaz likes playing video games and going out and exploring NYC; while all the time wearing his infamous flip flops no matter the occasion.
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Mohammad Shah
Director of Operations
Mohammad Shah is a second year student in Columbia College, majoring in Poli Sci and MESAAS. Although his parents are from Rawalpindi, Pakistan, he was born in South London, and grew up in Kansas City, Missouri (not Kansas!). Besides Soch, Mohammad is an active member of the Roosevelt Institute, the Barnard Columbia Socialists, and is also a research assistant at the MESAAS department. In his free time, he enjoys watching movies and recklessly riding his bike around the city. As a part of OPS and Soch, he hopes to find out what being Pakistani means to him, and eat lots of free Pakistani food along the way.

Faseeh Farrukh
Speaker Coordinator
​​Faseeh is a freshman at Columbia College, currently. Well, he is hoping to transfer to SEAS; fingers crossed for how it goes. Surprisingly, he does not want to work for Goldman but wants to pursue graduate school straight out of Columbia. He is aspiring to major in Electrical Engineering and Applied Mathematics. Being interested in STEM, he is involved with the Columbia Space Initiative and the Columbia University Robotics Club.

Apart from that, he hails from Lahore and is a true Pakistani through and through; hence, he loves Desi food (he misses chai from back home) and music. If you ever want to grab food or chai, just let him know. He is anticipating the New York weather to not go berserk and go easy on him. He is still trying to fid his groove but OPS is definitely something that allows him to stay connected to his roots. As part of Soch, he hopes to meet interesting individuals who are open to any social, economic, and political discussion on Pakistan and South Asia as a whole. He is especially looking forward to the mental health panel at Soch this year.