Dr. Shahbaz Israr Khan is passionate about peace development and that is why he switched his profession of pharmacy to his passion of peace building. He specializes in youth issues and is the recipient of a certificate and grant on Youth and MDGs from UNFPA. He also received formal leadership training from University of Vermont. He has represented Pakistani youth on international forums as international speaker and mentor in USA and Bangladesh. His research work includes ever first Youth Directory-mapping study of youth organizations and informal youth groups in Pakistan. In past, he worked as a program officer at Bargad-Organization for Youth development where
he worked on various youth and gender issues with students of more than twenty universities and colleges. Dr. Khan is one of the core persons of Bargad team, who designed the structure and function of National Youth Advocacy Platform- a premier coalition of youth organizations for integrated youth development in Pakistan. Previously, he worked as coordinator PEAKS(Pharmacy Education with Advanced Knowledge Society) and also served as President of Gomalian Students Council, Gomal University D.I Khan where he led more than 500 students.  He also headed two peace committees at Gomal University, where he successfully mediated the violent conflicts and council under his presidency involved students in extra-curricular and co-curricular activities. He believes in peace development through multi-track diplomacy, inclusion of youth and woman as active players in peace processes and nonviolent transformation of conflicts. He is currently pursuing his masters in Gender & Peace Building from UN mandated University for Peace, Costa Rica.

Suroor Mander has studied law and is a registered advocate with the Bar Council of Delhi in India. She has practiced at the Supreme Court of India and has been a management team member with the Dil Se campaign that works for the rights of street children. She has co-authored “Accountability for Mass Violence: Examining the State’s Record” Report for the International Development Research Centre. She is currently pursuing her Masters of Arts in International Law and Human Rights at the UN-Mandated University for Peace in Costa Rica.