Leadership & Governance

Past Chairperson, UCEP Board of Governors, Member, UCEP Association Managing Director, Al Kashif Group

Mr. Salahuddin Kasem Khan is a pioneer industrialist and development thinker in Bangladesh. He is currently the Chairman, E.C. of Board of A.K.Khan & Company Ltd., Chairman of Coats (Bangladesh) Ltd. a joint venture with Coats U.K, Chairman of A.K.Khan Jute Mills and Director of Bengal Fisheries Ltd. He is also the Vice Chairman of A.K.Khan Penfabric Company Ltd. joint ventures with Penfabric Malaysia of Malaysia and subsidiary of Toray, Japan. He is the Former Chairman of AKTEL, Bangladesh.

Mr. Khan was appointed as Honorary Consul General of the Republic of Turkey, Chittagong by the President of Turkey in 1984. Mr. Salahuddin Kasem Khan has completed his graduated from the University of Punjab. Later on, he did his post-graduation in Legal Studies in London.

Mr. Khan served as the Chairperson of UCEP Bangladesh for two successive periods - from 1994 to 1995 and from 1996 to 1997.

Past Vice Chairperson, UCEP Board of Governors Member, UCEP Association Former Country Representative Pathfinder International

Chairman, Kapita Holdings Ltd. 18 Kamal Ataturk Avenue, Erectors House, 11th Floor Banani, Dhaka-1213 Res: 30 UN Road, Flat No.– 4, Baridhara, Dhaka

Past Chairperson, UCEP Board of Governors Member, UCEP Association Chairman, Rasheed Enterprises Ltd.

Past Chairperson, UCEP Board of Governors Member, UCEP Association Former MD, Reckitt & Colman Bangladesh Ltd. Chittagong Stock Exchange Ltd. & Central Depository BD Ltd.

Mr. Matin Chowdhury is the former Chairperson of UCEP Bangladesh and has been associated with UCEP Bangladesh since 1997. He is also the Chairman of ESTCDT (the founding trust of IUB), a Member of the National Council of DAB, past Chairman of BTMA, board Member of BLAST, founder Member of BoG of BEI and Chairman of NHN. He is the Managing Director of New Asia Ltd., Rahim Textile Mills Ltd., Malek Spinning Mills Ltd., Knit Asia Ltd. and the Chairman of Titas Spinning & Denim Co. Ltd. and JM Fabrics Ltd.

Mr. Chowdhury served as the Chairperson of UCEP Bangladesh for three periods - 2003 to 2004, 2013 to 2014 and 2015 to 2016.

Immediate Past Chairperson, UCEP Board of Governors
Member, UCEP Association

Mr. A. Q. Siddiqui has been associated with UCEP since 1999. Mr. Siddiqui is an M.A. in Economics from the University of Dhaka. He is a renowned banker of Bangladesh. He worked in a number of local & international financial organizations.

Mr. Siddiqui was the Chairman of Bangladesh Commerce Bank Ltd. He was the Country Chief Representative of Habib Bank AG Zurich an International Bank incorporated in Switzerland. He was the Managing Director of Sonali Bank Ltd., Agrani Bank Ltd. and also the Dy. Managing Director of Janata Bank Ltd. He was also the Managing Director of Palli Daridro Bimochon Foundation (PDBF) and Director of BRAC.

Past Chairperson, UCEP Board of Governors
Member, UCEP Association

Mr. M. Mokammel Haque is an honourable Member of UCEP Association and former Chairperson of the Board of Governors. Mr. Haque was an independent director of Pioneer Insurance Company Limited. He also served as the Chairman of Janata Insurance Company Limited. He was also a Director of Rupali Bank Limited. Mr. Haque served the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Land, Ministry of Commerce, and Ministry of Health as a Secretary. He also served the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) as vice-chairman, the Board of Investment (BOI) as Executive Chairman, and the Programming and Socio-Economic Infrastructure Division, Planning Commission, as a Member. Currently, he is the Chairman of the Kabi Mozammel Haque Foundation.

Past Chairperson, UCEP Board of Governors

Dr. Ubaidur Rob is the Country Director of the Population Council Bangladesh Office in Dhaka. He holds a PhD in Population Planning from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MS degree from University of London and MSc from Chittagong University. His areas of expertise include project development, implementation, and evaluation; dissemination and utilization of research findings; conducting in-depth surveys and consultation on program development, monitoring, and evaluation. Dr. Rob was the Chairperson of UCEP Board of Governors from 2009 to 2012.

Former Chairperson, UCEP Board of Governors

Ms. Parveen Mahmud, FCA, has made significant contributions to the fields of social innovation, sustainable development, and professional accounting. Since 2004, she has been closely associated with UCEP Bangladesh, where she held the role of the fifteenth Chairperson from 2019-2022 and currently serves as a senior member of its association. Earlier in her tenure, Ms. Mahmud also served as the Vice-Chairperson of UCEP Bangladesh’s Board of Governors from January 2009 to December 2010.

In her varied professional career, Ms. Mahmud has worked on social innovation, entrepreneurship, and sustainable development. She is a fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB).

She was the first woman President of the ICAB in 2011 and is now serving her third term in the Council. She was also the first female board member of the South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA), the apex accounting professional body of the SAARC. She is the Chairperson of the CA Female Forum—Women in Leadership Committee, ICAB, and the Vice Chairperson of the Women in Leadership Committee of SAFA.

She started her career with BRAC. In her varied professional career, she worked substantial time with national and international development agencies and was a practicing chartered accountant. She was the Deputy Managing Director of Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) and the Founding Managing Director (MD) of the Grameen Telecom Trust.

She sits in numerous Boards including Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), BRAC International, PKSF, RDRS, DAM Foundation for Economic Development (Dhaka Ahsania Mission), Manusher Jonnyo Foundation (MJF), Grameenphone Ltd. Ms Mahmud is the independent director of the Linde Bangladesh Ltd., Apex Footwear Ltd. and Chairperson of Shasha Denims Ltd. and Micro Industries Development and Assistance Services (MIDAS). She was the Chairperson, Acid Survivor’s Foundation and Vice Chairperson of Underprivileged Children Education Program (UCEP) - Bangladesh and is the member of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Bangladesh.

Ms. Mahmud was a member of National Advisory Panel for SME Development of Bangladesh and a founding board member of SME Foundation and Convenor, SME Women’s Forum. Ms. Mahmud was a Working Group Member, the Consultative Group on Social Indicators, UNCTAD/ISAR.

She is the recipient of Joya Alokito Nari- 2018 Award from RTV, “Women at Work -2017” Award from Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) and “Women of Inspiration Awards”-2017 from the Bangladesh Organization for Learning & Development (BOLD). Ms. Mahmud received Begum Rokeya Shining Personality Award 2006 for women’s empowerment from Narikantha Foundation.

Mr. Hafiz Ahmed Mazumder is a prominent politician, industrialist, businessman, and former Member of Parliament. He was the former Chairman of the Board of Directors of Pubali Bank Limited and former Chairman of Bangladesh Red Crescent Society (BRCS). Mr. Mazumder is associated with many social welfare activities. He contributed to the education sector by establishing 'Hafiz Majumder Education Trust'. The trust provides financial assistance to build new schools and colleges as well as improve the quality of education in Sylhet.

Mr. Mikhail I. Islam is a Member of the UCEP Association. He is the Learning Designer, Learning Design Studio & Director, AKK

Mr. Syed Shapir Khasru is a member of UCEP Association and was elected as the Member of UCEP Board of Governors twice- from 2011 to 2012 and from 2013 to 2014 respectively. He is the Founder and CEO of Genesis Technology Group (GTG). He is also the founder of X-Net Ltd.

Member, UCEP Association

Ms. Shahamin Shahadat Zaman has been associated with UCEP Bangladesh since 2012. Ms. Zaman is the CEO of CSR Center-Bangladesh. She is an economist and has over 20 years experience on development sector in international organizations including Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID), Ashoka Foundation, CIDA, Actionaid, UNDP, DFID and others.

Ms. Sabrina Islam has been associated with UCEP Bangladesh since 2012. She is the Managing Director of Lily Apparels Ltd. and Director of Concorde Garments Ltd. She is also the Chairperson of SABAH Bangladesh. Ms. Islam was the President of SAARC Women’s Association, the President of Women Entrepreneurs Association and the Vice-President of Bangladesh Employers’ Federation.

Mr. Syed Afzal Hasan Uddin is a Member of UCEP Association. He received his BSc (Hons) Degree in Chemistry and Management from King’s College, London, and a postgraduate Diploma in Law from SouthBank University in 1994. He is enrolled as an Advocate of the High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh since 2001. Before joining chambers, Mr. Afzal worked for the Civil Litigation Department of Price Waterhouse in London.

Mr. Moslehuddin Ahmed has been associated with UCEP Bangladesh since 2015 and currently serves as the Member of the Board of Governors. He is the Chairperson of Population Services and Training Center, Chairman of PSTC Enterprise Ltd. and associated with different educational institutions. He has over 40 years of work experience in development sector with national NGO, INGOs and donor agencies in Bangladesh and in the Asia regional countries. His expertise is in Public Health and in NGO management.

Ms. Farah Kabir is an activist on women's rights, gender equity, climate justice and child rights for a long time. At present, she is working as the Country Director of ActionAid Bangladesh. She received the "Nawab Ali Chowdhury National Award 2012" for her significant contribution in women's empowerment in Bangladesh. She is working as the Chair of the Global Board of GNDR. Ms. Farah Kabir is a Member of Napier University, Edinburgh Scotland; Board of Trustees for Zero Tolerance, Scotland; Climate Action Network, South Asia; Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE), Education Watch and Funding Committee of Civil Society Education Fund (CSEF). As a newscaster on both National Television and Radio for a long time, she built an association with the media.

Dr. Rubana Ahmed has been associated with UCEP Bangladesh since 2015. Rubana is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Economics & Social Sciences at BRAC University. With her background in Public Policy and Political Economy, she is also teaching at the Bangladesh Institute of Governance & Management. Over the years, Dr. Ahmed has also worked with various other research institutes.

Mr. Md. Nazrul Islam Khan is a Member of Association and Retired Secretary to the Government of Bangladesh. He was the former National Project Director of the Access to Information Programme to the Prime Minister’s Office. Mr. Khan held an excellent academic record and he took up various innovative projects and initiatives for building Digital Bangladesh.

Mr. Wahid Malek is a very progressive-minded personality, who served as a volunteer in many social organizations. He is the Managing Editor of Dainik Azadi, the first Bangla newspaper which was published as daily since the beginning of independent and sovereign country. Mr. Wahid has served as a volunteer in many social organizations. He has also undertaking to maintain Chittagong SHORT activities as a Co-Founder & Mentor of this CSR project.

Vice Chairperson, UCEP Board of Governors

Ms. Uzma Chowdhury has been associated with UCEP Bangladesh since 2015. She is a registered CPA from the State of Texas, USA. After Completing Bachelor of Science in Accounting from University of Texas at Dallas, she had worked in the accounting profession for over than 7 years in Petroleum Industry.

She served American Women’s Society for CPAs for 4 years as Secretary, at Houston Chapter. Since October 2008 she has been working as Director Finance in PRAN-RFL Group, the largest & most diversified conglomerate of the nation.

Ms. Chowdhury is currently a member of Finance & Audit Committee of the Meghna Bank Ltd. and a Committee member of Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce & Industries (MCCI). Ms. Chowdhury is also the Vice-Chairperson of the Finance and Audit Committee (FAC) of UCEP Bangladesh.

She has received several international and national awards.

Member, UCEP Association Director – Bokul Group

Dr. Mohammad Kaykobad is a prominent computer scientist, educator, author, and columnist of Bangladesh. He is an Expert Member of the Selection Boards of Jahangirnagar, Shahjalal, Khulna, North-South, and other Universities. He also serves as an adviser to different computerization projects of national interest.   He was a professor of Computer Science and Engineering at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET). Currently, he is a faculty member of computer science and engineering at Brac University.   Dr. Kaykobad did his MS in Engineering at the Institute of Marine Engineers, Odessa, Ukraine, 1979. He did his M.Eng in Computer Applications Technology at the Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand, in 1982. He did his Ph.D. at the Flinders University of South Australia in 1986.

Member, UCEP Association Managing Director, Citadel Developers Ltd.

Mr. Naveed Akbar is a Member of the UCEP Association since 2019. He was the Head of Strategy of BRAC Social Enterprises. He has a long experience as a sustainability & inclusive business consultant and strategist focusing on rural economic development through systemic business innovations, investment assistance for improved rural infrastructure especially for smallholder farms, inclusive marketing by retail trading channels, tackling information asymmetry through inclusive finance and ICT channels, and addressing concerns of resilient and sustainable growth. 

Mr. Akbar has been engaged with development agencies, NGOs, public agencies, entrepreneurship accelerators, private businesses, and tech startups to develop an inclusive growth strategy, sector development, business model innovations, and adaptation of disruptive technologies.

Mr. Shyamal Kanti Ghosh was the former Secretary of Ministry of Agriculture. Also he was the Director General of DPE (Directorate of Primary Education). He is a member of the Association of UCEP Bangladesh.

Member, UCEP Board of Governors

Dr. Muhammad Abdul Mazid is a Member of the UCEP Association. He started his career with Bangladesh Bank and joined the Bangladesh Civil Service as BCS Audit and Accounts cadre in 1981. He was the former Secretary to the Government of Bangladesh, Chairman of Chittagong Stock Exchanges Limited, Chairman of National Board of Revenue(NBR), Director of Policy and Planning & Foreign Investment, Director of Foreign Aid Budget and Accounts Economic Relations Division (ERD). Dr. Abdul Mazid completed Ph.D. in Social Science from the University of Dhaka.

Member, UCEP Board of Governors

Member, UCEP Board of Governors