Nazia Zaman
Nashville,TN
Summary
Public policy professional and civil servant with 12+ years of experience in education reform, governance, and development policy. Skilled in designing and evaluating large-scale, donor-funded programs with USAID, World Bank, and ADB. Expertise in institutional reform, evidence-based policymaking, and intergovernmental coordination. Currently a Hubert H. Humphrey Fellow at Vanderbilt University, focusing on education policy design, institutional effectiveness, and data-driven governance.
Overview
9
9
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Deputy Secretary
Govt. of Sindh, Pakistan
12.2023 - 06.2025
- Advised the Chief Minister and provincial education leadership on policy design and system-level reform, focusing on access, equity, and quality improvement in public education.
- Coordinated inter-agency initiatives to strengthen higher education governance, institutional accountability, and alignment with national education and skills frameworks.
- Led the development of data-informed policy recommendations, leveraging analytics on enrollment, teacher performance, and learning outcomes to guide education investments.
- Oversaw cross-sector reform projects totaling PKR500M, ensuring transparent implementation, measurable outcomes, and strong linkages between education, workforce readiness, and community development.
- Prepared strategic policy briefs on education financing, public–private partnerships, and foundational learning reforms for executive review and legislative consideration.
- Collaborated with academic institutions, donor agencies, and research organizations to advance evidence-based policymaking and pilot innovations in teacher training and digital learning.
Deputy Project Director
Project Management & Implementation Unit, Govt. of Sindh
07.2020 - 07.2022
- Directed multi-sectoral education infrastructure initiatives across 10 districts, increasing girls’ enrollment by 10%.
- Developed a province-wide education investment plan linking construction priorities to learning outcomes.
- Coordinated stakeholder engagement with communities, NGOs, and provincial departments to ensure transparency and inclusion.
- Supervised Rs.10M procurement, ensuring accountability and equitable resource distribution for 20 new schools benefitting 10,000+ children.
Program Manager
Sindh Basic Education Program (USAID)
04.2019 - 05.2020
- Designed and implemented USAID-funded community mobilization strategies for Water, Sanitation, and Disaster Risk Education.
- Partnered with USAID’s Sindh Reading Program to enhance literacy for 400,000+ students through improved teaching, learning, and assessment tools.
- Advocated and institutionalized recruitment of qualified female teachers, improving gender parity in rural education systems.
- Developed monitoring dashboards to track program impact and donor-funded results.
Deputy Secretary to Governor
Sindh Governor's Secretariat, Govt. of Sindh
10.2018 - 03.2019
- Developed policy briefs and education data analyses for the Governor’s Office and Prime Minister’s Secretariat, strengthening federal–provincial coordination in education reform.
- Led an inter-agency working group to align provincial education initiatives with Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG-4) targets, producing actionable recommendations on teacher quality and student learning outcomes.
- Initiated a policy research partnership with universities and NGOs to evaluate school governance and propose accountability reforms.
- Designed a citizen feedback framework on public education services, integrating grievance data into provincial decision-making processes.
- Supported the formulation of education budget transparency reports, improving accessibility of expenditure data for policymakers and the public.
Deputy Program Director
Sindh Education Monitoring and Evaluation Unit, Govt. of Sindh
12.2016 - 09.2017
- Designed and launched a province-wide Education Monitoring System integrating real-time school data, teacher attendance, and performance indicators across 10,000+ public schools.
- Developed data dashboards and analytical reports to support policy formulation and resource allocation within the Education Department.
- Conducted impact evaluations and performance reviews that identified 4,000 ghost teachers and led to institutional reforms in teacher accountability.
- Secured Rs. 5M in targeted funding to rehabilitate 120 under-resourced schools with critical infrastructure improvements such as boundary walls and safe drinking water.
- Collaborated with IT, Finance, and Education departments to institutionalize data governance protocols, ensuring sustainability of monitoring and evaluation systems.
Education
Bachelor of Arts - Commerce
University of Karachi
Karachi, PakistanHubert Humphrey Fellowship - Educational Administration, Planning And Policy
Peabody College, Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN07-2025
Master of Arts - Public Administration
National University of Singapore
Singapore06-2023
Master of Science - Development Studies
SOAS, University of London
London, UK12-2018
Skills
Policy Design & Evaluation, Education Governance, Strategic Planning, Data-Driven Decision Making, Public Sector Reform, Program Management, Monitoring & Evaluation, Interagency Coordination, Stakeholder Engagement
Certification
- Project Management Professional (PMP)
- PMI-ACP
- Google Data Analytics Certified
Languages
English
Native or Bilingual
Urdu
Native or Bilingual
Timeline
Deputy Secretary
Govt. of Sindh, Pakistan
12.2023 - 06.2025
Deputy Project Director
Project Management & Implementation Unit, Govt. of Sindh
07.2020 - 07.2022
Program Manager
Sindh Basic Education Program (USAID)
04.2019 - 05.2020
Deputy Secretary to Governor
Sindh Governor's Secretariat, Govt. of Sindh
10.2018 - 03.2019
Deputy Program Director
Sindh Education Monitoring and Evaluation Unit, Govt. of Sindh
12.2016 - 09.2017
Bachelor of Arts - Commerce
University of Karachi
Hubert Humphrey Fellowship - Educational Administration, Planning And Policy
Peabody College, Vanderbilt University
Master of Arts - Public Administration
National University of Singapore
Master of Science - Development Studies
SOAS, University of London