Our Team

Ansir Junaid

Ansir Junaid, Chairman, and Trustee of the Foundation, immigrated to the US over 30 years ago with a singular focus, to earn a strong education and create an impact. Mr. Junaid is Founder, CEO, and Chairman of the Junaid Group, a privately held group of global companies serving a diverse array of industries and geographies that he has founded, acquired or invested in over the past 3 decades. The breadth and success of the Junaid Group is illustrative of Junaid’s combined expertise in global manufacturing, supply chain, real estate, technology and mergers & acquisitions (M&A).

He serves on several boards, including University Hospitals of Cleveland, The RAND Corporation, Cuyahoga Community College Foundation, The City Club of Cleveland, and the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission. Mr. Junaid is also a collaborator with a number of international think tanks and nonprofit organizations such as The Citizens Foundation and the Hunar Foundation.

Mr. Junaid and his wife, Sufia Junaid, share a deep commitment towards philanthropy. From this passion, they created the Junaid Family Foundation. Mr. Junaid’s philanthropic contributions have been acknowledged through several organizations, including inclusion on Crain’s Cleveland’s 2020 list of Notable Immigrant Leaders and the 2020 Foreign Minister’s Honors List by the Pakistan Foreign Ministry.

Mr. Junaid received his Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems & Marketing from Cleveland State University.

Ijaz Shah

Mr. Ijaz Shah, Senior Advisor at the Foundation, provides foundation strategy and administration oversight of core program funding activities.

Mr. Shah brings extensive financial and operational expertise to the Corporation. He has previously served as Vice President of the International Division at the Huntington National Bank, Chief Operating Officer at the National Solvent Corporation, and President of Farmis Corporation. He also served previously as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Prime WoodCraft and SupplySide USA, two of Ansir Junaid’s operating companies.

He received his JD from the University of Punjab Lahore, Pakistan, and his MBA from Baldwin Wallace College.

Dr. Adnan Hyder

Adnan A. Hyder, MD MPH PhD, is Chief Technical Advisor at the Foundation, where he provides strategic and operational counsel to decision-making, giving, and programs.

Dr. Hyder is an international leader in global health research and has pioneered work around ethics, injuries, health systems, and non-communicable diseases. For over 25 years, he has relentlessly worked to improve global health in low- and middle-income countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. Dr. Hyder has been an advocate of ethically designed grant programs for global health research, arguing in favor of the creation of incentives for applicants to focus their research on marginalized communities. He has conducted studies focusing on defining the epidemiological burden, understanding risk factors, exploring potential interventions, estimating economic impact, and appreciating the socio-cultural correlates of diseases and health systems around the world. Dr. Hyder has co-authored over 400 peer-reviewed papers in scientific journals and numerous world reports with organizations like the World Bank, World Health Organization, and UNICEF.

Currently, Dr. Hyder served on several international health boards and societies – including as International President of the World Health Summit 2023, Chair of the board for Health Systems Global 2022-24, and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Youth for Road Safety.

Dr. Hyder received his M.D. from the Aga Khan University, Pakistan, and obtained his MPH and Ph.D. in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University, USA.

Dr. Abdul Ghaffar

Abdul Ghaffar, MD, PhD serves as Senior Technical Advisor at the Foundation, where he oversees operational and strategic program development within the domain of Healthcare & Development.

Dr. Ghaffar has extensive experience as a physician, professor, scientist, and senior executive in the UN and government. His distinguished career spans more than 35 years, with leadership roles at the Ministry of Health of Pakistan, Health Services Academy, Islamabad, and the World Health Organization.

Dr. Ghaffar has served as the Executive Director of the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research at the World Health Organization. Before joining the Alliance, he served as Regional Advisor for Research, in the Eastern Mediterranean Office of the World Health Organization. Dr. Ghaffar also worked as a Health Policy and Systems Specialist at the Global Forum for Health Research in Geneva. In his home country (Pakistan), he started his career as a public health physician and later worked in different leadership positions as Assistant Director-General of Policy and Planning; Deputy Director-General of International Health; and Director of the Health Services Academy, a national school of public health.

He has advised many governments in the use of evidence for stronger health systems, helped establish policy and research institutes, served on the technical and advisory boards, published more than 140 peer-reviewed papers, and led the writing and development of some prestigious global health reports, such as WHO’s Strategy on Health Policy and Systems Research.

Dr. Ghaffar is a physician by training with a Ph.D. in Health Systems from Johns Hopkins University.

Julie Novario

Julie Novario Calkins, Senior Program Manager at the Foundation, oversees day-to-day program management for our U.S. projects and supports the Foundation’s women’s health and education initiatives in Pakistan. Julie comes from a background steeped in community outreach and non-profit healthcare in Cleveland where she worked with underserved populations to help overcome socioeconomic barriers. Having primarily worked with women & children, Julie has immense pride in defining the needs of this diverse population and providing concrete resources to increase family prosperity. Outside of JFF, she serves on the Associate Board of the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission. Julie holds a B.S. and M.S. in Public Health & Health Policy from Kent State University.

Col. Khalid Mahmood (R)

Colonel (Retired) Khalid Mahmood is the managing director at the Foundation, where he oversees the implementation of the Foundation’s programs in Pakistan.

Col. Mahmood’s expertise lies in Human Resources and Financial Management, and he has held diversified positions over the last 40 years in both the public and private sectors. His expertise in the fields of selection and recruitment, training, financial management, operational deployment, and human resource development span across three different organizational types: federal government-run organizations in Pakistan, private sector organizations, and military organizations.

Col. Khalid Mahmood has served as the Director of Administration and Finance at the Global Change Impact Studies Centre (GCISC) under the Ministry of Climate Change in Pakistan. He has also served as the Director of Human Resource Management and Finance in two security companies functioning under the policies and controls of the Provincial Home Department and Pakistan’s Ministry of Interior.

Col. Mahmood served in the Pakistan Armed Forces between 1983 to 2008 as a commissioned officer at the unit, brigade, division, and general headquarters (GHQ) levels. He received his MPA from the University of the Punjab, Lahore, with a specialization in human resource management.

Amna Cheema

Program Officer

Amna Cheema, Program Officer at the Junaid Family Foundation, brings over four years of experience in public health research, policy analysis, and program support across Pakistan and the United Kingdom. Her work spans maternal and child health, health systems strengthening, and equity-focused social sector research, with experience supporting both government and donor-funded initiatives.

Prior to joining the Foundation, Amna worked with organizations including Oxford Policy Management, Warwickshire County Council, Research and Development Solutions, and the Centre for Economic Research, contributing to large-scale health systems assessments, market and regulatory analyses, and mixed-methods program evaluations. Her experience includes working on maternal health and anemia strategies, immunization and disease surveillance, private healthcare market studies, and education and nutrition interventions, often in close collaboration with government counterparts, donors, and development partners.

Across these roles, Amna has supported policy-relevant research, stakeholder engagement, and program design through rigorous data analysis, synthesis of evidence, and clear communication of findings for decision-makers. She brings strong skills in mixed-methods research, monitoring and evaluation, health policy and systems analysis, and multi-stakeholder coordination.
Amna holds a MS in Public Health from the University of Warwick, where she graduated with distinction as a Chevening Scholar, and a BSc in Economics from the Lahore University of Management Sciences.