Wakia Abdullah Nafisa is an Officer, Program Management at the BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD), BRAC University.
Prior to joining in this role, she completed an internship at BIGD, where she gained hands-on experience and developed a deeper understanding of the organization’s work culture and programme operations.
She completed both her Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in Development Studies from Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP). Her areas of interest include project management, event management, and strategic grants management.
Adnan M. S. Fakir, PhD, is a Visiting Research Fellow at the BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD), BRAC University.
Adnan is an Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Sussex Business School, United Kingdom. His research focuses on development economics, with particular interests in labour markets, gender, education, and political economy. He has extensive experience designing and implementing field and lab-in-the-field experiments, impact evaluations, and applied microeconomic research in developing-country contexts.
As a Visiting Research Fellow at BIGD, Adnan will collaborate with BIGD researchers on projects related to economic development, education, and social policy, while contributing to the institute’s research and policy engagement activities.
Tanzil Shafique, PhD, is a Visiting Research Fellow at the BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD), BRAC University. He is based at the University of Sheffield School of Architecture and Landscape, where he serves as Associate Professor. He has also previously taught at the University of Melbourne and the University of Arkansas.
Dr. Shafique completed his PhD from the University of Melbourne. Prior to his doctoral studies, he completed an M.Arch in Ecological Urbanism at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, New York. His academic and professional work focuses on southern urbanism, pluriversal architectural practice, and informal planning, with a particular emphasis on climate change–driven adaptation and transformation led by local citizens.
He recently leads a global consortium that received £499,995 grant from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) for a climate-impacted dweller-led urban wetland restoration and stewardship project in Dhaka called ReWET (www.rewet.info). He is also the co-founder of a diaspora think-tank, Next50 Bangladesh, focused on knowledge exchange, policy engagement, and futures-oriented research on Bangladesh and its global diaspora. He is the author of City of Desire: An Urban Biography of the Largest Slum in Bangladesh (Bloomsbury, 2024).
Namira Chowdhury is a Data Associate at the BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD), BRAC University.
Namira holds a Bachelor’s degree in Quantitative Economics and Econometrics, with a Minor in Statistical Modeling from Oberlin College, USA, where she graduated as a John Frederick Oberlin Scholar. She previously served as an Intern with the FCDO TEPP team at BIGD. She also worked as an intern at YY Ventures, where she conducted sectoral research on agriculture, waste management, and informal retail, and produced qualitative impact articles on SME-led development initiatives.
During her undergraduate studies she contributed to academic research as a co-author under the supervision of faculty members at Oberlin College, working with a large-scale dataset to examine structural inequalities across gender and religion. During her sophomore year, she interned at bKash Limited, supporting UX research and usability testing
M M Fardeen Kabir is a Research Associate at the BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD), BRAC University.
Before joining BIGD, Fardeen worked as a Research Associate at the BRAC James P. Grant School of Public Health. He previously worked for the European Union Delegation in Bangladesh, the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), and The Financial Express Bangladesh.
Fardeen completed his Master’s and Bachelor’s in Economics from the University of Dhaka.
Mohammed Harun is a Senior Officer of the Finance and Accounts department at BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD), BRAC University.
Before joining BIGD, Harun was the Deputy Manager and in charge of the Internal Audit department at Karim Group. He began his career in 2005 with BRAC, serving as an officer in the Internal Audit department. During his tenure, he also worked with BRAC International in Afghanistan as Manager of the Compliance and Internal Audit Service wing.
Harun completed his Bachelor’s and Master’s in Accounting from National University. He has also completed the Chartered Accountancy Course (CA–CC) from Ahmad & Ahmad.
Sanjid Tahsin Rakin is a Research Associate at the BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD), BRAC University.
Sanjid’s last appointment was as a Research Assistant at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). He serves as a Youth Advisor at the UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia (ROSA) and was a Millennium Fellow under the United Nations Academic Impact. During his career, he has worked in various capacities with research and policy institutions, including Sapran, Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS), and Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), and has also been involved in research projects with Aspire to Innovate (a2i) and UNICEF initiatives.
Sanjid completed his Bachelor’s and Master’s in Development Studies from Bangladesh University of Professionals.
Md. Abrar Hasan is a Program Associate at the BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD), BRAC University.
Abrar initially joined BIGD as an intern and later worked as a Programme Assistant in the Governance and Politics cluster. He completed his Master’s and Bachelor’s from the Department of Development Studies at the University of Dhaka.
