Leadership

Carla Petievich is the Hoshyar Foundation’s president and executive director. Beginning in childhood, she lived for many years in India and later studied and carried out research in Pakistan. She earned her Ph.D. in Urdu literature and Indo-Muslim cultural history from the University of British Columbia, followed by over twenty years of university teaching. A committed feminist and educationist, she directed the women’s studies program at Montclair State University in New Jersey. She owns the business Kilimania: Fine and Tribal Rugs from Afghanistan, which donates its profits to Hoshyar.

Kathryn Hansen is Hoshyar’s treasurer and chief financial officer. She is a scholar of Hindi, Urdu, and South Asian music and performance traditions. She first travelled to the region in 1968 to teach English as a Fulbright fellow in Jaipur, India. She holds a Ph.D. in Hindi literature from the University of California at Berkeley. Her publications include books on South Asian folklore and popular theatre traditions. She is professor emerita at the University of Texas at Austin and past director of the South Asia Institute and Center for Asian Studies.

Board of Directors

  • Carla Petievich (Executive Director)
    • Professor Emerita, Department of History, Montclair State University
    • Affiliated Faculty, South Asia Institute, University of Texas at Austin
  • Laura Chapman
    • Clinical Assistant Professor, Psychiatry, University of British Columbia
  • Anne H. French
    • Head of Growth, Goterra LLC
  • Kathryn Hansen
    • Professor Emerita, Department of Asian Studies, University of Texas at Austin
  • Richard Kennedy
    • Deputy Director, Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. (retired)
  • Damaris A. Kirchhofer
    • U.S. Senior Foreign Service Officer (retired)
  • Farina Mir
    • Associate Professor, South Asian History, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Advisory Board

  • Salima Hashmi
    • Dean, School of Visual Arts, Beaconhouse National University, Lahore (retired)
    • Principal, National College of Arts, Pakistan (retired)
    • Artist, curator, author
    • Council member, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan
  • Yasser Hashmi
    • Associate Dean of Student Affairs and Assistant Professor, Lahore University of Management Sciences
  • Shahnaz Hassan
    • Associate Professor of Instruction, University of Texas at Austin
  • Hina Jilani
    • Advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan
    • Co-founder, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and Women’s Action Forum
    • United Nations special representative on human rights
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