Ms. Shagufta Hassan is an internationally acclaimed leader in healthcare management and operations. A Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan and a graduate of University of Navarra, Spain, where she completed the Advanced Management Programme, Ms. Hassan now serves as the Chief Executive Officer for AKU’s Outreach Health Network in Pakistan.
Ms. Hassan is a Senior Executive, with over 30 years of experience working in multinational and national companies in leadership positions, creating distinction and excellence. She has a strong academic background in finance and management and has held various positions of increasing responsibility in executive management, operations, and finance. She thrives in setting out enduring long-term business strategies, implementing them through robust planning and building high-caliber teams. She encourages ownership and entrepreneurship from the teams, keeping patients at the center of the decision-making process.
Ms. Hassan began her journey with the Aga Khan University (AKU) in 2003, and soon enough, with her passion, enthusiasm and dedication, took various leadership roles. During these years, Ms. Hassan efficiently managed operations, and developed and implemented business plans and strategies. Her experience includes and is not limited to financial planning and managing complex operations.
From May 2019 till November 2020, she was the Interim Chief Executive Officer for AKUH – Karachi, where her skills and leadership managed to navigate the University / University Hospital delicately through the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis, keeping our Hospitals and Health Centres fully operational, while maintaining and not compromising on the quality of our services and safety of our employees and patients.
Prior to this, since 2015, Ms. Hassan held the role of Chief Operating Officer, Off Campus Operations - a role which she performed with great success. Earlier, she held a succession of senior positions within the Aga Khan University.
Prior to AKU, Ms. Hassan has worked with A.F. Ferguson’s (PricewaterhouseCoopers) and has also been an instructor for the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan, the Institute of Chartered Certified Accountants, UK and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, UK.
Alongside her professional work, she has continued to serve various institutions of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) and other organisations in her voluntary capacity for over 20 years. She is presently serving on the Board of the Aga Khan Health Services, Pakistan and is a member of the AKDN CEO Forum. Additionally, she organises skill enhancement trainings to create employment for the youth from the Northern Areas of Pakistan. She is a champion of women’s rights, and led the Women’s Development Portfolio for the Aga Khan Regional Council. She conducts trainings for the empowerment of women and has trained over 1,500 women across Pakistan, in recognition of which she was nominated as a Champion Combatting Gender-Based Violence by the United States Consulate in Pakistan in 2017. Ms. Hassan is also very passionate to pass on her knowledge and learnings to the future leaders of Pakistan, and is an Honorary Lecturer for the Masters in Health Policy and Management programme at AKU.
Her contribution and work have also been recognised through several national and international awards and recognitions, which include:
- Appointed by the World Health Organization (WHO) a temporary adviser for the “Implementation of the Regional Framework for Action for the Hospital Sector in the Eastern Mediterranean Region” (2019);
- Was conferred the Women Leadership Excellence Award, by the GCC Women Leaders, presented by the World Women Leadership Congress & Awards (2019);
- Was conferred the 100 Most Impactful Healthcare Leaders Award, by the World Health and Wellness Congress & Awards (2019);
- Nominated amongst the Top 100 Best Performing CEO’s of 2017 by the CEO Club Pakistan;
- Received the Women’s Achievement Award by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (2017); and
- Received the Pond’s Miracle Woman Award by the Pond’s Institute (2017).
