Chenaar Group

Chenaar Group, LLC (CG) draws from a network of indigenous specialists with expertise in South Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa.

Leverage CG's cultural fluency and extensive networks to build, test and run projects alongside local partners striving to strengthen regional economies and security structures.

To find out how CG can support your project needs, please contact us.

Industry Access

Striving for projects that link boosting local economies with the promotion of local security.
Attend our Energy & Security series and help bolster your business by utilizing CG's Corporate Social Responsibility & Security capability.

Cultural Access

Providing culturally sensitive solutions that help to avoid or reduce conflict.
CG's Brain Gain Projects are working to engage diaspora communities on critical issues.

Development Access

Engaging local and international networks to ensure projects are correctly executed.
Access our Development Network consisting of decade's worth of expertise linked with fresh innovation.

Strategic Communication

Leveraging communication strategies to promote effective dialogue.
Create a dialogue at the grass-roots level using capabilities such as CG's Other Side of the Tora Bora Project. Download our FATA presentation

President and CEO

Alia H. Ayub
Ms Ayub is an expert on cultural, demographic, and political risk trends in South Asia and parts of the Middle East and North Africa region. Born in Washington DC, her family hails from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Her grandfather was the Malik, meaning tribal chief, of the village and through his initiates brought education for his family. One generation on, and his actions inspired others in surrounding villages to do the same.

Ms Ayub has traveled and/or conducted research in over 25 countries with significant time spent in Pakistan, Turkey, Morocco, Egypt, Italy, Austria, France, Thailand, Jordan, Syria and Bolivia. She has unique access to many difficult to access parts of the world and has developed a significant network with local partners that she leverages to ensure the sustainability of projects in development and security.

Her cultural fluency and strong cross-cutting analysis coupled with her deep networks in South Asia, Central Asia, the MENA Region and beyond are a major reason why clients seek her expertise. Ms Ayub has provided in-depth analysis to numerous US and UK government institutions, and has developed methodologies for tracking cultural shifts in conflict zones. Ms Ayub has also dedicated her research to developing public-private partnerships to help create or bolster security zones.

Ms Ayub was Called to the Bar at Lincoln's Inn and holds an MA (Hons) in International Relations and Middle Eastern Studies from the University of St Andrews. She filmed and directed a documentary filmed in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) titled The Other Side of the Tora Bora which was nominated for a Scottish BAFTA in 2008 and selected to the DOK Market Digital at The 50th International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film.

Senior Advisory Board

Chenaar Group is in the process of developing a strong Senior Advisory Board of knowledgable, highly experienced individuals willing to provide strategic guidance to Chenaar's staff as clients may request and projects may require. This non-fiduciary board will assist the President and CEO of Chenaar on the general development of CG on a pro-bono basis unless specifically requested by a client to participate in a specific project.

Mahmood A. Ayub
Senior Development Adviser
Dr. Ayub served as a director of the Multi Donor Trust Fund (MDTF) launched to support critical reconstruction and peace-building initiatives in crisis affected areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Federally Administered Tribal Areas ( FATA) and Balochistan.

Prior to this post he was a Senior Adviser for Central Asia, Regional Bureau for Europe and the CIS (RBEC) at the United Nations Development Programme. He joined the UNDP in 2006 as UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Representative, Turkey. His expertise is in macroeconomic policy, private sector development, trade and capacity development issues. He has published widely on economic development issues, and speaks six languages (English, French, Spanish, Persian, Arabic, Urdu, and his mother tongue Pashto).

Prior to joining the UNDP, Dr. Ayub served for almost 30 years at the World Bank. His last assignment was as the Director of Strategy and Operations for Africa. At the World Bank, he worked in the research and strategy departments, but has also contributed many years in operations, including serving as the World Bank's representative in Egypt, Yemen, Djibouti, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Bolivia and Senegal.

Mansoora Hassan
Senior Cultural Adviser
Having lived in Washington DC, New York, Cairo, Istanbul, and La Paz, Mansoora Hassan is an artist and senior arts advisor who has exhibited in over 50 shows at major galleries internationally. She is co-founder of the US-based nonprofit organizations Creativity 21st Century and Take Me To The River, and Egypt-based Friends of the Cairo Opera Foundation.

Her works are in public collections worldwide including the British Museum, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington DC, the National Museum of Art, Bolivia, the National Museum of Jordan, the Gulf Corporation Council, Saudi Arabia, the International Monetary Fund & the World Bank Washington DC and numerous private collections including that of the late Benazir Bhutto. Her experiences in the East and the West drive her belief that the visual arts can serve as a conduit to stimulate a community's positive response and discussion.

Christopher Langton
Senior Strategic Communication Adviser
Colonel (retired) Christopher Langton was a member of the Senior Staff at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) for nine years. During that time he held appointments as the Head of Defence Analysis, Research Fellow for Russia/ Eurasia, and Senior Fellow for Conflict. He was the Institute's specialist on Afghanistan and took part in a number of research projects dealing with the current conflict. He also played a role in a number of diplomatic conflict resolution projects.

Before joining IISS he spent thirty-two years in the British Army. In that time he served as the Deputy Commander of the UN Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) as well as holding various attaché posts in Russia, the South Caucasus and Central Asia.

Allen Weinstein
Senior Democratic Institutions Adviser
Historian and writer, Professor Allen Weinstein (PhD,Yale), after an academic career, has been intimately involved in the founding and development of institutions to strengthen the democratic process throughout the world.

From 1982-84 he directed the research study that led to the creation of the National Endowment for Democracy and was acting President of the Endowment. In 1984 he served as President of the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions and then went on to found and serve as President and CEO of the Center for Democracy, a Washington D.C. based non-profit foundation, from 1985 to 2003. While leading the Center for Democracy he received numerous awards including the United Nations Peace Medal (1986), The Council of Europe's Silver Medal, and awards from the presidents of Nicaragua and Romania for assistance in their countries' democratization processes.

A founding member in 1985 of the Board of Directors of the United States Institute of Peace and chairman of its Education and Training Committee, he remained a Director until 2001 and now serves on the Chairman's Advisory Committee.

Professor Weinstein's international public service activities include chairing an election observation delegation in El Salvador (1991), Nicaragua (1989-90, 1996), Panama (1988-89), the Philippines (1985-6), and Russia (1991, 1996, 2000). At the request of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Weinstein organized a bipartisan group which reported on the preparations for the Philippines' presidential election. He has served twice as Senior Strategic Advisor to IFES, International Foundation for Election Systems (2003 and 2009-10).

In February 2005, Allen Weinstein was confirmed by the U.S. Senate and began his service as the 9th Archivist of the United States leading the National Archives and Records Administration until resigning in December 2008 to return to teaching and writing.

Caroline Jaine
Senior Media and Public Policy Adviser
Caroline Jaine's background is in media strategy and training.  As a member of the British Diplomatic Service and Director of her own communications consultancy, Caroline has lived in and visited some of the worlds more challenging places.  She has served as Head of Press & Public Affairs at the British Embassy Office in Iraq; Vice-Consul in Sri Lanka; Ministerial Speech Writer in London, and most recently as Head of Communications & Outreach for Pakistan.  Caroline has designed and delivered training to senior UN spokespeople in New York, British High Commission staff in Islamabad and Ministry of Human Rights Officials in Baghdad, and developed strategy for Afghanistan and Somalia.

Alongside a career in international advocacy, Caroline has been a practicing visual artist for over 20 years, exhibiting all over the world.  She considers herself a multi-media portrait artist who uses traditional painting as well as online digital media, film, still image and story-telling. Her art practice and research interests include public participation and cohesion through the arts.  Her recent work include a cross-faith curatorial piece around Mary/Maryam and a body of work that links her home city of Cambridge with Karachi in Pakistan.  Caroline is currently studying a Masters at Cambridge School of Art and continues to lecture in Public & Cultural Diplomacy at London Metropolitan University, writes for Diplomat Magazine and her blogs are regularly featured on the World Bank website.  

Q: What does Chenaar mean?
A: The Chenaar tree can be found growing in many parts of the world, including South Asia, Central Asia and parts of the Mediterranean. From the time of the Ancient Greeks, to the present day in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan, meetings under Chenaar trees have served as a place to learn and exchange ideas.

Q: How much do your projects cost?
A: Get in touch with us, and we can discuss your project parameters crafted within your budget needs.

Q: How can I keep updated on Chenaar Group events?
A: Sign up to the mailing list by filling out the form in the Contact Us section below. We will be officially launching shortly, so keep in touch to find out more. We will also email out monthly analysis free of charge to help you get a better sense of our deep networks. Get in touch today to find out more.

Site Under Construction
Please email us to learn more about how Chenaar Group can help support your project needs, and join our free mailing list to find out about our official launch date and for monthly analysis. Please note that this weblink might change while we're under construction, so if you want to keep in touch, please sign up to the mailing list.

Email: info@chenaargroup.com

Mailing list:

Name: *

E-mail address: *

Affiliation: *

Message (optional):
Type your message