When Anjum Tahirkheli signed up for an Executive MBA at Bradford University School of Management in the UK, she never thought she would later be deploying her management skills in Haiti after the devastating effects of the 2010 earthquake.
She had intended to use her EMBA to help develop the law firm she runs with her husband in Bradford in the north of England. But media reports about martial law in Pakistan in 2009, part way through the course, were the inspiration she needed to establish Basic Human Rights, a non-governmental organisation, aiming to protect the most vulnerable groups of society. Its first assignment was dealing with the aftermath of the Haiti disaster.
She remembers asking herself: “What do I know about aid?” Yet as soon as she arrived in Haiti she was able to assess the situation using skills already learnt on her EMBA.