Managing Director

Zayaan holds a Master's degree in Applied Economics and Policy from the University of Windsor and Bachelor's degrees in Economics and Teaching with Politics & International Studies from the University of Adelaide.

He has worked in the President's Office under two administrations, including serving as Director (non-political) in the Special Programs Unit of the President's Office, working on presidentially prioritised projects such as development of Regional Hospitals and decentralization policy, as well as work in the Policy Office. In this time, he worked on national-level projects such as introduction of basic telemedicine specialist consultation services to 55 islands and around 55,000 people. Zayaan has years of experience in data analysis, from early work in the Modelling & Forecasting Section of the Maldives Monetary Authority, to the development of Monitoring & Evaluation system for institutions around the country for the President's Office. His M&E work covered the full workflow from developing new data collection tools and formats to bring in fully clean and validated data daily for hundreds of variables, to maintaining datasets, to data analysis and statistical reporting including preparing weekly reports for the President and ministers. He has also trained data analysts including the Statistics Units of Dr Abdul Samad Memorial Hospital, and trained workers in advanced Excel and Tableau use for the workplace. This data was used for evidence-based decision-making on policies, operations, and budgets.

More recently, he has also worked on the consultant team for the development of the government's Strategic Action Plan in partnership with UNDP, been lead researcher for the Westminster Foundation for Democracy's Cost of Politics project, and provided policy expertise supporting the National Library of Maldives in developing new programs, action plans, and Social Council paper approving new buildings and expanded services. His policy interests include urbanism and liveability, state capacity, economic rights, social protections, and the relationship between policy and political environments.

Senior Research Coordinator

Zahanath Zuhury was a UNICEF Youth Foresight Fellow in the 2023-2024 corhort and is a Legal Officer working for the Ministry of Construction and Infrastructure. She volunteers as a member of the Youth Reference Group of UNICEF Maldives, where she provides fresh perspectives on the challenges young people face in the Maldives and actively advocates for the representation of the youth demographic in the sociopolitical landscape.

She believes that youth involvement is crucial for fostering more informed and equitable policy decisions that benefit everyone in the future. She conducted a research using foresight tools as part of her UNCIEF Youth Foresight Fellowship and analuzed trends impacting the future of education in her country. Zahanath holds a Bachelor’s degree in Shari’ah and Law with honors from the Maldives National University.

Publications Officer

Eiesha Shahym holds a LLB (Hons.) and BA (Global Politics, History & Sociology) from the University of South Australia. Currently, she is pursuing a Graduate Diploma of Psychology at Monash University.

Eiesha has previously interned with the Rights Resources Network SA as a Human Rights Intern, and as a Governance Intern with UNDP Maldives. Most recently, she has worked with the Maldivian Red Crescent as an intern, consultant and project officer. She assisted in the data collection and fieldwork for the Emergency Plan of Action for the Filariasis Response, including migrant mapping and screening assessments to identify vulnerable communities. As a YABC Project Officer, she implemented and managed the Promoting a Culture of Non-Violence and Peace in Communities through the Youth as Agents for Behavioral Change (YABC) Programme across three regions: Central, North, and South. Her work involved the planning and facilitation of sessions and activities as well as overall data collection and analysis of project indicators.

Currently, Eiesha works with the Public Policy Lab as the Publications Officer, where she focuses on urbanist policy, community and pro-social values, and education policy. Her key policy interests also include youth empowerment, gender equality and justice, domestic and family violence, community mobilisation and migrant support and inclusion.

As a young company, we are looking for more motivated and experienced professionals to join our research and consultant team. Please reach out if you are interested in working with us.