Executive Leadership

Surkhab Khan
Founder / Chief Operating Officer

Surkhab is a founder and the COO of PAKSBAB, responsible for overseeing operations, strategic planning, training, accounting and financial reporting, and soliciting projects. Surkhab earned a Bachelor of Law degree from Justice Law College ATD (1999), an M.A. in political science from the University of Peshawar (2002), a Bachelor of Education degree from Allama Iqbal Open University (2004), and a Masters in Development Studies from COMSATS Institute of Information Technology (2011). He previously worked for 4 years as an advocate and founded two English medium schools in his village of Kakul. Following the 2005 earthquake Surkhab worked in disaster relief for the organization BEST/UNHCR as a social mobilizer, and subsequently for Dosti Welfare Organization as Assistant Program Officer for Livelihood and Capacity Building, where he supported the first straw bale construction projects in Pakistan.

Darcey Donovan
Founder / Chief Technology Officer

Darcey is a founder and the CTO of PAKSBAB, responsible for organizational oversight, strategic planning, design and engineering, grant and proposal writing, and presentations, and was the principal investigator for PAKSBAB’s seismic research project. She has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University (1986), an M.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Nevada, Reno (2006), and is a licensed professional civil engineer in California and Nevada. She owns and operates EcoEngineering, a structural engineering practice specializing in ecologically oriented residential design with an emphasis on straw bale and natural building, passive solar, and green building materials and methods. Previously she worked for 8 years as a Product Design and Development Engineer for Raychem Corporation, followed by 18 years in residential design, engineering, and construction.

Peggy Messner
Public Relations Coordinator

Peggy’s PAKSBAB activities include monitoring, directing, and responding to website email inquiries, participating in strategic planning, assisting with grant and proposal writing, and publications. Peggy has a B.A. degree in chemistry from Westminster College, New Wilmington, PA, and a M.Ed. degree from the University of Pittsburgh. She was a chemistry, physics, and computer science educator for the Department of Defense Overseas Schools until retirement. Subsequently Peggy worked in real estate as a licensed California realtor. She also managed a family construction business in Truckee, CA where her responsibilities included ordering materials, supplies and equipment, bookkeeping, marketing, and sales.

Advisory Board

Shahid Chaudhry

Shahid has degrees in Chemical Engineering (Pakistan), Environmental Pollution Control (U.K.), and Environmental Engineering (Canada). Since 1990, he has worked for the State of California on various water and energy related assignments. For the last ten years, Shahid has been involved in providing policy, planning, and technical support to develop cost effective, energy efficient, and sustainable water resources through water conservation, water use efficiency, water recycling, and brackish water and seawater desalination. Previously, Shahid was an Assistant Professor in water supply and wastewater disposal at the University of Engineering & Technology in Lahore for 9 years. He also has experience working on UNDP, UNEP, and USAID funded water, energy, environment, and climate change related projects.

Tariq Khan

Tariq has an A.A. degree from San Joaquin Delta College (1994) and a B.S.L. (1998) and J.D. (2000) from Northwestern California University School of Law. He is the owner of Tariq Professional Enterprises, providing income tax services including individual, corporate, LLC, partnership, non-profit, sales tax, and consulting services. Tariq also works on-call as an immigration advocate for M & S International, assisting immigrants and refugees with immigration forms and resettlement. Previously he worked as Immigration Advocate Assistant for the Catholic Legal Immigration Network where he assisted immigrants with amnesty program immigration forms and served as a translator. He is a Director for the Mediation Center of San Joaquin County, an associate member of the American Bar Association, and a member of the Pakistan High Court Bar.

Jennifer Roberts

Jennifer has a B.A. in Public Policy (1984) from Stanford University with an emphasis in environmental policy and is currently working towards an MBA degree in the Graduate Business Program at Santa Clara University. She is currently a part-time business manager for the non-profit Re-evaluation Foundation, where she is responsible for writing grant checks and processing contributions, payroll, reconciliation and reports for the CPA, and supporting the Board of Directors. Previously, Jennifer has worked as a Finance Manager and Administrator for several small companies. Jennifer is also a free-lance web-designer and has recently taken over maintenance of PAKSBAB's website.