Profile: Nina Rehman Khan, HDF President

By Adil James, TMO

Farmington–June 15–The new president of HDF spoke with TMO Tuesday about her background, her experience with HDF, and her plans for the future.

Dr. Rehman is a physician specializing in internal medicine, with a private practice, operating at St. John and Troy Beaumont Hospital.

Human Development Foundation (HDF) is a not-for-profit formed almost 15 years ago in Illinois; it focuses almost all of its development work in Pakistan.  Its annual operating budget is over $1 million, according to its verified 2009 tax return, and its coffers also hold more than $1 million.

She explains that she has been involved “on and off, as a medical student even,” with HDF for many years, and that she has been involved on a regular basis with HDF since 2003, “at many levels, secretary, board of directors, to other things.”

“I prefer HDF because it involves more women’s health and education–women are my top priority… HDF emphasized more women and their health issues, immunizations for kids–all that attracted me more.”

She speaks with admiration of the accomplishments of HDF to date, of running “over 200 schools,” of microloans (“mainly to women but also to some men”).   HDF provides help to get people “off the ground so they can be independent… raise their own family and be educated, and get skills.”  HDF provides “help with pregnancies and immunizations, free clinics in different villages, support clinics for women’s health–childbirth and preventive health.”

She explains of HDF’s focus on Pakistan and relative silence in the US that “that’s our vision.” However she explains that she has considered doing some projects to help children and women in Detroit, and that HDF did do some work to relieve the suffering after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

“I was planning on doing more during Christmas, to help the homeless and kids [in Detroit].”

HDF is an apparently very successful not-for-profit, which claims to maintain over 200 schools in Pakistan; also clinics and even entire villages.  HDF provided homes for people displaced by the floods in Pakistan, in association with APPNA. 

In her professional life Dr. Rehman emphasizes women’s preventive health, and anti-aging.  She recently completed a fellowship in anti-aging.

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