JA Worldwide’s Chief Financial Officer, Adnan Bokhari, Heads to China to Support Upcoming Partnership Launch with Papa Johns International
September 25, 2023
Today, our Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Adnan Bokhari, is winging his way to Shanghai, China, where he’ll meet with members of the JA China team, several JA students, and representatives of Papa Johns International. (We’ll formally announce exciting details about the Papa Johns global partnership next month.)
Five months ago, Adnan Bokhari accepted the position of CFO at JA Worldwide, with wide responsibility for the financial and human resources functions of our global organization. Prior to JA, Adnan held CFO and Chief Operating Officer roles at the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, the National Immigration Law Center, and Prosperity Now, where he honed his desire to build resilient organizations that transform ideas into impact through the power and potential of people.
“As a first-generation immigrant to the US from Pakistan who has lived experiences being part of underrepresented communities, my purpose in life is to create as many opportunities for as many people I can. I’ve been fortunate to be at organizations that are working to address the opportunity gap and deeply grateful to all the people who helped make possible my journey to becoming JA’s CFO—in particular, Andrea Levere, Asheesh Advani, Bob Friedman, Brandee McHale, Caryn Sweeney, Dedrick Asante Muhammad, Ida Rademacher, Jerry Sullivan, Jesse Van Tol, Joanne Irby, Martha Kanter, Ron Grzynwinski, Shakeel Yusuf, and my loving family. I am a designer at heart who loves developing frameworks and working with passionate people to turn vision into well-thought strategies that deliver impact.”
Adnan’s passion for building resilient organizations comes from more than 20 years of experience working in the NGO (nonprofit) sector. He describes resilience as the ability to bounce back swiftly from setbacks and to leap forward further during periods of stability. To him, resilience is the key to maximizing impact while ensuring sustainability. Since joining JA Worldwide, he has been working with the senior leadership team and staff across the network on a cross-team initiative to embed resilience into JA’s existing strategies.
Resilience also has personal resonance. Born in the historic city of Lahore, Pakistan, Adnan is the youngest of four children raised by his dad, Syed Sharif Hussain Bokhari, who had grown up in extreme poverty and migrated to Pakistan as a refugee at the young age of 13. Despite the odds, the elder Mr. Bokhari was the first in his family to go to college, becoming a highly respected lawyer and later appointed judge to the High Court by then Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto (the first democratically elected female leader of Pakistan), due to his work ethic, expertise, persistence, and character. To this day, when the odds seem daunting, Adnan remembers the struggles of his father and of so many like him who have similar stories. Adnan also remembers his father’s grit, the opportunities others created for his family, and the measurable positive returns on those personal investments . . . not just for his father but for future generations.
A bit like his father, with blessings and support from his devoted parents, Adnan came to the US at the age of 15, not by plan but by necessity. Arriving to the US as a young teenager, he depended on his older brother Omar and his friends, who provided him the guidance and support he needed. Although not anything like what his father travailed, Adnan experienced living on low income, simultaneously studying and working full-time, and navigating the effects of migration. It took Adnan ten years and tens of thousands of dollars in student loan debt to complete his bachelor’s degree, and it took seven years to get fully banked, working two jobs seven days a week to make ends meet. “I know what it feels to not have enough money to fill up your car’s gas tank,” Adnan says, “and this was back when it just took $10 to do so.”
May 16, 1994: The departure lounge of Lahore Airport on the day Adnan came to the US.
One of the multiple jobs he held during his college career was pizza delivery with Papa Johns, which makes his trip to China seem all the more surreal. At that time, he needed a second income, and Papa Johns offered a low barrier to employment. With a car that drove, basic insurance, a clean driving record, and a desire to work hard, Adnan got the job. “Back in the 90s, the young, pizza-delivering Adnan,” he says, “could never have imagined that I’d be CFO for one of the top global nonprofits, winging my way to China to help kick off a global partnership with my old employer, a partnership that will benefit young people all over the world.”
Adnan continues, “It has been an absolute joy to get to know our staff, board, alumni, and students over the last few months and working together in pursuit of peace, prosperity, and progress.” We are thrilled to have you on the team, Adnan. We can’t wait to hear how the China trip goes.