Lahore, Nov 10 (IANS): Alia Zafar has become the first female to be appointed as an independent member in Board of Governors of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

The decision was made at the 59th meeting of PCB's BoG held at the National High-Performance Centre on Monday. Alongwith Alia, Javed Kurieshi, Asim Wajid Jawad and Arif Saeed have also been appointed as independent members.

Kurieshi and Saeed have been appointed to the BoG for a three-year period, while Jawad and Alia have been appointed for a two-year period.

"I welcome the newly-appointed independent members to the BoG, especially Ms Alia Zafar, the first female independent member, which is a giant step forward in enhancing the PCB's governance structure," said PCB Chairman Ehsan Mani.

"The four new members bring with them a wealth of diverse knowledge that will only improve the professional outlook and working of the PCB. These four individuals are highly respected and proven performers in their respective professional lives and we aim to benefit from their knowledge in our efforts to improve our governance," he added.

Alia has Master of Arts and MBA degrees, and is a human resource specialist with diploma/certification in learning, innovation and social entrepreneurs from Germany and INSEAD France, as per a PCB media release.

"Her experience includes HR Group Head Bank of Punjab, HR Country Head Askari Bank, HR Lead Expert with Crown Agents America, UNDP and USAID in a variety of corporate sectors, including Agha Khan Foundation in four continents," stated PCB release.

"She is a HR specialist with experience in capacity-building, corporate governance, organisational design and performance evaluation captain of school cricket team," it added.