Arif Anis

Anis was born in Angah, Soon Valley, Punjab, Pakistan. He was raised as a shepherd by his veteran father who had served in the British Army and later in the Pakistani Army. Anis graduated from the Government Emerson College in Psychology and Philosophy and received his master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from the Applied Psychology Department of the University of Punjab. He also studied at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), Imperial College London, Oxford University and Harvard University.[1]

Anis was selected in the Civil Services of Pakistan and joined as an Assistant Commissioner in 2002. He served at various positions in the public sector as a Deputy Commissioner. Later, he continued pursuing his career in the learning and development industry as a global professional speaker. He also served as an ‘Economic Senator’ for two years at the European Economic Senate. His work has been featured in the BBC, ITV, Sky, Telegraph, CNBC, Yahoo and MSN.[2] [3] Anis serves as a Trustee of Akhuwat UK Trust. He commissioned one poll to YouGov in 2013 that produced a survey report which has been globally referenced on ‘the British attitudes to the Pakistani Diaspora’. Anis founded the World Congress of Overseas Pakistanis as an outcome of this survey to build bridges between the communities.[4] He campaigned for setting up speedy trial courts for overseas Pakistanis to ensure their expeditious disposal for many years until a High Court Bench was formed.[5]

• Arif Anis became Freeman of the City of London in April 2022 in recognition of his work during the pandemic. [6]
• He has received Points of Light award by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson for his One Million Meals campaign on May 2021.[2]
• He was voted the ‘Brain of the Year 2020’ by Tony Buzan’s Brain Trust in November 2020 for his ‘One Million Meals’ campaign for the NHS staff and keyworkers. The campaign was backed up by the world-famous British footballer David Beckham[7]

• He also won the Brian Tracy Award of Excellence in 2017.[8]

He co-authored ‘Made in Crises’ on crisis leadership written from the perspective of the Coronavirus pandemic and its impact on global leadership. ISBN 9781982256388

He edited ‘The Teacher’ with Tony Buzan.[9]

Arif Anis’s anthology ‘Habits of Success’ became Wall Street Journal and USA Today's bestselling book.[10][11]