Meet Sanam
Sanam Azeem
Choreographer · Cultural Ambassador · Storyteller
Dancer, actress, host, nonprofit founder, and community servant. Born in Pakistan. Raised in Brooklyn. Based in Atlanta.
Meet Sanam
Choreographer · Cultural Ambassador · Storyteller
Dancer, actress, host, nonprofit founder, and community servant. Born in Pakistan. Raised in Brooklyn. Based in Atlanta.
Sanam Azeem — Founder & Artistic Director · With CID President Professor Alkis Rafkis, Athens 2023
Sanam Azeem was born in Pakistan to parents of Persian, Indian and Arab descent, and raised in Brooklyn, New York. A true daughter of the world, she has spent over two decades as a dancer, choreographer, cultural ambassador, actress, host, and community servant — dedicated to preserving and sharing the rich folk traditions of Pakistan and the broader South Asian world.
In 2013, Sanam became the first-ever Mrs. Pakistan International — making history at the inaugural pageant held in Atlanta, GA, where she also swept all four segment awards: Mrs. Ramp Walk, Mrs. Beautiful Smile, Mrs. Beautiful Eyes, and Mrs. Beautiful Face. She then represented Pakistan at Mrs. International 2013 in Chicago — placing as 2nd Runner Up among 69 queens from around the world, the first South Asian woman ever to place in the top 5.
Her platform was Girls Education — a cause she had championed long before the pageant through her work with Developments in Literacy (DIL), a nonprofit with 123 school campuses in rural Pakistan providing free education for underprivileged children, mostly girls. She served as official Ambassador for Girls Education in Pakistan for DIL and later served on its Atlanta Chapter board, including a year as President. She continues to champion girls education to this day.
Sanam is officially credited as Urdu Consultant on Disney+'s Ms. Marvel (MCU, 2022) — personally coaching Aramis Knight (Red Dagger / Kareem) in Urdu pronunciation and an authentic Karachi accent, while also contributing to cultural advising, costume consultation, set decor, and extras casting during production in Atlanta.
She choreographed a Bollywood dance sequence for FOX network's The Resident — working directly with principal cast including Jenna Dewan and Manish Dayal, in the episode titled "The Dance" (Season 2, 2018). She also starred in the Georgia-made short film Mazloom (dir. Marium Khalid), winning Best Actress at the Sicily Independent Film Awards 2020.
In 2023, she was invited by the International Dance Council (CID) — a UNESCO partner — to represent Pakistan at the 60th World Congress of Dance Research in Athens, Greece, where she led a Balochi dance workshop and met with CID President Professor Alkis Rafkis, who recognized her as carrying the torch for Pakistani cultural dances globally.
Before her life in dance and community leadership, Sanam built a career in technology — working as a Unix Systems Administrator at NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York, and at WebMD and Synquest Inc.
Title
Mrs. Pakistan International 2013 · 2nd Runner Up Mrs. International — first South Asian in top 5
Certification
CID/UNESCO International Certification — all 8 regional folk dances of Pakistan. Athens 2023.
Television
Choreographer, FOX's The Resident · Officially credited as Urdu Consultant, Disney+ Ms. Marvel (MCU, 2022)
Acting
Best Actress — Sicily International Film Awards for Mazloom · 3 nominations, Atlanta Women's Film Festival
Speaking
TEDx Speaker — Impact of arts, culture, and economic empowerment
Recognition
U.S. Secretary of State Coin · Silver Plate Award, Embassy of Pakistan · Keep Cobb Beautiful Civic Award
In 2013, Sanam became the first-ever Mrs. Pakistan International — making history at the inaugural pageant held in Atlanta, GA. She entered the pageant not from a pageant background, but with a mission: to use the platform to spotlight the importance of girls education in Pakistan.
She swept all four segment awards — Mrs. Ramp Walk, Mrs. Beautiful Smile, Mrs. Beautiful Eyes, and Mrs. Beautiful Face — before going on to represent Pakistan for the first time at the Mrs. International 2013 pageant in Chicago, where she placed as 2nd Runner Up among 69 queens from around the world. First South Asian woman ever to make the top 5.
Her platform was Girls Education. She spent 2013 and 2014 making countless appearances, raising awareness and resources for girls education in Pakistan — and partnered with Developments in Literacy (DIL), a 5-star Charity Navigator rated nonprofit with 123 school campuses in Pakistan, becoming their official Ambassador for Girls Education.
She helped send hundreds of underprivileged girls to school — and unlike most pageant queens, she never stopped advocating when her reign ended. The cause remains a lifelong passion.
"Shouldn't all women live their dream?"
As Founder & President of the Pakistani American Friends of Atlanta (PAFA), Sanam was invited by then Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the U.S. State Department's Annual Eid Dinner in Washington, D.C. — where she met Secretary Blinken, Ambassador of Pakistan Masood Khan, and Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu.
In April 2023, the U.S. State Department made its first-ever visit to Atlanta to engage with the Pakistani-American community. As PAFA President, Sanam convened major Pakistani-American community leaders for a historic dialogue with the Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and a Senior Advisor from the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs. She then introduced the delegation to the Office of the Mayor of Atlanta, bridging federal diplomacy with local government.
U.S. Secretary of State Coin
A Senior Advisor from the State Department presented Sanam with the U.S. Department of State Secretary's Coin — one of the highest civilian diplomatic honors the State Department bestows — in recognition of her exceptional leadership in community development and cultural diplomacy.
With Donald Lu, Asst. Secretary of State for South & Central Asian Affairs
With Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Annual Eid Dinner
With Ambassador of Pakistan Masood Khan
@ATLIntlAffairs (City of Atlanta) — April 18, 2023: State Department officials and Sanam Azeem @PakAmFriendsATL discuss how @CityofAtlanta engages with South/Central Asian communities.
Sanam's community service goes back over two decades. In 2001, she volunteered with the American Red Cross in the response to the events of September 11th, later recognized with a Certificate of Appreciation — the same spirit of service that would go on to define her nonprofit and government work in Atlanta.
In November 2019, Sanam co-founded Pakistani American Friends of Atlanta (PAFA) alongside Qasim Ijaz, Azeem Lassi, and Amna Khan — a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to civic engagement, cross-cultural advocacy, and community service. She served as its founding President until September 2023, when she created a new board and handed over leadership before joining Cobb County Government as Chief of Staff.
Under her leadership, PAFA built a large and active volunteer base and delivered impact across every dimension of community life:
PAFA was recognized by the U.S. State Department for its cultural contributions and community engagement.
PAFA performances during COVID · State Department's first Atlanta community meeting, hosted by PAFA, April 2023 · PACA Atlanta · Diplomatic receptions · PAFA founding team: Sanam Azeem, Azeem Lasi, Amna Khan & Qasim Ijaz
Sanam was brought onto the Ms. Marvel set in Atlanta as a trusted community resource — hired on recommendation as the go-to person for all things Pakistani. Her on-set contributions included:
On set, Sanam worked alongside creator Sana Amanat and director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy — the two-time Academy Award-winning Pakistani filmmaker.
On set in Atlanta with Sana Amanat (creator), Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (director), Saagar Sheikh & Aramis Knight · At the Ms. Marvel Hollywood premiere with Aramis Knight
With Jenna Dewan and Manish Dayal — FOX's The Resident, Season 2, "The Dance," 2018
Sanam choreographed a Bollywood dance sequence for FOX's hit medical drama The Resident — working directly with the principal cast including Jenna Dewan and Manish Dayal, in the episode titled "The Dance" (Season 2, 2018).
She taught the cast everything from Bollywood movement vocabulary to performance timing — bringing authentic South Asian dance to primetime network television.
Beyond dance and film, Sanam is an experienced on-camera talent, corporate spokesperson, and professional emcee with a portfolio spanning Fortune 500 brands, major television networks, and national corporate productions.
Her on-camera work includes spokesperson videos for Toyota, Cisco, Dish Network, and multiple corporate and industrial productions — as well as hosting work for business spotlight programs, consumer news segments, and social media content. View her full reel at sanamazeem.com.
Professional headshots · On-camera talent · Actress · Full reel at sanamazeem.com
Sanam stars in Mazloom — a Georgia-made short film directed by Marium Khalid — delivering what Sky Creature Productions called "beautiful and vulnerable work."
The film won Best Actress at the Sicily Independent Film Awards 2020 and was nominated for Best Actress, Best Drama, and Best Georgia Film at the Atlanta Women's Film Festival.
Pakistani Cinema
With Pakistani actor Fawad Khan at the Glitz33 event in Atlanta.
Diplomatic — Los Angeles 2024
With Consul General of Pakistan, Los Angeles, Asim Ali Khan — GAFP Pakistan Independence Day, August 2024.
Diplomatic — Athens 2023
With H.E. Ambassador Aamar Aftab Qureshi at the Pakistan House, Athens — hosted by the Ambassador following the 60th World Congress of Dance Research.
Pakistani Truck Art
Her car, hand-painted in traditional Pakistani truck art by renowned artist Haider Ali — a rolling tribute to Pakistani folk art that has been widely recognized online. Pictured together picking out paint for the project.