Sarmad is a Board Director for the Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS) and a Senior Fellow at the Center for Global Affairs at New York University (NYU). He sits on the Advisory Boards of the UAE University’s ‘University of the Future’ initiative, and Emerging Health International (EHI). In 2020, Sarmad was recognized by the BMW Foundation Hebert Quandt as one of forty global Responsible Leaders for his contributions to the SDGs through positive change and collaborative action.