Daily Times

KARACHI: The Dawood Global Foundation (DGF) and the British Deputy High Commission partnered to host Lean in Pakistan Circle Luncheon 2017 powered by LADIESFUND for women professionals and entrepreneurs on Saturday (January 14) at the British Deputy High Commission.

The luncheon featured global Lean Speaker Insaff el Hassini on the topic of career advancement as well as special guest Nacira Alioua. Additionally, Brits Amanda White, Humaira Anwer and Sharan Gohen as well as New Zealander Susan Welt, and South African Liesl Du Plessis all flew to Karachi to conduct a special interactive Myers Briggs “MBTI” session on “How Understanding Your Personality Can Lead To Career Success”.

More than 100 female professionals and entrepreneurs from leading multi-nationals, retail, medical, accountancy, legal sectors, NGOs and youth programs gathered to form professional friendships, meet potential clients and strengthen their networks for career advancement purposes. Varah Musavvir chaired and Humaira Anwaar moderated the event. In 2011, LADIESFUND and the British together introduced Pakistan’s first women’s professional networking luncheon. In 2013, LADIESFUND brought the Speed Networking Luncheon for the first time to Pakistan, which replicated the Harvard-style speed networking where more than 100 guests were seated face-to-face to network with each other, with a ringer every five minutes for the attendees to rotate to the next conversation. Two years ago, a “star” component was added to introduce mentoring alongside speed networking.

Last year, “Lean In”, which is Sheryl Sandberg’s much lauded global movement, was introduced to Pakistan. Endorsed by Sheryl Sandberg, it became the biggest Lean In Circle meeting in the MENA region and in South Asia. Tara Uzra Dawood then founded Lean in Pakistan and represented our nation at the Lean In Global Regional Leaders’ meeting.

The event was also an opportunity for young women entrepreneurs across the nation to showcase their artisan initiatives at the luncheon which was coordinated by the Crafter’s Guild. Some of these included, Aliya B Spa Shop, MeeM-Wear your Culture, Zed Mars, Antique’s, Colors of Beddings, Bisera Jewels, Zairaiffi’s, Irum Fawad, Nida Anwar, Secret Stash and Ruralz Inc.

Through the efforts of the LADIESFUND Team and the volunteers, the Lean In Pakistan Luncheon was a huge success. The funds generated from this event will be utilised towards the charitable efforts of the DGF for the advancement of women. To date, the DGF has educated 1000 deserving girls in Karachi and 250 in Lagos, Nigeria, to become journalists through its award-winning Educate a Girl project.

Currently, the foundation is working towards the education of 1000 deserving girls in Lahore, while creating a scalable online version of the programme as part of its incubation by Facebook’s internet.org Free Basics programme.