“THE 14TH LADIESFUND® WOMEN’S AWARDS FOR PAKISTAN 2023 VOTING BOOTH”

AYESHA SAMIE CASHMIRI

Ayesha Samie Cashmiri, an MBA graduate from LUMS, founded home-business Lush Crush Ice Pops in 2017, which has now grown steadily into a network of outlets in the main cities of Pakistan.  What started as a need fulfilment of getting her own three daughters to have fresh fruit in a fun way, developed into an idea to bring fruity artisanal popsicles to people.  She then went on to develop and expand her range into frozen desserts.

 MIARA SHAIKH & SAADIA YASIN

Miara Shaikh and Saadia Yasin started Miaasa in 2016 as a side enterprise due to their shared love of shoes. Their company originally began as a wholly online brand, with all their manufacturing outsourced. After 5 years, we have completely vertically integrated as a business, owning a manufacturing facility in Korangi, Karachi, as well as 2 retail locations, one each in Karachi and Lahore. All cities in Pakistan as well as a global clientele are served by the initial version of our e-store.

SHAFAQ SEWANI

Shafaq Sewani is an ex-investment banker turned entrepreneur; she is the founder of Fresh Basket, Karachi’s first fresh produce chain, changing the post-harvest infrastructure and distributing produce to local consumers, from the traditional carts to a more hygienic and fresher environment. Through Fresh Basket, Shafaq is also providing a platform to home based female entrepreneurs for shelfing their home-based healthy products, empowering women and at the same time creating a culture of clean and healthy eating.

Dr. Nida Hussain

Dr. Nida Hussain is leading the charge in the field of education by creating the first fully integrated educational system covering primary and secondary education validated by its own board system followed by higher education in graduate and post graduate degree in a wide variety of fields. Her vision is to drive the turnaround of Pakistan by creating an education system that globally competitive and accessible to all. She currently serves as the Pro-Chancellor of Zia Uddin University, the CEO of the Zia Uddin Schools, and the Chairperson of Zia Uddin University Examination Board. She also teaches as a Professor in the department of internal medicine at Zia Uddin University. Dr. Nida Hussain studied at Dow University where she received her MBBS and has completed her residency from Mt. Sinai, New York City. She is also a Diplomat of the American Board of Internal Medicine.

SEEMA MUGHAL

Seema Mughal is a renowned Pakistani academician and thought leader who has dedicated her life to social transformation through education. She is committed to academic excellence by producing capable, committed, and conscious future leaders. Her visionary ambition helped Greenwich evolve from an institute in 1987 to a chartered University in 1997.  She established an affiliate policy think-tank Karachi Research Chair (KRC) in 2018. KRC has emerged as a vibrant member of the Advocacy Group (AG) of Asia Pacific Regional Civil Society Engagement Mechanism (APRCEM) - a consortium of 600+ organizations from 43 countries.

SHAMAEEL ANSARI

For three opulent decades, 37 years, Shamaeel Ansari is still known as one of the pioneer designers of Pakistan having her name presence worldwide also. is also the only designer in Pakistan who has been in exports with brand names such as Club Monaco Canada, Eddie Bauer, Target, Walmart and Federated Group of Merchandising for private labels. She has been the Winner of the Lux Style Awards. Board of Directors of The Asian Institute of Fashion Design and Pakistan Institute of Fashion Design. She has also been on the Board of Indus Valley School and has been Chairman of Fashion Pakistan Council and is now the advisor where she continues to cultivate the national narrative on fashion. She was the LADIESFUND 2015 Woman of Inspiration.

NARGIS LATIF

Every single day, Karachi the largest city of Pakistan, throws up 12,000 tons of garbage. Nargis Latif founded the social organization Gul Bahao which means “flow the flowers” in her language, and she and her team of garbage pickers hunt for garbage in every crook. She equally collects unused and rejected material from industries. The most famous of her inventions is the recycled house known as Chandi Ghar that was created in the wake of a horrendous earthquake destroying the lives of thousands of people in Pakistan. The Chandi Ghars were used as shelters. Today, Nargis Latif has built over 150 of these recycled houses across Pakistan. Most are the homes of poor nomads in the Tharparkar district. Further, out of compost, she created “Gardens in the Air” which are two scaffoldings carrying a wide array of plants.

PARVEEN RIZVI (SAGEETA)

Parveen Rizvi, better known as Sangeeta, is a Pakistani film actress, filmmaker and director of television drama serials.  In 1969, Sangeeta appeared as a child star in the film Koh-e-Noor which was directed by Agha Husaini. In 1971, she moved to Lahore from Karachi and started a more serious career in Lollywood movies. Her role as a supporting actress in Riaz Shahid’s movie Yeh Aman (1971) was well-received by the public. She went on to act in dozens of other movies before deciding to become a film producer-director with her own film Society Girl in 1976. Sangeeta has over 120 films to her credit as an actress and a producer-director.

QURATUL AIN BAKHTEARI

Dr. Quratul ain Bakhteari was born on Dec 25 1949 and has been engaged in Community Development profession since 1978, from Karachi with Dr. Akhter HAMEED Khan ,and since 1987 she is dedicated to Balochistan. Her work is low cost house sanitation, public private partner for girl’s education, established 2200 rural girls primary schools for government, enrolled 200,000 girls, established Institute for development studies and practices-Pakistan, Community Midwifery Training program, trained and empowered 400 Community Midwives, youth education and development 7000 graduated.