Herself is an initiative by Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB), aiming to provide training to women to develop sustainable and thriving business projects from home. The need of this initiative was felt when the statistics of entrepreneurs and freelancers showed notable discrepancy in ratios of women with men. The idea of the project is to provide these women a platform to learn from the trainings and workshops and eventually convert their ideas into powerful businesses.
After the official launch, Herself opened online applications and held interviews with selected candidates, who were further shortlisted for the training. They were trained on a variety of topics from marketing to finance.
Heerself launched the next cycle of trainings at the ceremony held on 28th September at Arfa Software Technology Park in which prominent women of our society were invited to share their reviews and guidelines for the women. Hirra Babar, co-founder SMAG, Rameeza Mueen, CEO at Transparent Hands, and Sana Mela participated in the panel discussion on the topic “Breaking Social Barriers” moderated by Zainab Tariq, Assistant Program Manager plan9.
The ladies discussed their journeys and gave advice on how to step ahead in this society. Rameeza Mueen told the women “Be confident. It comes with self-esteem. Do not indulge in self-pity”. Sana Mela advised the women that “You have to learn to identify your goals every day. It will keep you focused.” This was followed by Hirra Babar’s statement that “We all put up a face but at the end of the day we need to be true to ourselves.”
There was a Business Idea Competition among three girls of the graduated cohort who were shortlisted after a defined procedure. Mir Rawtah, a final year student of FAST won the competition while Seemab Akbar and Wafa Tahir were runner ups.
Dr. Umar Saif. Chairman of Punjab Information Technology Board gave his message to the cohort:
“Go out and make us proud. You have all the potential and opportunity to do it. You have all the facilitators to help you get through dark days. However you will have to go through repeated failures till you become successful.” – Dr. Umar Saif
The applications are now open for the next cycle in which all aspiring women are encouraged to apply. There is no age limit and the trainings are free.
Apply for the second cohort here: goo.gl/RSVt9w
