Mahrukh Qadeer is the founder and CEO of communal workspace, Co-Wired. Qadeer started her multifaceted professional career after receiving an M.S. in Computer Science. Having 12+ years of experience working for several multi-national organizations and social gaming giants like DeNA, she developed expertise in designing mobile applications and app monetization frameworks for smart devices. Qadeer is also a visiting faculty member of a national university. She works as a consultant to a number of organizations as well as engages in a myriad of public speaking opportunities including Global Entrepreneurship Week 2016, Berlin where she was invited as a speaker and also moderated a panel discussion.

Previously, she has served as CEO at Mahir Online that connects people with local eateries. This versatile experience led her to start Co-Wired in April, 2017. The ideology of Co-Wired lies in its slogan – Create, Communicate, Collaborate. She laid down the foundation of Co-Wired on philosophy of supporting the entrepreneurial ecosystem by conducting training programs and connecting its members to resources, support networks, and mentors. This co-working space acts as starting point for entrepreneurs to lay the first brick of their idea. Currently, a number of startups, multinational offshore companies and other corporates are also utilizing Co-Wired as a workspace along with other small-scale businesses. The flexible packages complemented by state-of-the-art working facilities cater to all types of requirements. For example, Mompreneur package is designed specifically for working mothers of school going kids, looking to work in dynamic environment to maintain discipline in their workflow.

Co-Wired also led into unprecedented collaborations of businesses leading to better work opportunities. Several focused workshops and vocational trainings are conducted on topics like Growth Hacking, Website development, Videography, Design Thinking and Social Media Marketing Certification. Hosting entrepreneurship-related discussion sessions is also a regular practice at Co-Wired where various professions like healthcare, finance, music and media are discussed in the context of technology and consumer behavior.

She is a Facilitator for British Council's DICE Fellowship Program. DICE is a pilot program that takes a holistic approach to address entrenched issues of economic and social exclusion. DICE takes an 'ecosystem' approach to nurture economic inclusion, with a focus on women and girls, young people, disabled people and other often excluded groups. DICE is delivered by an interdisciplinary and inspired group of colleagues and change-makers in Pakistan, Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, South Africa and UK.

Mr. Salman Amin carry a rich and extensive experience in strategic and operational leadership role in both private and public sectors. The diversity and depth of his experience in multiple and complex industries within and outside Pakistan span over twenty one years. Throughout his career he’s lead teams managing projects in the field of Financial Services, ICT & Telecom, Management Consulting and ICT4D. His core domains are project management, teams and system development, creativity & innovation and business development.

Being a part of e-governance team, Salman successfully managed & delivered Punjab Public Management Reform Program (PPMRP). A World Bank funded ($50 mil) five year program that covered technological interventions in GoPb for Resource Monitoring, Improved Service Delivery & G2C Communication. Key departments including Health, Education, Irrigation, Agriculture, Livestock were part of program. PPMRP was hailed as a one of fifteen global success stories by World Bank in a report published in October 2018 for its interventions and impact across Punjab. He has also led teams managing major government initiatives on Clean Drinking Water, Sanitation and G2C communication.

He’s currently managing a portfolio of Local Government & Community Development, Livestock & Dairy Development, Irrigation, Youth Affairs, Sports, Archeology, Tourism, Business Development & Partnerships, Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development. Program in his portfolio including e-Rozgaar, Plan9 have been approved federal government for national rollout.

Business & Market development professional with 22 years’ experience across Pakistan, of managing and leading teams nationally for Pre-Sales, after Sales, Subscriber management and retention, Processes and Service operations, Segments and marketing, Fixed Broad Band Products and IoT Solutions Development, Channel development, CEM and Customer Services. Track record of Business development within various market verticals including Energy sector, Pharmaceuticals, Government, Education, Consumer, Banking, Insurance, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Technology, Trade bodies, real estate, etc.

Witnessed and Actively Participated in leading the transformation of Telecom industry from Classic to Smart Devices, Voice to Data usage, manual metering to smart metering, First Call Activation to Revenue Model, Sales & Service Model Consolidation. Key strengths are leadership, adaptability, organizational & operational excellence, market research & analysis, new market penetration, business & channel planning, value creation, outcome orientation and ability to deliver effectively & efficiently under pressure. 

She is currently the CEO of pinkblob , a western clothing brand working on the social enterprises basis by indulging the women of underprivileged areas and teaching them the modern techniques of stitching. She started from Ogilvy , as an account manager on Nestle after completing my MS from BNU in PR and advertising. After serving three years in Ogilvy , she then moved to Red and worked in advertising for couple of more years and left advertising in 2017. Did my diploma in criminology and took sessions for mental growth and well being with underprivileged kids at diff NGO’s. Came on board with pinkblob with in 2019 Oct and relaunched the brand. Ever since then she’ve been looking after it. And fashion influencing, writing political critical blogs , and working on mental health awareness are something’s she does side by side as hobbies.

Nida Siddiqui did Master of Advertising from Szabist. She is the Sr. Manager E-commerce at Bonanza Garments. Before that she was an assistant category manager at TCS E-com Yayvo and Digital strategist at The Brand Crew. 

Nausheen Jaffery is the National Sales Head of Nestlé Professional. She holds a Master’s degree in Commerce and MSc in Marketing.

She joined Nestlé Pakistan Ltd. Head Office in 2003 in Finance and Control division and worked on various roles before moving to Nestlé Professional in 2007 as Brand Manager. She was instrumental in setting up solid brand management foundations for the Nestlé Professional business.

In 2010, she moved to Nestlé Nesvita as Brand Manager and successfully evolved the communication direction that is helping the brand to achieve its strategic objectives year over year. By 2013 she was leading the NESTLÉ NIDO 1+ and Nestlé Bunyad portfolio as marketing manager. Her endeavors on communication campaigns have been recognized as a Global Best Practice.

With strong commercial background, in 2015 she took over the portfolio of globally driven initiative of Business Excellence. In this role she is steering cross functional alignment of company’s strategies and goals along with building people capabilities to eliminate waste from processes and everyday work in order to build value for the consumer. She is also leading a globally driven project to optimize end to end work flows.

Shameelah Ismail is a social entrepreneur, business graduate, home-maker and mother. She is the founder and CEO of GharPar, a social enterprise that supports women who work in the beauty industry in Pakistan.

Ms. Ismail grew up in Lahore, but spent many years living in France as a teenager. During this time she travelled extensively throughout Europe and North America, and was able to build a world view for herself that was inclusive, moderate, creative and above all empowering for all genders and age groups. Ms. Ismail is a firm believer of women empowerment through economic independence, as she herself comes from an affluent and well connected family in Pakistan, and wants to create a world where every women has access to opportunities and privilege just like her own.

Her initiative, GharPar, is an innovative, never-done-before venture that was conceived as a product of this world view, and her compassion for others. Ms. Ismail's educational training in business administration, and her heart felt desire to create a business environment that connected women to the source of their livelihood motivated her to launch GharPar, where beauty services are brought to the client in the comfort of their homes.

The beauty industry in Pakistan is mostly unregulated, but a highly popular field of work for both client and the service provider. Yet, most workers get their training at often sub-standard privately owned salons, and there are no quality checks on training standards. Ms. Ismail recognized the potential in regularizing these services and provided a training and business platform to women beauticians.

And the result of this innovative idea is GharPar, where clients are brought to the beauticians, and beauticians are brought to the client. It’s GharPar, where beauty is done comfortably.