10th Anniversary of the LADIESFUND® Women’s Awards for Pakistan 2018

               Nasreen Kasuri & Tina Sani honoured at LADIESFUND Awards

Karachi: 11th October 2018 - Dawood Global Foundation held the 10^th Anniversary of the LADIESFUND® Women’s Awards for Pakistan 2018 at Sindh Governor House where four hundred of the most dynamic and inspiring women in Pakistan gathered to celebrate the strength and empowerment of women, as well as acknowledge the great economic contribution of Pakistani women who are not only job creators but all finalists in Trailblazer and Momentum categories, were required to be tax-payers! The Governor of Sindh, Imran Ismail Sahib, was the Chief Guest for the event. LADIESFUND Lifetime Achievement Award winners, Nasreen Mahmud Kasuri & Tina Sani were Guests of Honour. Nasreen Mahmud Kasuri is the founder of one of the  largest privately-owned education systems in the world with branches in 8 countries, student body nearing 300,000 and a staff of approx. 17,000, and flew from Lahore for the occasion. Tina Sani is a Pakistani Ghazal singer who also received the Pride of Performance award from the Government of Pakistan.

Other winners include Idol winners Kareema Juma & Saliha Bibi, as well as People’s Choice winners Trailblazer _________________, Momentum _____________________ and Women of the Year __________________________. This year’s judges who finalized the slate of nominees included past LADIESFUND winners Ameena Saiyid (2012), Angie Marshall (2014), Nilofer Saeed (2010) & Yasmeen Lari (2016).  Voting was viral via online, radio and television, .

Other pre-announced awards included Pakistani Karate champion Nargis Hameedullah (Pioneer), Pakistan’s first crane operators Faryal Anwar & Umama Saleem, Special Kids educationist Fauzia Hussain (Angel), The Garage School’s Shabina Mustafa (Angel) and a post-humous courage award human rights lawyer and social activist Asma Jahangir.

Commendations were also presented in Natasha Ali Lakhani (Beauty), Emaan Mahmud (art), Sophia Balagamwala (art), Samya Arif (art), Dr. Aftab Munir (medicine), Dr. Azra Ahsan (medicine) and Dr. Pushpa Srichand (medicine).

International Fellowship was awarded to Syeda Humaira Anwaar to travel to Germany for the World Business Dialogue with the presence of the German Consul General Eugen Wollfarth. They were joined on stage by past international fellows Rabia Rafiq (2013), Sindhya Kirshan (2014), Komal Gopi (2015), Naina Rani (2016) & Sonia Kamnani (2017).

Bachelors Scholarship to Iqra University were renewed for Maica Mary (who is the daughter of one of the Governor’s staff), and for Marium Hashmi. Tuition cheques were presented on stage to IU representative.

One of the most emotional moments on stage was a special commemoration of the completion of the education of 2500 deserving girls in Karachi, Lahore and Lagos (Nigeria). 5 of the top alumni shared their emotional story of success, and 1 news anchor Jaweria Ali, announced her donation of a 6th scholarship to help another girl just like the programme has changed her life. Educate a Girl is currently fundraising for more scholarships for Lahore, Balochistan and Hyderabad. An online version of the programme is educating 1 million girls globally in 9 language in partnership with Facebook’s internet.org foundation, and with support from the World Bank.

LADIESFUND® was established in 2008 as an initiative to provide financial security to women and to promote and train women entrepreneurs. It aims integrate the entrepreneurial needs based on the economic and social aspects of the local communities, with respect to greater women participation in the workforce.  LADIESFUND® Advisory Council members include Amir Adnan, Abdul Kader Jaffer, Byram Avari, Dr. Ishrat Husain, Khalid Mirza, Khushbakht Shujaat, Nasreen Jalil, Shafqat Sultana, Saad Khan, Sultana Siddiqui and Syed Ali Reza.

The décor was LADIESFUND’s signature pink and white, with theatre seating and magenta pink carpet. Hotel and Catering partner was Avari group, while Shamain and Zerritta Flowers returned for the 10^th year as Beauty and Floral partners. There was a scrumptious Sam’s Cake Factory Cake that was cut by the Governor, as well as a decadent Pinkalicious Dessert Bar coordinated by Firefly featuring over 3000 mini desserts by A Baker’s Tale, A Sugar Affair, After-desserts by Faiza, Al Bakery, Bakelicious by Sania, Bakerinn, Cakery Mart, Cioccolato, Crumbs, Delicacy, FIORI, Heaven Cup cakes, HOBNOB, Homemade Wholesome, Isholicious, Kreami cakes, Lush Crush Ice Pops, Mau’s Kitchen, Picklenary, R&Rs Cakes and Desserts, Sinful Bites, Sugar Affair, Sugar Drizzle, Sugar Shack, Sweeductions, Sweet Poison, Sweet temptations by Hinnah, Taha’s Chocomania, The sugar Shack, Zo’s Sweetopia. Other event partners EY Ford Rhodes (audit), Nestle (beverage), Dhinchaks (Décor), Adnan Pardesy (Dress), Tea Rack (Tea) and gift partners Amir Adnan, Taneez, Cosmo Group, Aneesa Unus, I.F. Designs, Edenrobe, Bells n Bells, Deepak Perwani & Auntyjee’s Chaat.