Nasreen Kasuri & Tina Sani honoured at
LADIESFUND Awards
Karachi:
11th October 2018 - Dawood Global Foundation held the 10th 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 10th 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.