Way forward: Mentorship important for women entrepreneurs

A consensus was reached at a discussion held at the Jinnah Institute focusing on developing mentorship and a possible outline for policymaking with regards to women entrepreneurship.

The event brought together women from varying fields, including restaurant owners, presidents of chambers of commerce, CEOs, policy consultants and human right activists.

Philanthropist Simi Kamal, spoke of the importance for Pakistani to utilise its ‘demographic dividend’. She emphasised the need to develop and expand ambitions of young Pakistanis, which she noted were often limited to securing steady employment.

Restaurateur Zeenat Ayesha built upon similar ideas and suggested developing internship programmes which allow young people to gain experience working with seasoned entrepreneurs.

Activist Naghma Imdad expanded on the need to develop an enabling environment for women entrepreneurs, and drew upon her experiences to warn against letting literacy and social class becoming barriers for women seeking skills and opportunities.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 19^th, 2014.