Sadaffe Abid is the Founder & CEO of CIRCLE working on women’s economic empowerment through technology, entrepreneurship and leadership development. CIRCLE is recognized as a Microsoft for Startup for using technology to solve pressing challenges. Sadaffe is an advocate for women’s advancement, tech and financial inclusion. She is a former CEO of the Kashf Foundation. She conducts leadership development programs in the region, particularly to grow women leaders. Sadaffe chairs the Inclusive Development Committee of National Bank of Pakistan and is Vice Chairperson of Pakistan Microfinance Network. She is also a former adviser to Dell Women Entrepreneurship Network (DWEN).

She completed her master’s at the Harvard Kennedy School, Advanced Management Program at INSEAD and her B.A. at Mount Holyoke College. Following are the edited transcripts of a recent conversation BR Research had with Sadaffe Abid that revolved around CIRLCE’s key initiative, She Loves Tech and the impact it has been able to create over the years:

BR Research: One of the main initiatives of Circle has been She Loves Tech. What has been its contribution to the startup ecosystem especially for women entrepreneurs?

Sadaffe Abid: She Loves Tech has stood the test of time in the sense that it’s our fifth year. It is the world’s largest women startup competition, and Pakistan has the honor to be a part of it for 5 years, which I believe is a great contribution to our country. We were the first competition in the country which was exclusively about women. The fact that we have solid partners and institutions says a lot. Habib Bank Limited - Pakistan’s leading bank has been with us from the beginning supporting women in tech and women in entrepreneurship. United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has been a partner with us, and this year we are holding a national dialogue with them around growing young women in tech. We have Unilever supporting us for the second year.

This kind of support is really important as we want to open avenues for women. Women’s network is limited; they underestimate themselves; they don’t have the adequate skills and trainings. We are building a platform where all of this is available. This year we are going virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and that has enabled us to go nationwide. The unique thing about the program is that now we are not just in major cities; we are going to second and third tier cities because we have a national commitment.

Pakistan was one of the early movers in this space. When I met the She Loves Tech founder, I realized what a unique opportunity it was to create visibility. It was an entrepreneurial venture for me as I had no funds, no team and no idea how I would do it, but intuitively I could tell that it would be good for women and Pakistan. She Loves Tech is also creating opportunities for women through our panels, speaker series and discussions.

Through all of this we want to impact 25,000 women digitally. The idea is to send a message across the country that anyone can do it.

BRR: What is the competition like?

SA: We have nearly 200 startups that have applied this year. There are 64 startups that are being shortlisted from the Pakistan rounds, and then there will be one winner representing Pakistan globally amongst 40 countries. This year, we are also offering bootcamps for skills development before the actual competition. The shortlisted 64 women will be going through our mentorship program that will include workshops around leadership, how to pitch, financial modelling, business canvas, storytelling, and digital marketing. We have the best people from Pakistan and globally who will be involved in running these workshops.

BRR: Do you think that without the conventional relevant degree and academic background in tech, women can excel in tech and be part of the digital drive?

SA: We have to segment the market. In Pakistan there are millions of women who are not digitally literate even though they have smartphones; and then there are women in far flung areas who don’t even have internet access or smartphones. So, there is a big digital gender divide and Circle is committed to bridging it. Last year we saw an opportunity; under the pandemic, everyone realized how important is the access to internet, and how it is changing lives by enabling us to stay connected, to learn new skills, build communities, expand our knowledge, expand markets etc. But majority of women in Pakistan do not have this basic access. I see access to internet and digital literacy as basic human rights today. This is critical in the 21st century and the pandemic world.

Last year, we did a pilot project with 60 women from underserved communities who had homebased enterprises. We taught them how to use smartphones for checking WhatsApp message for business, email ids, Instagram, Facebook, Google Maps etc., and it had really good results. 49 percent of women stated that their income has increased post training. This year we worked with 300 women from Sialkot and Multan. This is called the Digital Literacy Project supported by UN Women, and we are aiming to reach out to 10,000 women next year where we want to make them digitally literate. This contributes to Digital Pakistan, which is necessary if we want to build a prosperous Pakistan. We are working on a strategy where we aim to reach one million women by 2025 both through direct beneficiaries as well as training these women to become future local trainers. I know its an ambitious target, but even if we reach half a million, imagine how many families will be transformed by these digitally literate women.

Can women who have not studies computer science join the tech sector? Yes, they can, and this is something we have learned through our initiative Tech Karo which we started as an experiment in 2018 to teach girls how to code. We were constantly told that this initiative won’t work as we won’t find women who are interested in coding; parents won’t allow their daughters; and the industry will not hire these girls. We have seen that it was very challenging, and it still is challenging but we also see the attitudes changing. Slowly and gradually, parents are realizing that the biggest contribution that they can make for their daughters is giving them education and skills.

Though Tech Karo, we have had 300 plus graduates and majority of them are women. They are working in the tech sector either through freelancing or jobs. May are working in software engineering roles with no prior tech background or academics. In the curriculum, along with technical skills, we also have soft skills like confidence building, problem solving, collaboration, etc. Our curriculum has been uniquely designed with input from the industry, and we also have speaker series; we help young girls build their CV, conduct mock interviews and connect them with the industry. We do the entire end-to-end loop.

We are now looking into growing and scaling. We have a web development cohort going on, and we are just starting a digital marketing cohort and a design cohort. We are also working in Bahawalpur with Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA) to train young women form underserved communities who don’t own a computer or internet at home as yet. We train them for basic digital literacy at a lab. We have had 100 women with the ITA project who have trained nearly 500 women in their communities and families, which is how it will grow.

We are very proud that Tech Karo is supported by Engro Foundation and Engro Vopak from the beginning. I think such partnerships are really important and businesses in our country need to invest in youth and their skill development. If CSR fundings are used more strategically for high impact initiatives and skill development, there are far greater dividends in future for the companies and the country.

BRR: Do we have enough role models for aspiring women entrepreneurs to emulate?

SA: We have some amazing role models, but their story is not yet told. They are invisible. And it not just about women business at the top tier. What is important for us is to highlight women at different tiers. We need to highlight successful businesses at micro and small level as not every business can be worth a million dollar. A woman who is doing a business in her neighborhood, creating opportunities and inspiring other women, and is able to send her kids to school is also a role model. While its has been very unfortunate that some of the issues that have happened and challenges the women face, it is important to highlight the success stories and case studies to invite more women and encourage them.

BRR: With the recent surge in harassment, molestation, rape and murder cases of women, do you think that the way the civil society is responding is adequate? What roles should the government be playing to bring an end to this madness?

SA: With recent incidents and happenings unfortunately, we don’t have safe spaces for women, and it really needs to be addressed because as a country if we want to progress, we have to give security to half the population, which is women. Pakistan has one of the lowest female labor force participation rates in the region. Why is that the case? A woman cannot step out of her house without the feeling that she might get harassed at some point.

This is a society issue, and we need to tackle it together. We need all stakeholders, men and women to work together to address it as the issue is quite deep. There has to be an acknowledgement by the highest of authorities that this is not a random one-off event but a systemic issue that needs immediate attention. It can be handled if we have the will and commitment. We make it very clear that women need to be respected and have a very important role to play in the society, and we will not tolerate it - this how the governemnt should be speaking. How can women be at their best when there is a constant fear of getting harassed, and women are constantly in this fight or flight mode?

From the civil society, there are many women who are speaking up and talking about it. There are many younger activists today, which is very encouraging. A lot of younger women are participating in this debate. But I believe we as a society need to acknowledge the systemic issue and we need to stop blaming the victim.