The finale of our Elevate The Youth Accelerator and a Social Innovation Competition was held on Saturday 6th August, 2016 at Plan 9. Umar Saif, Chairman of Punjab Technology Board gave Key Note speech highlighting the power of entrepreneurship and technology. Jamshed Kazi, Country Representative UN Women presented his ideas on the potential of youth in Pakistan, especially young women.
ETY Fellows presented 3 social innovation projects to a team of panelists including Zafar Khan, CEO of Sofizar and Momina Aijazuddin, Global Head of Microfinance IFC amongst others. The projects range from empowerment of transgender communities, mental illness to economic livelihoods.
Elevate The Youth Accelerator was launched this summer with the aim to provide a dynamic platform to youth and build their capacity to solve Pakistan’s challenges using entrepreneurship and technology. The accelerator has been providing workshops, seminars, TED style inspirational talks and internships to 16 Fellows. The internships include start-ups like Beauty Hooked, Taza Daily, corporates such as Nestle, Berger and social enterprises including Kashf Foundation.
“We are thrilled at the response to the Youth accelerator and based on growing interest, will be taking this to 4 other cities in Pakistan and also explore regional growth.” Said Sadaffe Abid, co-founder CIRCLE and brain child behind the accelerator. Azhar Rizvi, Vice – Chairman MIT Enterprise Forum said, “I have had the privilege of training over 10,000 students and 500 Firms on innovation and entrepreneurship. However, the ones who have inspired me the most are social innovators – I congratulate all ETY Fellows for completing the program.”
“I applaud the efforts of CIRCLE to give our youth much needed oxygen for their entrepreneurial passions. To the Fellows, be persistent, work hard, remember the details and yet always, always dream big!” Maheen Rehman, Chief Executive at AlfalahGHP Asset Management
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