PWiC Silicon Valley: Meetup Highlights
Pakistani Women in Computing (PWiC) extended its community outreach to Silicon Valley and organized its first local official meetup in Santa Clara on May 10, 2019. PWiC partnered with OPEN Silicon Valley and Nustian USA to organize a successful event and set the foundation of a local community in the bay area.
The meetup was a gathering dedicated to showcasing Pakistani women role models in computing and their allies over an iftar. More than 70 men, women, and children attended the event on a Friday evening to support and celebrate PWiC’s global community and its mission to promoting and celebrating Pakistani women in technology.
Welcome Note and Introduction to OPEN Silicon Valley
This event kicked off by Mobashar Yazdani, President of OPEN Silicon Valley by welcoming the audience and introducing OPEN Silicon Valley. He also highlighted OPEN’s mission behind supporting local community meetups, OPEN’s support for upcoming Pakistani organizations in general and women-led organizations in particular. Mobashar welcomed the young crowd to become part of both communities (OPEN and PWiC) to strengthen local Pakistanis tech community in the bay area.
Introduction to PWiC
Huma Hamid, the President and Co-Founder of PWiC shared the making of PWiC’s global community. She highlighted PWiC’s achievements till date and future plans of the organization globally. She also thanked OPEN Silicon Valley and Nustian USA for their tremendous support to pull off a successful event in such a short timeframe.
Pursuing a Dream by Novaira Masood
Novaira Masood, Software Engineer Manager at Apple shared her journey in tech which took her from FAST Islamabad to the University of Minnesota and landing her first job at Microsoft, working on some of Hollywood’s renowned animated movies and finally joining Apple as an Engineering Manager. She worked on several high visibility projects at Microsoft, Hollywood and now leading a research and development team of engineers at Apple. Novaira shared the power of having a dream which one should always pursue. Some of the other key takeaways from Novaira’s journey were:
- Following your passion
- Taking risks and not be afraid of failing
- Building a strong professional network
- Actively seekings and providing mentorship
Navigating a Career by Dr. Maria Riaz
Maria Riaz, Senior Software Engineer at Google shared her learning of navigating a career in academia, pursuing a Ph.D. in the US, working at CERN and eventually landing a job at Google. She highlighted the challenges women face in their professional lives and shared useful and practical advice with the audience from her personal experiences. Some of the key takeaways from Maria’s talk were:
- It’s ok to stand out and build your personal brand
- Strive to find common grounds while working with other people
- Stating things as a matter of fact
- Bringing solutions while stating a problem
- Using feedback to your advantage, learning, and growth
- Giving graciously and accepting gratefully
Building Communities and Digital Ecosystems by Saad Hamid
Saad Hamid, Developer Community Manager at Google was in the town to attend the Google I/O’19 along with a group of renowned community leaders from Pakistan. It was a perfect opportunity for everyone to join the PWiC meetup and learn about PWiC, OPEN, and other communities in order to build synergies among certain areas of common interest. PWiC invited Saad to share his experiences of building digital ecosystems and local communities.
During his talk, Saad shared his journey of becoming a digital ecosystem builder and a community champion. He also shared how his passion to enable people for success by connecting them and by creating opportunities for them through meaningful networking. He extended his full support to the local tech community in Silicon Valley and beyond.
Achieving Success by Raheel Bodla
Raheel Bodla, Success Coach and Former Global Supply Manager for Tesla Model X at Tesla shared his journey from serving in the Pakistan Airforce a Squadron Leader, Aerospace Engineer to landing a job at Tesla. He also shared how he turned his side gig and passion for mentoring students, industry professionals, and corporate executives into a full-time career as a success coach. He indulged the attendees by asking a few questions about happiness and being successful. He shared tangible advice and a workable framework with the audience to find their passion and converting it into a sustainable initiative.
Q&A Session by the Speakers
All the speakers came together on the stage to answer attendees’ questions. There were few, very interesting questions like “how do you see yourself in 5 years”, “Women moved here and looking for a job” and ”internships”, “balancing work and life as a working mother”. Every speaker participated in answering the questions coming from the audience. Overall it was an engaging and insightful conversation.
Key Takeaways from the Q&A Session
- Become a solution if you can’t find one.
- If you are lost, it’s an indication you are up to finding something and if you stay persistent, you will find your path
- Dream big no matter what
- Work on the blueprint of your goals it will lead you where you want to be.
- Do whatever makes you happy you will never get bored at work.
At the end of the session, Farhan Younas shared the Mothers Day message with all the awesome mother attending the event!
Networking and Food
After the panel discussion ended, the attendees networked over with each over the iftar.
Special Thanks to Sponsors and Partners
The event was made possible due to the sponsorship and the ground support provided by OPEN Silicon Valley and the partnership offered by NUSTIAN USA Network. Thanks to our partners and sponsors from PWiC!
Special Shoutouts
Event and community support: Farhan Younas (OPEN SV), Raheel Bodla (Nustian USA)
Photo Credits: Asima Khokhar
Design Credits: Ali Hassan Rasheed
Thank you for reading!
About the Author(s)
Huma Hamid is a tech-maker mom, Cofounder and President of Pakistani Women in Computing (PWiC). She is passionate about building teams, products, and communities and believes in equal opportunities for all. You can reach out to her via LinkedIn and Twitter.
Hiba Talat is a bay-area based Technical Writer. She is passionate about helping women to get to the workforce. She is currently a lead volunteer with PWiC Silicon Valley chapter.
