PWiC New England Chapter Launched
On June 6th 2020, we officially kicked off PWiC New England Chapter. Though the kick off meeting was held online due to Covid-19, it didn’t dampen our spirits of starting something meaningful for Pakistani women in the New England Area. Attendees included professional women from the fields of Program Management, Data Science, Software development and Biotechnology. It was also very encouraging to see students from PhD Programs and high schools (looking to pursue STEM) join our event.
The event was launched by me, Saadia Khilji, as the Chapter Lead for New England. I provided an overview of PWiC, its leadership team, and its mission to connect, learn and grow together. I shared my career progression — from a developer, systems analyst to an Assistant Vice President in a financial services firm. Being a minority in the workplace is never easy and for me it came with many challenges, as I lacked the support of an affinity group. These challenges instilled a desire in me to initiate the PWiC chapter in New England area so that others can benefit from what I was missing earlier in my career.
Sharing our journey
The session was quite interactive. Saima Rahi, New England Chapter Growth Lead, talked about her passion for helping other Pakistani women enter STEM. Saima has been providing resume guidance to many fresh college graduates. Shahina Rahman, our Learning Lead, discussed her transition from a home maker to an Application Manager, which could not have been possible without her family’s support.
Key themes
Other attendees also shared their corporate journeys and brainstormed some of the goals for PWiC New England Chapter. The following themes emerged:
- Provide mentoring to women who want to break the glass ceiling
- Offer networking opportunities in the New England Area
- Provide guidance to Pakistani-American women pursuing STEM degrees in the US
- Create an active list of IT employers in the area
What’s Next?
As we expand our chapter further, we plan to host a variety of events for women in IT from Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire. Our chapter also plans to host a panel with the senior executives in the near future. We also hope to provide career counseling and resume building services.
If you are interested in joining, please email newengland.chapter@pwic.org.
Looking forward to an exciting 2020!
About the author
Saadia Khilji is a successful technology leader with experience in leading high performing IT teams. She currently works as Head of Data Integrations at a leading financial services company in Massachusetts.Throughout the years, Saadia has gained experience in multiple areas — digital transformation, robotics and Machine Learning operationalization to name a few. She holds a passion for learning new technologies and transforming teams towards success by delivering what is most valuable for the organization.
A big advocate of diversity and inclusion, Saadia has held leadership positions in multiple employee resource groups that support growth of women in technology and minority groups at the workplace. She is also the chapter lead for Pakistani Women in Computing New England Chapter.
Saadia has also been a speaker in multiple panels where she has openly shared her career journey and coaches others in leadership philosophy based on trust and team empowerment.
