PWiC 2019 — Year in Review

PWiC 2019 Annual Report

Published in

PWiC

7 min readJan 4, 2020

Pakistani Women in Computing (PWiC) is a global community of women in technology fields hailing from Pakistan and their global allies with the aim of collaborating, empowering, inspiring, celebrating, mentoring and creating opportunities for each other.

PWiC was initiated as a Facebook community in 2015, but it was not until 2018 that it got transformed into a global initiative. Within one year, PWiC has gained high momentum and organic growth. From local chapters to global programs, 2019 has seen tremendous success in providing growth and learning opportunities and empowering women around the globe.

On behalf of the board and the management team of PWiC, we would like to thank each one of you for being part of this journey.

PWiC Vision

Our vision is to find ways to enable our community to connect, learn and grow together.

PWiC Mission

Build a strong global network of Pakistani women in technology and allies
Increase community’s global reach, visibility and retention
Foster community’s growth through meaningful connections and learning opportunities

2019 Accomplishments

Global Community Outreach ~ 3500+ followers
Non-Profit Registration in the State of Washington ~ Acquired
501(c)3 Registration ~ Submitted
Global Volunteers ~ 40
Global Events ~ 40+ events held globally (20 by Global & 24 by Local Chapters)
Global Events Attendance ~ 750+ (for 40+ events)
Global Partner Events ~ 25+
Global Partners ~ 15+
Global Chapters ~ 5 + 3 upcoming
Global Programs ~ 2 + 3 upcoming
STEM Learning Scholarships ~ 10
STEM Travel Grant (GHC) ~ 3
PWiC STEM Stories Published ~ 6
Partner STEM Stories Published ~ 8
PWiC Blogs Published ~ 54
Media Coverage ~ 3 Voice of America, Ajj TV and Radio free Europe
Jobs Opportunities Published ~ 250+
Community Speaking Opportunities ~ 14
Internships and Jobs via referral ~ 6
Award ~ Pakistan Association of Greater Seattle
Shout out at GHC 2019 closing ceremony, 20+ community representation and official GHC meetup
Invitation to collaborate in Baytee an application to be launched by the Ministry of Information, Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT) Pakistan and developed by NITB.

Global Program Accomplishments

PWiC established two programs globally:

Academia/Student Program

5 Workshops and Events with 200+ attendees and 20+ speakers for universities and students and career coaching.

Community outreach and talks and 4 Partnerships: GDG Islamabad, WTM, Wecreate and Lincoln’s Corner by US embassy

Facilitated students to review their applications for UGRAD by USEFP

Online Mentoring Program

4 sessions (Negotiation skills, Career Transition) (2 speakers, 40+ attendees)

Upcoming Global Programs

Student Ambassador
Youth

Global Chapters Accomplishments

Seattle

Chapter Kickoff — Jan 2019

11 Community meetups, workshops, and panels/events with over 435 attendance

36 unique speakers and 15 workshop facilitators.

6 Partnerships and Collaborations: Tasveer, Muppies, OPEN Seattle, Microsoft, PWiC Islamabad chapter, CodeGirls Pakistan.

Supported job search for 50+.

1 Award from Pakistan Association of Greater Seattle.

Silicon Valley

Chapter Kickoff — September 2019

8 Community meetups, and panels/events with over 230 attendance

3 Partnerships and Collaborations: Iranian Women in Computing, OPEN Silicon Valley, AnitaB.org

Berlin

Chapter Kickoff — March 2019

7 Community meetups, workshops, and panels/events with over 275 attendance

3 Partnerships and Collaborations: Ejad Labs, Local university & community organizers.

Abbottabad

Chapter Kickoff — November 2019

2 Partnerships and Collaborations: WTM & for Google IO extended

Supported job search for 2

Islamabad

Chapter Kickoff — December 2018

2 Community meetups/Panel with over 80 attendance

6 Partnerships and Collaborations: GDG Islamabad, WTM Islamabad, OPEN Islamabad. Collaborated with Global Game Jam in Islamabad, WTM women’s day celebration in Islamabad, GDGC Islamabad

Upcoming Chapters

Toronto and Dubai chapters have been initiated. Lahore, Houston, New York and Karachi chapters are in early stages.

Toronto

3 meetups with over 30 attendance

Affiliated Event: Women of Color Meetup at CAN-CWIC (25 attendees)

Dubai

1 Community Meetup with 20 attendees

Impact Stories

“Meeting the team at GHC 18 made me feel more connected. The stories shared helped me with my imposter syndrome. The opportunities and network were helpful as well.” — Ramsha Saad Thaniana
“Learned about opportunities, motivation and role of women in computing.” — Umair Habib
“It helped me remove my sense of isolation and learned about other female role models that inspired and motivated me. It also added to my knowledge about different conferences and events related to technology.” — Faiza Anwar
“I got to know about various scholarships for GHC and it is inspiring to know that there are females in tech industry who can look up too.” — Ifrah Idrees
“PWiC has been a great learning and interactive platform. It has indeed helped learn, grow and connect many including me. Through this platform I came across many new things and got a chance to learn and interact with females working in different domains. All the events I’ve participated in have been fruitful and of good learning experience. Anxiously looking forward to our future opportunities to connect.” — Qurat Ul Ain Siddiqui
“Helped remove sense of isolation and increased motivation for pursuing a career in tech. Learned about other female role models and community leaders that could be reached out to for guidance.” — Aiza Hasib
“PWiC helped get over the imposter syndrome as it gave me a platform to connect with other women who have successful careers and have a similar background as me. PWiC also made me realize that my stem story is extraordinary, inspirational and worth sharing with others. Thanks to PWiC, my story got published by wogrammer, people of color in tech. I also got a speaking opportunity to speak at an imposter syndrome panel Facebook Seattle office.” — Sundas Khalid

Looking Forward

PWiC started as an idea by a few individuals and organically grew into a global, grassroots organization. Our first year of operations has been a roller coaster ride of fun, learning and making mistakes. Thank you all for being patient with us. Here’s to a wonderful 2020 with a lot more successes and growth to come. Lets connect, learn and grow together!