WECON'17 brought together the Who's Who of Pakistan's entrepreneurial ecosystem at the HEC Auditorium, Islamabad. In addition to providing a platform to celebrate iconic women entrepreneurs, the conference featured in-depth discussions with ecosystem builders, incubators, accelerators, government bodies, and fresh startups — highlighting the need for a stronger entrepreneurial ecosystem and the actions required to achieve it.
Programme
Panel Sessions
1. Create
Revolved around procedures, structures, and policy-level interventions for building a stable and sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Moderated by: Shahnaz Kapadia Rahat (Founder, Mera Maan)
Yusuf Hussain — CEO, Ignite (ICT R&D Fund)
Dr. Arshad Ali — Executive Director, HEC
Khalida Habib — Director/HOD, SECP
Naima Ansari — Vice President, FPCCI
2. Cultivate
Brought together people directly involved with women entrepreneurs in capacity-building through skills development and knowledge exchange.
Moderated by: Murtaza Zaidi (Executive Director, TiE Islamabad)
Rida Shoaib — Project Manager, Herself
Maria Umer — Founder, Women Digital League / WomenX
Facilitated interaction between aspiring women entrepreneurs and potential investors — creating awareness about funding sources and realistic investor expectations.
Moderated by: Rabia Ahmad (Director, Corporate Advisory Council, NUST)
Ayesha Hamid — President, OPEN Lahore
Faisal Sherjan — Director, LUMS Centre for Entrepreneurship; Co-founder, Patari
Murtaza Zaidi — Executive Director, TiE Islamabad
Speakers
Keynotes & Featured Voices
Ayesha Hamid — President, OPEN Lahore
Hira Batool Rizvi — Founder & Owner, Shekab
Samar Hasan — Co-founder, Epiphany
Marvi Mustafa Soomro — Founder, Innovate. Educate. Inspire (IEI) Pakistan
