Hafsa Shareef Dar could have never foreseen that while living in Gujrat, Pakistan she would get an amazing life changing opportunity. In 2019, Hafsa received an honor to represent Pakistani Women in the United States under International Visitor Leadership (IVLP) Program. IVLP was once in a life-time opportunity which she did not want to miss. After the overwhelming wave of excitement neutralized, Hafsa entered the circle of worries because she had to fight her fears out; fear of leaving her son for 25 days, traveling alone, and meeting new people. Hafsa however remained cheerful and optimistic. Having mixed feelings was part of her decision to avail this exchange program. Finally, she left for an exciting journey of her life. All the activities were in line regarding STEM/STEAM education for girls. The best part as per her was to spend time with the women of 28 countries, knowing their perspective and the practices they adapt for empowering girls in STEM/STEAM education.
IVLP program remained highly transformative and wonderful for Hafsa. On return, she was selected for the role of Director ‘Women in Big Data’ (WiBD) Pakistan Chapter, where she worked with women leading tech across the globe. “In WiBD Pakistan, we are encouraging women to join the tech-fields and learn trending technologies such as Big Data, Data Science, Data Analytics etc., by offering free mentoring sessions and short programs,” says Hafsa. She was also invited as a panelist to judge various international competitions, speaker of sessions on energy resilience, and STEM/STEAM education in Pakistan by National Incubation Centre Karachi, and Urdu Point respectively.
“Today, sitting in front of my laptop, I smile over my useless fears, and I feel proud of myself,” says Hafsa. Her goal is to engage, connect and strengthen Pakistani women in the fields of big data and analytics and she is working successfully towards empowering women in tech fields.
PUAN wish this amazing woman all the best for her future endeavors.
