Jehan Ara is a Pakistani businesswoman who was the president of P@SHA for over 20 years. She resigned at the end of April 2021 to start Katalyst Labs, a startup accelerator and women leadership program.[1] She also headed the Nest i/o, a startup incubator supported by Google and Samsung. She also served as a member of the Prime Minister's Task Force on IT and Digital Economy and on the Board of Punjab IT Board, the Central Depository Company and IDEAS.

Early life

Ara was born in Karachi, Pakistan and raised in Hong Kong where her father was working as a banker.[2] She received her early education from Rosaryhill School.[3]

After completing her graduation, she started her career as a journalist in a Hong Kong newspaper for a year before moving into advertising.[4][2]

She worked in Dubai for several magazines and journals when her father moved to the United Arab Emirates where she worked for Gulf News in the advertising marketing department.[5][2]

She later moved back to Hong Kong and joined Headway Media Services as managing director.[5] She moved to Pakistan in the mid-1990s after the retirement of her father.[3][2]

Career

After moving to Pakistan, Ara started her own multimedia company, Enabling Technologies in 1994.[4][2] In 2007, Ara became president of P@SHA.[3] In November 2018, she became a member of the Prime Minister's Task Force on IT and Telecom.[6][7]

Recognition

In 2016, Ara was invited by US President Barack Obama to speak at Global Entrepreneurship Summit.[8][9] In 2023, she was awarded Tamgha-i-Imtiaz by the President of Pakistan.[10]

References

  1. ↑ Arshad, Aleena (2021-04-30). "P@SHA wishes Jehan Ara good luck in starting a new journey!". P@SHA. Retrieved 2021-10-12.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Pakistan's Only Powerful Women In Business". Pakistan Today. 7 March 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 "Tech in Asia - Connecting Asia's startup ecosystem". www.techinasia.com. 7 April 2015. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  4. 1 2 Magazine, Spider (7 May 2013). "Women that defy". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  5. 1 2 "The Big Bird's-eye view of Pakistan's IT Industry". Pakistan Today. 26 December 2016. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  6. ↑ "17-member PM's Task Force on IT and Telecom granted cabinet approval". DAWN.COM. 15 November 2018. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  7. ↑ "Cabinet approves 17-member PM's task force on IT and telecom". Pakistan Today. 15 November 2018. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  8. ↑ "Obama invites Pakistani tech entrepreneur to address global summit". The Express Tribune. 2016-05-08. Retrieved 2019-02-07.
  9. ↑ Baig, Mariam Ali (2016-08-15). "Life in the start-up lane". Aurora Magazine. Retrieved 2019-02-07.
  10. ↑ "President confers Pakistan civil awards on 253 personalities". Dunya News. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
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