Part-Pakistani, part-American, I was conceived half-way across the world in Malawi, and my roots spring from the villages of rural India. Until a college scholarship brought me to America, I was a complete product of the developing world. I grew up with a fierce desire to make things better, I often wished to be Prime Minister of Pakistan so I could make things right.
I first stepped into the User Experience (UX) Design field because I wanted people to use technology and information to work together to the advantage of human beings. After 6½ years as a UX Designer at Yahoo!, I set out in search of what was at the heart of my passion, enabling technology that would have a more meaningful impact on human lives.
When I chanced upon Code for America, all the pieces suddenly fell into place. I immediately loved the CfA mission, and recognized that the cross-functional culture allowed for high standards of transparency. I knew that by joining CfA I would have the opportunity to work with brilliant and diverse minds towards a common civic goal, creating solutions that make a real difference to citizens.
While working on Honolulu Answers at CfA, I realized that I had to take my newfound skills to Pakistan where governance is a mess and there is a tremendous need for civic hacking. Post fellowship, I founded Code for Pakistan, introducing civic hacking to the country.
In the last year, Code for Pakistan has:
- Run 3 civic hackathons all over the country
- Launched a Fellowship Program with 12 awesome Fellows, in partnership with a provincial government
- Launched a Brigade in another province
- Deployed 3 open source apps
- Led to a civic startup
The response has been incredible; people in Pakistan are so excited about having a platform to use their skills for civic betterment. At the moment, Code for Pakistan is a volunteer-run organization, but we hope to raise funds to staff and scale it further.
While working round the clock as the Project Lead at CfA, I found myself firing on all cylinders. Now, I’ve been doing a part-time UX Consulting job, teaching UX classes for Girl Develop It, UC Berkeley, and PariSoMa, consulting at the World Bank, and learning Growth at Tradecraft.
Being surrounded by brilliant, like-missioned thought leaders, with great support from the staff, made the Fellowship magical. I realized what it meant to have a job that didn’t feel like work, I discovered what really makes me tick, and I learned a lot from others. It led directly to my next step, founding Code for Pakistan.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.