CEO’s Message

Ceo's
Message

When women grow, We all win.

We, as people, have rights over each other. Only when each one of us plays our part with responsibility and respect, we can thrive as a community. But, when we remove women from the equation of education and growth, we take away the rights of our children to be happy and safe. This weakens the family unit which affects the community, society, city and eventually, the whole nation.

We are alive in a day and age that is tech-enabled. Anyone and everyone who has a skill and can use basic technology is qualified to generate an income. Why our projects focus on low-income women is because they possess multiple skills like cooking, embroidery, handicrafts and more, but lack basic digital literacy. They are not aware of the potential of their seemingly ‘ordinary’ skills and that is what we intend to change. Studies show that when women earn, they invest back in the education, nutrition, and healthcare of their family. Which is why I believe that when women grow, we all win.

75% of the home-based workers in Pakistan are women*, but how are we maximizing this untapped market?

My dream is that every young girl in Pakistan is inspired to believe in herself and her dreams. One way to achieve this goal is by reducing the digital gender divide through digital literacy. There is a lot of work to be done and not enough people to do it. I invite you all to be part of what we are building and empower women with useful knowledge.

Let’s build a circle of digitally aware, financially able, and entrepreneurial women. This is the bare minimum we can do for our future.

as a team member, mentor, trainer, ally, partner or male advocate.

Sadaffe Abid is the Founder & CEO of CIRCLE working on women’s economic empowerment and inclusion. She is the former CEO and COO of Kashf Foundation, one of Forbes Top 50 microfinance institutions. She has been an advisor to Dell Women Entrepreneurship Network (DWEN) and former board member National Bank of Pakistan chairing the Inclusive Development Committee. Sadaffe serves as the Vice Chair of the Pakistan Microfinance Network with members serving 8 million micro and small borrowers. She completed her Masters at the Harvard Kennedy School, Advanced Management Program at INSEAD and her B.A. at Mount Holyoke College. Sadaffe is a recipient of the Mount Holyoke Alumni Achievement Award for her contributions to serve women and communities.