National Foods Limited, one of the leading food companies headquartered in Karachi, hosted the graduation ceremony of Elevate participants at their Corporate Office. Elevate is CIRCLE’s flagship campaign which is Pakistan’s first women leadership program.
National Foods Limited acts as a leader for the cause of women empowerment in Pakistan’s corporate landscape and constantly comes up with ideas and initiatives to support the cause. National Foods Limited has achieved several milestones with such women empowerment initiatives which serve the UN’s 5th Sustainable Development Goal of Gender Equality.
A diverse panel of industry leaders for the event was assembled, with the aim to get a holistic understanding of the barriers that women face and how leading companies are preventing the unconscious creation of glass ceilings in our corporate environment. Among other industry leaders the CEO of National Foods Limited – Mr. Abrar Hasan, who is an Elevate Champion, also shared his views on the subject of women empowerment and leadership. Elaborating the importance of professional women in a work environment he said, “I personally always have been an advocate of women empowerment and I try to build a similar culture here at National Foods. A culture where women professionals not only feel safe but also where they can get equal opportunities to grow and prosper, as their men colleagues. I hope to see things improving for women professionals across our society and I am glad that with initiatives like Elevate, things are moving in the right direction.”
Another highlight of the event was a very motivating and inspirational speech from Ms. Rafia Qaseem Baig who is Pakistan’s and Asia’s first female bomb disposal officer. She talked about the highs and lows in her struggle to become a part of our esteemed bomb disposal squad and how she was doubted for being a girl at every step of the way but she brilliantly broke all stereotypes in pursuit of her dreams.
National Foods Limited was the participant of this program’s first batch while they hosted the graduation ceremony of the second batch this year.
