Women working across technology, entrepreneurship, education, and other sectors came together at STEM Connect 2026, an event organized by Global Shapers Karachi Hub, with NIC Karachi as growth partner, Prime Minister’s Youth Program as institutional partner, and Scientia Pakistan as media partner.
The aim of the event was to promote networking and exchange among women professionals. The event created a space for participants to share experiences, examine challenges, and discuss how ideas can translate into practical, sustainable solutions.
Emerging Opportunities to Real-World Impact
The event opened with a fireside chat “What’s Worth Building Next? — Emerging Opportunities Across Technology, Research, Capital, and Entrepreneurship,” featuring Sarah Peracha, CEO of Peracha Ventures and Founder and Chairperson of the World AI Assembly. The discussion explored the importance of identifying real-world problems, recognizing emerging opportunities, and understanding the stages of product development when building new technologies.
Drawing attention to ventures that replicate business ideas from other markets, without adequately understanding their own audiences, she emphasized that innovation requires more than following trends. Entrepreneurs and technology developers must identify a genuine problem, determine how many people it affects, and assess whether their proposed solution can remain viable over time.
She encouraged participants to distinguish genuinely sustainable opportunities from ideas driven by buzzwords. Rather than rushing to market a concept, innovators should first think critically about what they are building, whom it will serve, and why it matters.
Following the opening session, participants took part in a myth-and-fact activity designed to break the ice and encourage discussion about women’s roles and accessibility in STEM. The activity provided an opportunity for attendees to connect while reflecting on the opportunities and challenges women encounter across this sector.
The event continued with a panel discussion “Why Good Ideas Fail — Exploring the Gap Between Ideas, Implementation and Real-World Impact,” featuring Dr. Sumaira Saeed, faculty member and Co-Director of the MS in Health Data Science programme at Aga Khan University; Afrah Qureshi, Vice President of Organizational Excellence at Teach The World Foundation; and Anusha Shahid, Co-founder and CEO of ZVolta. Drawing on their experiences across different areas, the panelists explored the challenges of translating promising ideas into practical, scalable solutions with meaningful impact.
Dr. Sumaira stressed the importance of critical thinking, identifying genuine problems, and engaging in conversations with the people affected by them. Understanding the gap between an existing situation and the desired outcome, she explained, can help innovators develop more effective solutions.
Afrah Qureshi emphasized that good intentions alone do not guarantee success. Innovators must understand their ideas, assess the environment in which they intend to implement them, and test their assumptions through pilot projects before attempting to scale up. She noted that a solution must make sense within the ecosystem in which it will operate.
Anusha Shahid encouraged aspiring entrepreneurs to consult people with experience in their chosen industry, speak to potential users, and prioritize execution rather than relying on assumptions. She reinforced the importance of speaking with different types of businesses and remaining open to unexpected opportunities. She stressed that entrepreneurs should continue exploring potential users and locations to discover where demand is strongest.
Discussion to Collective Action
The event concluded with a Purpose Circle exercise, in which participants worked in groups to identify technology-related challenges they believed would significantly affect young people in Pakistan over the next five years.
With the support of mentors who guided discussions and helped keep them focused, participants examined the selected problems from different perspectives. They discussed why the issues mattered, considered what was already being done to address them, and developed practical ideas for moving towards solutions. The exercise combined problem-solving with networking, allowing participants from different professional backgrounds to exchange perspectives and ideas.
Voices from STEM Connect 2026
Eishah Paracha, Co-founder of Women in STEM Karachi, reflected on the value of bringing participants together: “One of the most rewarding parts of STEM CONNECT was hearing participants share how they had met inspiring people, pitched their ideas, and discovered opportunities to connect beyond their usual circles. For us, success wasn’t just about bringing people into one room; it was about what became possible once they were there. We hope to build on this experience and create more opportunities for the wider STEM ecosystem to come together, exchange ideas, and turn those connections into action.”
Soaiba Kanwal Bajwa, representing WomenWhoClayPakistan, shared that she left the event, “feeling inspired, connected, and reminded of how valuable it is to step outside our routines and make space for learning and meaningful conversations.”
Nabeera Hussain, Founder of Code Circles, noted that, “the event was a great way to learn more about Karachi’s STEM ecosystem and to get to know the brilliant women behind tech for good initiatives. It was reassuring to know that women in Karachi’s tech space are cognizant of the dangers of rapid AI adoption without oversight and are trying to work out solutions to mitigate its harms and dangers.”
By bringing women from different sectors into conversation, STEM Connect provided an opportunity to exchange knowledge, build professional connections, and consider how collaborative approaches can help address challenges facing communities in Pakistan.
Also Read: Science, Leadership, & Local Empowerment: An In-Depth Conversation with Hassun El-Zafar
Maham Maqsood is a science communicator and co-founder at Scientia Pakistan. She has over six years of experience in science communication and outreach, collaborating with researchers, educators, and communicators to develop effective strategies and content for various platforms and events.
