ISLAMABAD: US Ambassador to Pakistan Donald Blome has said that Mentorship plays an important role in fostering the next generation of business leaders and entrepreneurs adding that the Council’s Pakistan Million Women Mentors initiative is playing the same crucial role by helping to encourage, inspire and support women entrepreneurs and leaders in STEM in Pakistan for the future.
He said this during his opening remarks in the S and P Global Pakistan (S&P Global) mentorship initiative where some 12,000 women were mentored under the US-Pakistan Women’s Council’s (USPWC) “Pakistan Million Women Mentors (PMWM) Initiative”.
The event was co-hosted by the US-Pakistan Women’s Council and S&P Global to honor Global Entrepreneurship Month featuring S&P Global employee mentors, women mentees, and civil society associates.
Pledge to mentor 40,000 women
The envoy further said that corporations in the United States and Pakistan had pledged to mentor over 40,000 women so far, and this number will possibly go up in the future.
He added that S&P’s commitment to mentor 200,000 women was critical to motivate other companies to step forward in both countries.
Later S&P Global Pakistan Managing Director Mujeeb Zahur said in his remarks that his employee showed courage and efforts to ensure that the organization remains on track to meet its target.
He added that S&P Global would continue to take charge of advanced workplace policies in Pakistan and work with leading organizations to enhance women’s economic participation and impression.
It is worth mentioning here so far that more than 150 S&P Global mentors have delivered 190 plus sessions on STEM and other varied topics to over 12,000 women through PMWM.
The initiative provided critical backing to women during COVID-19 nurturing Pakistani women’s economic resilience by virtually linking women entrepreneurs and women in the workforce from diverse social, linguistic, and academic backgrounds to build their capacity.
Initiative launched in 2020
Pakistan Million Women Mentor (MMWP) initiative was launched in 2020 and led by USPWC members, with the aim to connect one million women and girls in Pakistan. S&P Global was the first USPWC member to back the initiative, promising in March 2019 to reach over 20,000 women and girls to get women’s participation and leadership in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers.
