Tag: Women

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Spotlight

Nilofer Bharwani

IPN Spotlight: Nilofer Bharwani (Teacher Trainer, US Peace Corps)

Nilofer is a passionate life mentor and a teacher by profession. Her hobbies include traveling, exploring various culinary cuisines, dance, music and sports. Currently, she is TEFL Volunteer in the United States Peace Corps.

What skills have helped you in your career?
The skills that have been extremely helpful as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ecuador include fluency in Spanish, experience teaching English, adaptability, resilience, humility and good sense of humor.

What do you wish you had known or done differently throughout your career?
I firmly believe that languages open doors therefore I wish that I had studied more languages in my youth.

What do you do for continuing education and improvement?
Teaching is not a financially lucrative career; however, I try to teach in different countries as a means of increasing my social knowledge, which leads to greater cultural capital.

What is next for you in your career?
My next goal is to work at one of the Aga Khan Universities as a way of contributing my knowledge to the AKDN.

What advice would you offer to others?
Set a goal and do not be afraid of failure. Challenge yourself to grow in an aspect of your life every year.

Areas where you can help other Ismailis:
• Teaching English abroad
• Working for the US Peace Corps, providing teacher training
• Becoming a Spanish instructor

Please provide the link to your LinkedIn profile:
Nilofer Bharwani

If you would like to nominate someone to be a part of the spotlight, click Here.

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Spotlight

Shirin Ahmed

IPN Spotlight: Shirin Ahmed (Senior Project Manager, International Rescue Committee)

Shirin Ahmed is the Senior Project Manager at the International Rescue Committee (IRC) where she works with IRC’s innovation unit to design solutions for people affected by conflicts. In addition to managing the Center’s portfolio, Shirin supports research and implementation of programs to prevent domestic violence in Liberia & Uganda.
Prior to IRC, Shirin was a Program Manager at Yale University’s Global Health Leadership Institute where she worked on a multi-country program focusing on supply chain management in Africa. Their focus was to evaluate best practices from corporations such as Coca-Cola, and provide recommendations to ministries of health to improve access to critical medicines in remote areas of Tanzania, Ghana, and others. Here, Shirin also helped launch a research project/startup called PremieBreathe to develop a low-cost breathing device for newborns in Ethiopia. Shirin grew up in Pakistan & completed her undergraduate degree in Political Science & International Studies from Yale University in 2012.

What skills have helped you in your career?
• Project management
• Qualitative research and analysis
• Field experience in developing countries
• Communications

What do you wish you had known or done differently throughout your career?
I wish I was more confident in my career choices – I remember spending many hours worrying about not applying to consulting jobs as my peers did and instead choosing to spend a summer in Uganda (which ultimately deepened my interests in the social impact space). I wish I had known at that time that it is okay to experiment and to create our own career path.
At the same time, I wish I had experimented even more with my career – worked on different gigs, startups, done multiple projects at one time. I think those experiences would have given me a broader perspective to bring to my next job and grad school.
Finally, while I took some basic French and Arabic in high school and college, I wish I was proficient in one of those languages. We live in a highly-globalized world so whether working abroad or in the US, knowing another language would have opened many more opportunities for me.

What do you do for continuing education and improvement?
I am fortunate to be living in NYC where I am constantly exposed and have the opportunity to seek out a variety of educational experiences – documentaries, art shows book tours, cultural festivals that continue to broaden my perspective.

What is next for you in your career?
In the short-term, I will continue to enhance my project management skills within the innovation and design space through my work at the International Rescue Committee. Down the road, I plan to pursue a Master’s degree in health economics and policy that would complement my field experiences.

What advice would you offer to others?
Don’t get too comfortable in any job or profession. As soon as you reach a point of saturation, move on to do something different so you can continue learning from your experiences.
Secondly, don’t worry about becoming an expert in the early years of your career. I speak with a Project manager bias but I do think that companies find it extremely valuable to have people on their team who can work across disciplines. I have been lucky to be in positions where I have communicated with government officials, corporate leaders, tech experts and designers, and all these interactions have allowed me to work effectively across many functions.

Areas where you can help other Ismailis:
• Nonprofits placements
• Working in developing contexts
• Research and project management jobs

Please provide the link to your LinkedIn profile:
Shirin Ahmed

If you would like to nominate someone to be a part of the spotlight, click Here.

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Spotlight

Nabila Alibhai

IPN Spotlight: Nabila Alibhai (Founder, inCOMMONS)

Nabila Alibhai leads inCOMMONS, a new cultural production lab focused on invigorating public spaces and inspiring collective responsibility for our cultural and environmental heritage. Nabila Alibhai has had significant career in strategic and creative consulting. She has held positions in the Aga Khan Development Network, the United Nations and the International Organization for Migration and has worked on projects in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kenya, Tanzania, the United States and Switzerland.
She has a Master of Public Health from Yale University and is trained in conflict resolution. She was also mid-career fellow in MIT’s Special Program for Urban and Regional Studies in order to advance her efforts on community solidarity through public spaces. She is a TED Speaker and author.

What skills have helped you in your career?
Skills: Strategic planning, communications, policy development.
Sectors: conflict resolution, community resilience, public health, urban planning.

What do you wish you had known or done differently throughout your career?
I wish I had put less effort into trying to define myself. Being at TED Global this year I met so many more people who have eclectic lives, and whose passions don’t quite fit a conventional mold. Though not without it’s challenges, doing new things necessitates stepping out of old paradigms.

What do you do for continuing education and improvement?
Working as a consultant means I’m constantly learning. A mid-career fellowship (MIT Special Program in Urban and Regional Studies) was also a wonderful way of taking a step back and redirecting my life’s work.

What is next for you in your career?
Enabling pluralism, solidarity, health and safety through leadership development, governance and creating scalable public space initiatives. I do this through consulting, designing projects through inCOMMONS, and thought leadership – public speaking and writing.

What advice would you offer to others?
Figure out what you would do if no one was paying you to do it and do more of it.

Areas where you can help other Ismailis:
• Thinking through careers in development
• Figuring out career transitions
• Thinking through whether to go back to school
• Experience sharing in working in conflict and in public health

Please provide the link to your LinkedIn profile:
Nabila Alibhai

If you would like to nominate someone to be a part of the spotlight, click Here.

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Spotlight

Shemin Nurmohamed

IPN Spotlight: Shemin Nurmohamed (CEO, Pitney Bowes)

Shemin is currently CEO of Pitney Bowes France. She joined PB in early 2016. She is a member of the PB Leadership Team, and has been nominated to the PB Technology team to help craft the strategy on innovation, accelerator and machine-to-machine learning. Prior to joining PB, Shemin had a successful 17-year career at IBM, where she held a number of other leadership roles, in both finance and sales, at the national, European, and Global levels.
Shemin started her career on Wall Street working for D.E. Shaw. She is also Chairman of fast-growing startup LiveMon. Passionate about helping young women navigate their careers, Shemin is regularly invited to speak at seminars and conferences in Europe and the Middle East. She most recently gave a Tedx talk on the subject and plans to release her first book on Amazon Nov. 23, 2017.
Shemin holds a BA in Chemistry from Cornell, an MA from the University of Toronto, and an MBA from Henley. She resides in Paris with her husband and two children.

What skills have helped you in your career?
Believe it or not I think that the softer skills which are easily transferable from job to job have helped me in my career. Skills like: a) listening – people are so worried about making an impression so they are always thinking of the next comment they forget to actually listen and this is where breakthroughs are made; b) Compassion – when you care for your team and think of them as people and not just means to a goal not only breed loyalty but you will outperform because you will truly work as a unit and finally c) Consistency -I have found that in terms of career longevity, looking at it like a marathon versus a sprint, in my opinion. Consistently working on long term objective will allow one to achieve incredible results in one’s lifetime. Although these are soft skills, I believe that they can be real game changers in the trajectory of one’s career.

What do you wish you had known or done differently throughout your career?
Well – I really have no regrets, but if I had a time machine I would tell my younger self to not be so hard on herself and not to be scared to take short sabbaticals between jobs. Additionally, I would tell her not to laugh at Jeff Bezos’ startup idea of selling books on the internet in 1995 when we worked at the same investment bank. 🙂

What do you do for continuing education and improvement?
Well first I do take advantage of any opportunities offered by my company – for example IBM offered to pay for my MBA which I did and Pitney has a Harvard Manage Mentor program which I am in the process of completing. Additionally, I try to read as much as I can to find the nuggets that will help me improve my team, my leadership and myself – one small step at a time.

What is next for you in your career?
To be very honest sometimes I have to pinch myself as I never thought I would get this far! Given that it is by the grace of God that I am I feel that it is my duty to help others on this journey. So, in terms of next steps to complement my career, I plan on doing more coaching and speaking and who knows maybe write another book!

What advice would you offer to others?
The two best pieces of advice I had received was:
1) Don’t be afraid to make mistakes just don’t make the same ones twice and
2) You can have it all just not all at the same time – this last piece of advice is really helpful for a working mom as it takes the pressure off being perfect all the time

Areas where you can help other Ismailis:
• Career coaching
• Interview prep for students wanting to go to IVY leagues as I am an interviewer for Cornell
• Women mentorship

Please provide the link to your LinkedIn profile:
Shemin Hirji-Nurmohamed

If you would like to nominate someone to be a part of the spotlight, click Here.

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Spotlight

Dr. Shirin Poonja

IPN Spotlight: Dr. Shirin Poonja (Hospitalist, Loyola University Medical Center)

Dr. Shirin Poonja is board-certified in Internal Medicine, and practices Hospital Medicine at Loyola University Medical Center. In addition to her clinical time, Shirin is an Assistant Professor and Director of the Nutrition Vertical Curriculum at Loyola’s Stritch School of Medicine. She also currently serves as Kamadiani Ma for the Chicago Downtown Jamat Khana.

What skills have helped you in your career?
There are three fundamental skills I have used to navigate my career – empathy, problem-solving and taking initiative. When patients are admitted to the hospital, they are likely most vulnerable, requiring me to extend a level of empathy that acknowledges their psychosocial state. I then mobilize to gather patient data, and analyze and synthesize a diagnosis that is then addressed with cost-effective treatments. Additionally, when I first started at Loyola University Medical Center, I was determined to fulfill my clinical duties while building a presence on the medical campus via teaching engagements. I have also pursued scholarly activities such as co-authoring book chapters, participating in speaking engagements at peer institutions, and contributing to medical literature in national publications. I have learned that in many western societies, choosing one’s career is an important decision, but the luxury we have is to pursue opportunities that can dramatically evolve our skill set.

What do you wish you had known or done differently throughout your career?
I had the privilege of serving as Chief Resident during residency, which offered me a unique and valuable perspective on leadership, administration and medical education. However, I was not trained in the methodologies and processes for curriculum development. How does one define goals and objectives for curriculum content? What are various methods of assessment for students? When I took the role of Director of the Nutrition Vertical Curriculum, I had to lean more heavily on senior colleagues, online modules and best practices to gain a better appreciation to fulfill my role. Similarly, your profession may require you to think more holistically about accomplishing objectives, and gaining team support to acquire new skills; be ready and willing!

What do you do for continuing education and improvement?
Like other professions, the healthcare field requires continuing medical education that I attempt to fulfill daily – reading health care journals, attending on-campus presentations, and frequenting regional and national conferences. Additionally, there is no better way to stay ahead of new knowledge than teaching it, so I find delivering medical education key to my ability to continue building my own knowledge.

What is next for you in your career?
Given that my primary focus is clinical, I am pursuing the clinical educator track, which will lead to academic promotion following demonstration of greater scholarly contribution, excellence in teaching, service to the Stritch School of Medicine, and even recognition outside the Loyola Community. These efforts cannot merely be achieved overnight, but require investment and dedication from day one. In order to advance your career, start early!

What advice would you offer to others?
Realize that one reason we aim to excel in our professions is to serve our community. Use the skills that have been acquired in your career to further our institutional capacities, either at the local or national level. Additionally, for those who feel that accommodating service into an already demanding career is difficult, remember that personal or professional challenges will always present themselves in various forms. Someone once told me, when there is a “seva” knock at the door, open it (in other words, be willing to accept service opportunities when they are presented to you)!

Areas where you can help other Ismailis:
• Career counseling in hospital medicine
• Balancing work/life/jamati responsibilities
• Nutrition-related guidance

Please provide the link to your LinkedIn profile:
Shirin Poonja

If you would like to nominate someone to be a part of the spotlight, click Here.

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Spotlight

Nabila Tejpar (UK)

IPN Spotlight: Nabila Tejpar (Operations and Events Management Executive, Dunkin Donuts UK)

Nabila’s 23, and is a rally driver in the UK. She currently works in marketing and operations for Dunkin Donuts in the UK. Nabila received her BSBA in International Business, Entrepreneurial Management and International Relations from American University.
Nabila always dreamed of becoming a rally driver. Upon completing her degree, she returned to England, acquired her rally license and started to compete. In 2016, she participated in the Junior British Rally Championship. It was an intense experience, and a big learning curve, nothing like jumping into the deep end and learning how to swim!
The Junior class had talented individuals competing in it, she was nervous but excited for the challenge. It was a baptism of fire, but one she worked well with, even with a major accident, she came 8th out of 16 in her first year, against prominently male participants. 2017 has been a strong year so far; she has scored points on every round, and achieved a career best of 2nd.
She is currently 4th in the BRC cadet class, and has secured the Ladies Championship in 5 rounds. Nabila will be fighting for 3rd place in the final rounds.
To know more visit her website: http://www.nabilatejpar.com/

What skills have helped you in your career?
The skills that have helped me most in my current career path are courage, perseverance, teamwork, and constantly learning. Rallying is a sport where teamwork is essential because the co-driver is just as important as the driver if not more. Trust and understanding are vital for this sport. You also have to be willing to push and work hard with every step and every round, or with anything in life. Perseverance and positive thinking allow you to improve, and the harder you work the more changes you will see over a shorter period. Communication is also a key skill, both within the partnership in the car and the team, and also with media and PR aspects. Portraying yourself in a professional yet understanding way is important.

What do you wish you had known or done differently throughout your career?
Although I have only been competing in my sport for two years, there is still a lot that I can learn and could have changed. I wish I had started to train and compete earlier. I don’t regret completing my degree per say, but have debated on the possibility of “what if” I had started when I was younger? Would I be faster, better and possibly progressed further? Rather than dwell on these possibilities, and focus on my accident last year and my mistakes, I use them to push me forward, they have made me stronger and more resilient, and have progressed my driving forward.

What do you do for continuing education and improvement?
There is homework in everything you do, and you have to be willing to learn and make changes to improve. I don’t plan to pursue further academic studies; my primary focus is to make significant progress as a rally driver. I educate myself by learning from other drivers by using their feedback to help improve my driving. In between races, we spend time testing and training with professionals to increase my pace and ability. As a team, we analyse car set up, and watch previous event in the car, to see where you can gain seconds, and implement any changes to increase speed. Another key aspect is focusing on pace notes, we practice recce, and work on ways to create a concrete and consistent set of notes. I believe in continuous learning, and I am actively learning from everyone around me and not just from those who are in my field of interest.

What is next for you in your career?
Next for me is to decide on what championship to compete in. There are many options, however, at the moment it is still undecided. I will be looking to move to a faster car, and possibly progress into Europe and some World rounds over the course of the next year. The importance is to continue growing my pace and work on the results. I also plan on working to secure more partnership deals, to help progress to the next level.

What advice would you offer to others?
The best advice I can offer is, don’t get caught up on what you could change or your failures, they are a part of you and a significant part of life that help you get to that success. Instead of getting upset or angry about your failures, look at them and learn from them, don’t dwell on what if I had done this, or I didn’t get where I wanted. Instead look at the failure and think, that didn’t work so I will try this next time, or I can focus on this part, and I should get the outcome I want. My daily mantra is by Jari Matti Latavala a WRC driver, “set your goals high and don’t stop until you get there!”. Also, don’t listen to people who demotivate you or insist that you can’t do something. I wouldn’t be a rally driver if I had! You can achieve whatever you want so long as you are willing to work hard and invest everything into your efforts. Life is short so make sure you can look back and be proud of yourself!

Areas where you can help other Ismailis:
• Public Speaking
• Marketing
• Media Relations
• Sportsmanship

Please provide the link to your LinkedIn profile:
Nabila Tejpar

If you would like to nominate someone to be a part of the spotlight, click Here.

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Spotlight

Ayesha Daya (UAE)

IPN Spotlight: Ayesha Daya (Founder & CEO, Al Kalima)

Ayesha Daya is the former Middle East oil correspondent for Bloomberg News. Now she runs a content creation and communications company called Kalima, based in Dubai. Ayesha has a BA in French and Politics from Bristol University and an MA in Middle Eastern Studies from Harvard.

What skills have helped you in your career?
• Tenacity
• Curiosity

What do you wish you had known or done differently throughout your career?
I used to be upset when things didn’t go according to plan. I eventually learnt that all it means is that there’s a much better plan out there. So now I desire the thing that happens, rather than trying to mould events to my desires.

What do you do for continuing education and improvement?
I read. And I seek out people that know more than me about certain things.

What is next for you in your career?
Growing my business.

What advice would you offer to others?
Follow your passions.

Areas where you can help other Ismailis:
• Advice in reading
• Advice in writing
• Advice in communication

Please provide the link to your LinkedIn profile:
Ayesha Daya

If you would like to nominate someone to be a part of the spotlight, click Here.

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Spotlight

Abida Taher Jooma

IPN Spotlight: Abida Taher Jooma (Nuclear Radiologist, Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute)

Abida Taher Jooma is an MD PHD from Tulane University School of Medicine. She is currently working in private practice as a Nuclear Radiologist for Florida Cancer Specialists.

What skills have helped you in your career?
• Good communication
• Adaptability
• Networking
• Being open to new and different opportunities
• Expanding your skill set

What do you wish you had known or done differently throughout your career?
I wish I had known how important it is to have a senior mentor who could guide you in the career choices within the field of medicine.

What do you do for continuing education and improvement?
Attend meetings specific to my specialty, CME and consistent reading to keep up with new data and advances in my field.

What is next for you in your career?
Exploring options to teach medical students and allied health professionals.

What advice would you offer to others?
Build a network of peers and mentors throughout your career that you can lean on and will help you advance your career goals.

Areas where you can help other Ismailis:
• Mentor students looking to enter the field of medicine or thinking about getting a PHD
• Mentor medical students for residency selection and programs
• Job placement

Please provide the link to your LinkedIn profile:
Abida Taher Jooma

If you would like to nominate someone to be a part of the spotlight, click Here.

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Spotlight

Najma Shah

IPN Spotlight: Najma Shah (Early Years Coordinator, Aga Khan Education Services)

Najma completed a two-year term working with Aga Khan Education Services (AKES) Tanzania. There, she managed a team of 35 educators and over 200 student’s ages 2 to 6 years. During this term, Najma spearheaded many programs including community gardening, nutrition, and health awareness, after-school activities, recognition and awareness of global holidays, and partnerships with local libraries.
Najma fostered ongoing continuing education of all staff by collaborating with accredited universities in the United States to provide training and certificates to staff. She also personally provided need-based scholarships to select individuals to become certified teachers, and mobilized resources across US and Canada to advance faculty and enrich classrooms.
Along with AKES, Najma was a consultant for Early Childhood Development programs across Dar-es-Salaam, Zanzibar, and Zambia. Before working in Tanzania, Najma was head of a Montessori school in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

What skills have helped you in your career?
One skill that has helped me succeed as a manager is staying positive. I believe in the power of positive reinforcement. When I am working with a team of people, it is important to identify individual’s strength and play up those strengths. I have found that this improves morale and benefits the child’s learning experience. I value the ability to work collaboratively with all stakeholders. It is important to assist in identifying and aligning effort towards a common goal which is synonymous with the mission and vision of the school.

What do you wish you had known or done differently throughout your career?
I do not think I would have done anything differently throughout my career. I have learned something new from each of my experiences.

What do you do for continuing education and improvement?
I always keep myself abreast of new research and development in my field by enrolling in workshops, webinars, attending seminars, and constantly learning.

What is next for you in your career?
I will continue my work in Early Childhood Development by supporting and mentoring teachers in my community. I will also continue my work in developing countries by providing consultancy and resources.

What advice would you offer to others?
My advice is to work hard in whatever you chose to do. If unique opportunities arise, go for it! It is important to go to places where you can provide your skills and education and also learn from those experiences.

Areas where you can help other Ismailis:
• I can help professionals in areas of Early Childhood Development
• I would be happy to share my overseas experiences and challenges
• Share experience on nutrition and health awareness

Please provide the link to your LinkedIn profile:
Najma Shah

If you would like to nominate someone to be a part of the spotlight, click Here.

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Spotlight

Faheen Allibhoy

IPN Spotlight: Faheen Allibhoy (Principal Investment Officer at International Finance Corporation)

Faheen Allibhoy is IFC’s Regional Representative for Sénégal, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Guinea Bissau and Mauritania based in Dakar. She is responsible for coordinating IFC’s investment and advisory operations in these countries and managing the operations of the IFC Dakar Office, which is the hub for West and Central Africa. Before this position, she worked directly with the CEO of IFC’s Asset Management Company with respect to strategic efforts and the financing for development agenda. Prior, she was the sector team lead for IFC’s investments in the renewable energy supply chain, having worked on important transactions with large solar and wind companies such as SunPower, Gamesa and Goldwind. In her 15-year tenure at IFC, she has worked with the Manufacturing and Infrastructure departments. Prior to IFC, Ms. Allibhoy worked at Merrill Lynch in New York in the Investment Banking Division. Ms. Allibhoy holds a BA from Wellesley College and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She is on the Executive Committee of the Harvard Business School Alumni Board and a former Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

What skills have helped you in your career?
• Finance
• Business
• People management

What do you wish you had known or done differently throughout your career?
To be more of a risk-taker and to have veered off the “linear path” from time to time. To take the time to build skills (e.g. business level fluency in a language).

What do you do for continuing education and improvement?
Management and leadership skills, language skills

What is next for you in your career?
A leadership role in a global organization.

What advice would you offer to others?
Be ambitious, stay ambitious.

Areas where you can help other Ismailis:
• MBA applications
• International finance
• General management

Please provide the link to your LinkedIn profile:
Faheen Allibhoy

If you would like to nominate someone to be a part of the spotlight, click Here.