This announcement came during an event held at US Consulate General in Karachi, where US Embassy Chargé d'Affaires Ambassador Paul Jones, his wife Catherine Jones, Karachi Consul General JoAnne Wagner, Women's Council Executive Director Radhika Prabhu, and members of Karachi's business community and civil society met to celebrate the launch of the second phase of the US-Pakistan Women's Council.
In launching this second phase, the Council welcomes new members Hashoo Group, The Indus Entrepreneurs, US-Pakistan Business Council, American Pakistan Foundation, INDUS, We Connect International, STEM Connector, and Quantum Leaps. They join current Council member companies Citigroup, Coca-Cola, Engro, General Electric, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, S&P Global, and The Resource Group.
Speaking to the assembled group, Ambassador Jones thanked the member organizations for the work they have done to date. "Since its founding, the Council and its members have taken the lead on getting more women into the workforce. They are leading the charge for progressive workplace policies in Pakistan and are proof that what's good for women is good for business and the nation's economy." He also announced two new Council initiatives: the Million Women Mentor Initiative and the Women's Business Opportunity Initiative.
The Million Women Mentor Initiative is launched with STEM Connector, a US-based company that has fostered over two million mentoring relationships in coordination with 200 organizations and corporations. Council member S&P Global has already pledged to create 20,000 mentoring relationships.
Ambassador Alice Wells, Senior Bureau Official for the US Department of State's Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs and co-chair of the US-Pakistan Women's Council said, "Pakistani women are critical to Pakistan's economic growth, development and security yet they face a range of barriers to achieving their full economic potential. The US-Pakistan Women's Council works with the private sector in both the United States and Pakistan to foster women's employment, accelerate women's entrepreneurship, and increase access to educational opportunities for women and girls said in a media release.