Jehan Ara
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Jehan Ara is a Pakistani businesswoman who was the president of P@SHA for over 20 years. She resigned at the end of April 2021 to start Katalyst Labs, a startup accelerator and women leadership program. She also headed the Nest i/o, a startup incubator supported by Google and Samsung. She also served as a member of the Prime Minister's Task Force on IT and Digital Economy and on the Board of Punjab IT Board, the Central Depository Company and IDEAS.


Early life

Ara was born in Karachi, Pakistan and raised in Hong Kong where her father was working as a banker. She received her early education from
Rosaryhill School Rosaryhill School () was a co-educational school in Hong Kong, offering kindergarten, primary and secondary education. The school was founded in 1959, and was closed in 2024. History The school was founded by the Dominican Order in 1959 as t ...
. After completing her graduation, she started her career as a journalist in a Hong Kong newspaper for a year before moving into advertising. She worked in Dubai for several magazines and journals when her father moved to the
United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...
where she worked for
Gulf News ''Gulf News'' is a daily English language newspaper published from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. First launched in 1978, it is distributed throughout the UAE and also in other Persian Gulf countries. Its online edition was launched in 1996. Thro ...
in the advertising marketing department. She later moved back to Hong Kong and joined Headway Media Services as managing director. She moved to Pakistan in the mid-1990s after the retirement of her father.


Career

After moving to Pakistan, Ara started her own multimedia company, Enabling Technologies in 1994. In 2007, Ara became president of P@SHA. In November 2018, she became a member of the Prime Minister's Task Force on IT and Telecom. In 2021 she launched her own company named "Katalyst Labs", an accelerator and innovation hub for startups in Pakistan.


Recognition

In 2016, Ara was invited by US President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
to speak at
Global Entrepreneurship Summit The Global Entrepreneurship Summit is an annual event organized by the federal government of the United States, in partnership with foreign government hosts. The summit originated from an event organized by the Obama Administration called the P ...
. In 2023, she was awarded
Tamgha-i-Imtiaz Tamgha-e-Imtiaz (), also spelled as Tamgha-i-Imtiaz, is a state-organised Civil decorations of Pakistan, honour of Pakistan. It is given to any civilian in Pakistan based on their achievements. While it is a civilian/military award, it can be ...
by the
President of Pakistan The president of Pakistan () is the head of state of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The president is the nominal head of the executive and the supreme commander of the Pakistan Armed Forces.
.


External links


Blog

Twitter


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ara, Jehan Living people Businesspeople from Karachi Year of birth missing (living people) Pakistani women in business