To elevate the quality of civic life in Pakistan.

Program Description

We are a tech non-profit that’s creating a non-partisan civic innovation ecosystem aiming to improve quality of life across Pakistan. Through the creation of open source technology to address civic needs, we strive to transform civic life by increasing civic engagement, encouraging the opening of government data, and supporting innovation in the public domain.

Trust in civic institutions has eroded in Pakistan, and too many of our fellow citizens view government as bureaucratic, corrupt, and inefficient – or worse, as something that stifles progress rather than as a potential force for good. Collaboration between citizen tech developers and domain experts in local governments can create civic solutions and enhance civic life. This starts to reframe the relationship between local government and citizens, which is essential if the two are to live together smartly towards building a progressive Pakistan.

Founding Story

After nearly 7 years at Yahoo!, founder Sheba Najmi wanted to have a larger social impact. She discovered Code for America in 2011 and was fortunate to be selected as a 2012 Fellow. That year changed the course of her life path, and she knew she had to take her learnings to her native Pakistan where government was widely accepted as a failed institution. In early 2013, she returned to Pakistan and followed the Lean Startup methodology to test the hypothesis that there was interest in civic hacking in Pakistan by launching a very low-budget Karachi Civic Hackathon. The response was overwhelmingly positive and led to validation that citizens want to use their skills to innovate in public services. Code for Pakistan was born.

People

Sheba Najmi Executive Director

Code for Pakistan’s Founder & Executive Director, founded the organization in 2013. She was a Code for America Fellow in 2012, partnered with the City & County of Honolulu. Prior to CfA, she worked at Yahoo! for nearly 7 years as a User Experience Design Lead. She has also worked as a television news anchor in Pakistan, interviewing and reporting from both the streets and the studio. Sheba earned MS and BS degrees in Symbolic Systems from Stanford University, where she investigated the language, thought, and interaction of humans and computers.

Ashar Rizqi President

Ashar is Code for Pakistan’s President. He is a engineering lead at Box. Prior to Box, he was a founding engineer at Trendsters Inc. Ashar earned MS and BS degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Purdue University and Texas A&M.

Nabeha Khan Secretary

Nabeha is Code for Pakistan’s General Secretary. She has a background in Human Resources with an MBA in Strategic Brand Management from the Institute of Business Management in Karachi. Nabeha is a passionate advocate for women’s issues and social change.