Harnessing untapped talent in Pakistan creates a big impact.
Meet Dr Sara Saeed Khurram who was raised in Karachi, Pakistan. Naturally studious and ambitious, Dr Khurram entered medical school at 19. However, she soon became aware of the pressure on women to abandon their medical careers once they became married. Given the growing issue of access to healthcare in Pakistan Dr Khurram saw these highly qualified yet underutilised women as a huge untapped opportunity for social good. To harness this potential she co-founded and is currently CEO of Sehat Kehani, a social enterprise in Pakistan that connects women doctors to patients in low-income communities using a telemedicine smartphone application, and is supported through the Impact Investment Exchange.
While setting up Sehat Kehani Dr Khurram observed first hand, gender biases that clouded the judgement of investors when it came to investing in companies which were either led by women, or for which women were a focus. For example, it can be difficult for women to attend late night, after-dinner meetings with men - which are pivotal to creating business networks and landing deals. Dr Khurram explains “that being a female entrepreneur is challenging because the opportunity to connect and communicate with investors might not be as free flowing as our male counterparts”. Dr Khurram’s experience is not unique and is indicative of a global problem in which women often face discrimination early on in the investment process. Currently only 6% of venture capital goes to women-led businesses.
Recognising these hidden obstacles and supporting women at all stages of the investment process is key. Working with Impact Investment Exchange (IIX) (a fellow member of the Frontier Brokers Network of which Good Return is a member and Convenor) helped Dr Khurram get the right pitch, documentation and confidence to work within this male-dominated sector and secure the capital she needed.
Dr Khurram’s story is an example of ‘gender-lens’ impact investing. Gender lens investing is a strategy or approach to investing that takes into consideration gender-based factors across the investment process to advance gender equality and better inform investment decisions. The impact investment industry has experienced massive growth in the last few years and is now worth $715 billion.
Gender lens investing is bigger than just investing in women-led enterprises - it is also about investing in enterprises that promote workplace equity or offer services that will improve the lives of girls and women. “There is an assumption that investing in women is simply about having women in leadership roles”, says Shane Nichols, CEO of Good Return. “We want to demonstrate that gender lens investment has many more dimensions – such as investing in organisations that promote workplace equity, products that improve the lives of women and girls, or reducing gender violence in supply chains.”
Dr Khurram’s fascinating story is the feature of Episode 2 of the ‘Investing in Gender Equality’ podcast. A new series of podcast interviews with ground-breaking social entrepreneurs across South and Southeast Asia and gender lens investing expert, Jodi York, who explains how any individual can contribute to gender equality in their life, work and investments. The Investing in Gender Equality podcast is produced by the Frontier Brokers Network, a group of investment firms supported by the Australian Government. The group are highlighting the impact of gender-based constraints and uncovering new opportunities for businesses to support men and women to participate equally in the economy, driving innovation and entrepreneurship.
Good Return sees gender-lens impact investment as a huge growth opportunity for all investors with a passion for women’s economic empowerment as well as those with an interest in diverse opportunities for both women and men in the workforce. The Investing in Gender Equality podcast is available for listening on Spotify, Apple, Audible or any podcast platform. For more information about the podcast episodes please visit our website https://scalingfrontierinnovation.org/podcast/.
Find out more about Frontier Brokers Network Member Organisations:
Athena Global: https://athenaglobalalliance.com/
Brightlight: https://www.brightlightimpact.com/
Good Return (Network convenor): https://www.goodreturn.org.au/
Impact Investment Exchange (IIX): https://iixglobal.com/
Investing For Good: https://www.investingforgood.co.uk/
Palladium: https://thepalladiumgroup.com/about
The University of Melbourne: https://www.unimelb.edu.au/
Moonshot Global : https://moonshotglobal.com/
Living Collaboration: https://www.livingcollaborations.com/
The Frontier Brokers Network are supported by the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: https://www.dfat.gov.au/development/australias-development-program .
