International Women's Day 2021
Being a woman is not easy, especially when you are the backbone of society. A woman has to do it all- from home management to portraying excellent outcomes in the workstation following the opposition from the patriarchal culture. Yet, we are thrilled to present some gallant accomplishments of wondrous women for you to idolize.
TASLIMA MIJI
Born and brought up in Chandpur in a joint family with cherishable memories, Taslima Miji completed her education at Dhaka University. In a constrained society, she was very rebellious and extroverted. Taslima started her career as a reporter with her passion for writing. Nevertheless, those times were not favorable for journalism thus, she tried her luck at entrepreneurship. Taslima faced hindrance from her family as the projection that business is a manly job was more popular. Executing anomalous conceptions with limited capital additionally the judgments and interest of the society in her background more discouraged her at times. Now she fought back every comment and patriarchy and is the owner of 450 shops in the Multiplan Center.
FARZANA ISLAM
Farzana Islam is a sturdy and respected Bangladeshi academic. She is the current Vice-chancellor of Jahangirnagar University. In 2014, she became the first female vice-chancellor of a public university in Bangladesh. She was born in 1957. Farzana completed her master's in Sociology from the University of Dhaka in 1980. She then joined Chittagong University as a lecturer of the Department of Sociology in 1982. In 1986, she joined the Department of Anthropology of Jahangirnagar University. She earned her Ph.D. degree from the University of Sussex in 2001. She has paved the way for women to go forward and reach the hierarchy of public universities. Her strong aspiration made it possible for her to reach the highest echelon which inspired many.
In March 2014, the President of Bangladesh, Abdul Hamid, appointed Islam as the Vice-chancellor of Jahangirnagar University for her reputation and her strong will to be the torchbearer for a change.
BIBI RUSSELL
Bibi, born in Chittagong, completed her under-graduation in Bangladesh and achieved a fashion qualification from the London College of Fashion. She inaugurated "Bibi Productions" in Bangladesh, blending traditions with modernity. Her creations promote the crafts heritage from Bangladesh and globally, instantly claiming the "Fashion for Development" hypothesis. She was honored with various awards and appreciation and was even appointed as the UNESCO Artist for Peace in October 1999. "Survivors' Runway" in October 2017 in London was conducted exclusively for women and girls, whoever dreads the stereotyped violence.
ROKIA AFZAL RAHMAN
Rokia Afzal Rahman is seen as one of the leading role model in business and leadership. She started her career in a commercial bank in 1962 when very few women had entered banks universally. She became the first woman bank manager of the country in 1964. She started her business in 1980 as Chairman and Managing Director of R. R. Cold Storage Ltd doing business in the agriculture sector. She was also the former adviser to the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh and was also the Director, Bangladesh Bank. Rokia Rahman is the founder Chairperson of Presidency University. She is a Board member in several organizations involved in development such as BRAC, MIDAS, Manusher Jonno, BFF, MRDI, Smiling Sun, Health21. She is President of the Bangladesh Federation of Women Entrepreneurs - BFWE. She has worked for the development of women Entrepreneurs for the last 20 years, working all over Bangladesh. Her contribution towards this development has enhanced the success and participation of women in this sector. She has received numerous International & National awards as a successful business person such as Leading women entrepreneurs of the world. Monte Carlo 1999.Best Businessperson, Bangladesh Shilpa Bank, Prime customer, Janata Bank, the Business person of the Year-2003 American Chamber, et cetera. Still to this date she is an inspiration to millions of women in the workforce in Bangladesh and all around the world.
SONIA BASHIR KABIR
Sonia Bashir Kabir, a technology investor, focusing on tech startups in emerging markets of South Asia, started her career as a technology corporate official in giant companies and her journey led her to become a technology entrepreneur, an angel investor, and a technology philanthropist. Sonia is currently the Founder of SBK Tech Ventures and SBK Foundation - her “Not for profit” organisation that emphasizes empowering rural communities with Technology. Sonia has worked for Microsoft Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan, and Laos as Managing Director, Dell Bangladesh as country Director, Business Development for South East Asia as a Director, Microsoft as New Emerging Markets, and Aamra Technologies Ltd as Chief Operating Officer. Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed Sonia in 2015 to the Governing Council of the Technology Bank for the Least Developed Countries (LDC) for a three-year term. She was elected as Vice Chairman of UN Technology Bank in 2017. Current UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres renewed Sonia's appointment as Governing Council member and Sonia has been reappointed as Vice-Chair of the UN Tech Bank for the 2019–2022 term.
Sonia also worked as a board member in UNESCO's Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development. Sonia is the first woman to win the ICT Business Person of the Year Award from the Daily Star ICT Awards in 2019 and she was one of the 10 recipients of Microsoft Founder's Award in 2016 given by Bill Gates.
Sonia was recognized by UN Global Compact in 2017 as an SDG pioneer. 10 people globally got this recognition. She was recognized for integrating seven Global Goals into her business practices and strategies: no poverty; quality education; gender equality; decent work and economic growth; industry, innovation, and infrastructure; reduced inequalities; creating partnerships to meet the Goals.
Sonia actively supports youth in technology and women empowerment with youth-led initiatives all over Bangladesh.
IVY HUQ RUSSELL
Ivy Huq Russell, a former hedge fund professional, founded Maya with an ambition to empower women by giving them access to information and a shared community. She is the CEO of Maya. As an endeavor, Maya is exceptionally intriguing in the sense that it has a very compelling value proposition along with a realistic chance to change the way women/girls access information in Bangladesh. Its mission is simple -“Connect women to the information they are looking for when they are looking for it”. Graduated from Warwick Business School in Finance and Economics, Ivy believes that her underlying passion for helping people has always been a constant in her life. It is because of this passion, she left the world of finance and embarked on a journey to help women in Bangladesh that have not ever been tried before, that is the journey of Maya. Although her background is in Finance Ivy is fascinated by the power of technology and how it can be harnessed to help better lives. Maya is an initiative dedicated to empowering women through access to information and a shared community. Maya has been recognized by BRAC and now works in partnership with BRAC Gender Justice Department, The New York Times, The Daily Star, Tedx, Social Good Summit, Radio Foorti, ATN, and other organizations and media. Today her venture Maya has recently won the Manthan Award in 2015 under the category of e-women and technology. The Manthan Award is an annual award for South Asia given in recognition of exceptional digital content creation. Maya has also won The Inspiring Women Award as leading Startup in June 2015.
Atropos family is celebrating these fantastic wonder women along with all the women out there, who stood for a reason, who fought for their rights, who paved the way for a change. Atropos wishes every woman out there, Happy Women's Day.