Maria Umar

Founder & President, Women’s Digital League (WDL)

Maria is the founder and president of Women's Digital League (WDL) - a social enterprise founded in 2009 with the aim to provide digital literacy training and work to Pakistani women. She has been working in the online digital outsourcing sphere for more than 9 years. Stemming from her passion for economic empowerment of women, Maria is also serving as the Project Manager for WomenX, a World Bank supported training program for women in business.

Project Artemis/Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Program was the turning point in her career. Getting to the finale of GIST's (www.gist.crdfglobal.org) "I Dare" business plan competition was another huge encouragement. Google Pakistan profiled WDL in its online campaign showcasing innovation in the use of technology.

Maria was nominated a Thought Leader by Ashoka Changemaker. WDL also won the Early Stage Award in Changemakers' "Women Powering Work" competition. 

Local and International media has featured her as an innovative leader. These publications include Mashable, Forbes, Virgin, Ashoka, Express Tribune,Dawn and CNBC to name a few. Maria is also actively working to encourage girls to opt for STEM at an early age through the Technovation Challenge. 

She was recently appointed as the first Chair of We Create Center's Think Tank.