Category: Event

THE CHANGING FACE OF RETAIL

Are you:
Are you concerned about the growing competition in your business?
Are you worried about online retailers taking your business away?
Curious about how electric cars will effect your business?

If so, The Aga Khan Council for the Southwestern United States, Ismaili Professionals Network, and the Indian American Chamber of Commerce is hosting a panel of experts in retail, fuel, electric cars and, E-Commerce. This panel will present and discuss where the future of retail is headed and help you to understand the changing landscape.

We highly encourage anyone who has an investment in the retail industry to attend this incredibly important session.

Panelists include:
– Previous leader of the National Association of Convenience Stores
– Previous Head of Operations for a major convenience store chain
– Expert in the electric car industry
– Entrepreneur with tremendous success in the online retail industry

Come hear a panel of experienced market leaders and experts answer your questions and concerns!

When : Sunday, January 21st from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Location : Ismaili Jamatkhana and Center
1700 First Colony Blvd
Sugar Land, TX 77479

Seats are limited so please Register Here!

Join the Ismaili Professionals Network (IPN) for a Spotlight Session on Fields and Skills of the Future and Discovery, Sharing, and Application of Knowledge in Islam. Zain Gulamali, venture capital investor at Amazon’s Alexa Fund, will guide us through Fields of the Future (e.g. computational linguistics, food science and technology, early childhood development); Skills of the Future (e.g. coding and digital literacy, intellectual humility, global orientation, empathy); and their foundational roots in Islam.
We will also explore how to incorporate constantly-changing trends into one’s career path planning process.

When: Sun, Dec 10, 2017 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM EST

For more details and to register click Here!

Are you an international student in the U.S.? Are you thinking about coming to study then work in the U.S.?

If you answered yes to either of those questions, this webinar is for you. Come hear a panel of international students who recently got jobs/internships talk about their searches and experiences on Sunday, December 3rd at 11:00AM EST. This webinar will also feature a presentation from an immigration attorney, a compilation of job search best practices, and live Q&A with the panelists.

Register at the link below!

https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/9081294630636385549

The Ismaili Professionals Network (IPN) is excited to invite you to a networking event to be held in Edison, NJ on Saturday, December 2nd 2017.
We are grateful to our panelists to be able to share their expert knowledge on a variety of topics. Below are the names of the panel members and the tentative topics that will be discussed-

1) Ayeesha Sachedina: BOA Payment innovation
2) Shanif Dhanani: Startup- Stages and Structures
3) Salman Himani: Retail- Traditional versus Trending

Where : Edison, NJ Jamat Khana
Time: 11am onwards followed by lunch at 12pm
Open Q&A session from 12:30pm onwards

IPN will be holding a panel discussion on “Making an Impact Through the Public Sector” in Washington, D.C. on December 3rd 2017. The panel will include jamati members with experience working for a variety of different government institutions. The discussion will be held prior to the Dua gathering and food will be served after the gathering.

Address: Downtown DC, at 1111 19th Street NW
Time: 5pm onwards

The Ismaili Professional Network (IPN) West invites you to learn about and discuss Cultural Competence in the Workplace.

Many employers contend that cultural competence, the ability to interact effectively with individuals from diverse backgrounds, is a non-negotiable skill in the 21st century. Whether you are treating a patient whose culture or religion prohibit certain procedures, or you are closing a deal with an international customer who conducts business in a different manner than you, the ability to recognize disparate perspectives and navigate those conversations is an industry-agnostic competency.

While diversity and its challenges in the workplace are often discussed, professionals today more than ever before need to focus on how to optimize their working relationships in such multicultural environments. In this session, IPN will facilitate a discussion on the topic of cultural competence and have our expert panelists share their experiences. You’ll hear ideas on what you and your employer can do to promote cultural competence within your organization.

We look forward to seeing you on Saturday, December 9th at 1 p.m. PT in Downtown Seattle for an engaging discussion followed by time to network. Light refreshments and snacks will be provided. Our confirmed speakers include Shelmina Babai Abji (Global Empowerment Speaker and Former IBM Vice President), Affshin Valji (Partner, PwC Technology Consulting), Feyrouz Kurji (Principal, FDK Consulting) and Jamil Valliani (Partner Group Program Manager, Microsoft).

The event is open to all friends and colleagues! Please register by December 8th at: https://www.tinyurl.com/ipnwestcultural

WHEN: Saturday, December 9th from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. PT
WHERE: Microsoft Westlake Office, 320 Westlake Ave N, Seattle, WA 98109
REGISTRATION ENDS: Friday, December 8th at 11:59 p.m. PT
TICKETS: $20 + processing fee

Our confirmed speakers include:

Shelmina Babai Abji, Panelist
Shelmina Babai Abji is a global empowerment speaker, a former IBM Vice President, an investor in early stage technology companies, a distinguished alumni and an advisor to C-suite executives. She serves on boards of United Nations Girl Up and Young Women Empowered. Shelmina rose up to be one of the highest ranking women of color at IBM (employs over 400,000 people globally) and had the opportunity to lead many different businesses: hardware, software and services. She has run start-up businesses as well as mature businesses with revenue in excess of a billion dollars annually. She had the privilege of hiring over 1,000 people during her career and promoted / guided the careers of many. She has a proven a track record of consistently delivering on all of her key performance indicators while living a balanced life as a single mother of two children. Shelmina earned her Bachelor of Science in Computer Science at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, where she was honored as a distinguished alumni, and her Bachelor of Science in Mathematics at the University of Poona, India. As part of IBM’s top talent, she has received extensive leadership training at IBM, Harvard University and UCLA.

Affshin Valji, Panelist
Affshin is a Partner within PwC’s Technology Consulting group focused on clients in the High Tech and Retail industries. He has over twenty years of consulting and industry experience leading global programs that deliver measurable business value leveraging technology and business process transformation. Affshin regularly leads teams that are spread across the globe and has lived in multiple countries including Singapore and Australia. He is actively engaged in the local community as PwC’s Pro-Bono consulting services leader, which provides strategic services to not-for-profit organizations in Seattle, as well as being an active board member at Treehouse (treehouseforkids.org) and Leadership Tomorrow (leadershiptomorrowseattle.org).

Feyrouz Kurji, Panelist
Born in Kenya, Feyrouz Kurji immigrated to Canada with her parents at the age of three. She received a Bachelor’s Degree from Stanford and subsequently her Master’s in Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Feyrouz has extensive experience in the areas of public policy and global development. As Principal, FDK Consulting LLC, she focuses on management and delivery of complex, high-priority projects requiring cross-team and inter-organizational input and accountability. She also conducts policy design and implementation and strategic program assessments. Feyrouz previously worked as Director of Higher Education Research and Development Policy within the Canadian federal government and was the Executive Director of the Secretariat for the Science, Technology and Innovation Council. Prior to that, she was an analyst with the Privy Council Office of the Government of Canada, Country Manager for Kenya for the Aga Khan Foundation, and worked at Kagiso Trust assessing grant proposals and working with communities to strengthen their development efforts.

Jamil Valliani, Panelist
As Partner Group Program Manager at Microsoft, Jamil Valliani leads Bing Image Search, Video Search, Entertainment, Home Page, Growth and UX Platform teams. These experiences and platforms touch over 100mm users and billions of searches every month. Jamil has experience building world-class product teams, driving rapid growth and shipping outstanding products. During his 10 year tenure in Search, he has become well-known as product leader for Bing Image & Video Search – differentiating features that have contributed heavily to Bing’s rise to over 30% US market share. More recently, he also became leader of Bing’s Home Page and Entertainment experiences, which have also had significant impact to Bing’s growth and are industry-leading. As a seasoned manager, Jamil has a reputation for developing strong leaders. Individuals on his team have graduated into senior product leadership roles around the industry.

Disruption is a buzzword in our business vernacular. It characterizes industry’s battle against new waves of technology that displace the incumbents. It is also used to classify a new market where none had existed before. Critical emerging technologies today include big data, blockchain, cloud computing, IoT, AI, machine learning, digital transformation, autonomous vehicles and more. Each offers the potential to alter the way we live and conduct business on a global basis.

Today’s seemingly constant state of disruption leaves business and policy leaders wondering the implications. It also raises questions from professionals on how to stay relevant in today’s evolving business landscape.

IPN West invites you to continue the conversation on Saturday, December 2nd at 12 p.m. in Playa Vista, Los Angeles followed by time to network. Light refreshments and lunch will be provided.

The event is open to all friends and colleagues! Please register by December 1st at: https://tinyurl.com/ipnwestdisruption

WHEN: Saturday, December 2nd from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. PT
WHERE: WeWork Playa Vista, 12655 W Jefferson Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90066
REGISTRATION ENDS: Friday, December 1st at 5:00 p.m. PT
TICKETS: $20 + processing fee

The State of Disruption keynote will be provided by:

Akbar Jaffer, Keynote
Akbar Jaffer is a 30-year veteran in the software industry and specializes in growth strategies. Akbar currently serves as the Chief Marketing Officer of ZorroSign, an advanced digital transaction management platform company that helps organizations digitally transform business transactions using bank-grade security and document 4n6 (forensics) technology. Akbar is also the author of a blog about crossroads of technology and humanities called PointOfIntersection.org.

Our confirmed panelists include:

Ville Houttu, Panelist
Ville Houttu is Founder and CEO of Vincit California. Previously, he worked as a Head of Business Development for Vincit Group, helping the Finnish organization to reach US$30 million and take it public on Nasdaq First North marketplace.

Irfan Ali, Panelist
Irfan Ali is the Global Director of the Innovation, Architecture and Solutions team for the Digital Transformation Group at Cisco. He also was previously on the advisory board for Pepperdine University in Malibu, California for its e-Learning Platform, is the Vice chairman of the Board of Advisors for Sacred Heart Family Medical Clinic in Downey, California and is on the Board of Advisors for eFormshotline.com in Fullerton, California.

Lisa Song Sutton, Panelist
Lisa Song Sutton, J.D., is a real estate investor and entrepreneur, holding ownership interests in several
companies in the real estate, tech, retail and food and beverage industries, including Las Vegas’ Sin City Cupakes. She sits on the advisory boards for several companies including Bitcoin Nevada, an education foundation promoting cryptocurrency, and Youngry, an entrepreneurship media company.

Al Lalani, Panelist
Al Lalani is the Founder and CEO of Annex Cloud – a SaaS provider for Customer Marketing Solutions for increasing brand loyalty, advocacy and user generated content for brands. He built the company from a team of 2 to over 150, now spread across multiple locations in the US as well as in the UK and India.

Irfan Ranmal, Panelist
Irfan Ranmal has been in Big Data and Analytics for over 15 years primarily in the entertainment industry. Irfan currently holds the title of Vice President of Data and Analytics at Hulu in Los Angeles, CA. His previous experience spans companies such as DirecTV, NBCUniversal and most recently Activision Blizzard where he led teams responsible for Consumer Technology, CRM, Marketing Analytics and Business Intelligence.

With the discussion being moderated by:

Naushad Huda, Moderator
Naushad Huda is a passionate entrepreneur, brand and digital strategist focused on innovation and growth. His nine year old strategy, UX/UI agency XTOPOLY was acquired June 2017 by Vincit. Today, Naushad leads strategy and partnerships at Vincit, a global 400+ team-member strong engineering powerhouse.