KARACHI: A Pakistani woman, Mariam Nusrat, has made it to the “Forbes Next 1000,” a list of inspiring entrepreneurs and small business leaders, who are redefining what it means to build and run a business amid the new normal.
“An entrepreneur’s journey is not linear — it is filled with a series of twists and turns; defeat is a natural part of the process, but what differentiates entrepreneurs on the Forbes Next 1000 List is their resilience in the face of adversity,” the leading US magazine said.
Mariam induction in the Forbes Next 1000 List, puts her with start-ups and business with fewer than $10 million in revenue and unlimited potential to inspire. Mariam, the founder of GRID, holds a Master’s degree in economics from both LUMS and George Washington University in the US.’
Mariam’s achievements were recognised by Forbes’ editors plus a panel of top business minds and entrepreneurial superstars. Over time Mariam has been celebrated across various platforms for her prestigious entrepreneurial career which began in 2015 when she formed the not-for-profit arm for GRID – Gaming Revolution for Inspiring Development.
What is immensely humbling about being on the #ForbesNext1000 list is the mind blowing judges panel!
A big ???????? ???? 4 amplifying underrepresented entrepreneurs@reidhoffman@SherylSandberg @MellodyHobson@aileenlee @alexrodrigueztv @jeancase @WallStManeet@MaelleGavet @meena pic.twitter.com/tTp8rGtcWd— Mariam Nusrat – Founder of GRID (@gamingfordev) June 17, 2021
For the past 6 years, Mariam has been leading a team of Pakistan-based game developers and designers to create low-cost mobile games that inspire positive behaviour change.
The team created eight portfolio games, in four languages on topics including reproductive health, climate change, health pandemics, animal welfare, STEM learning and structural racism.
For this work, Mariam has received several awards including the Clinton Global Initiative University Alum Award (presented on-stage by President Bill Clinton), DC Inno 50 on Fire Award, Andrew Rice Award, the GWU Best Social Venture Prize and UN PeaceApp prize.
The team’s current focus is on democratising content creation through video games on their platform Breshna. With Breshna, people are empowered to communicate in an interactive fashion.
