She Went from Layyah to Silicon Valley — Hina Raza | TechWomen 2024 | The Dialectic Arc
From a small city in Punjab to a US State Department leadership program — Hina Raza's journey from Layyah to TechWomen 2024 is not a motivational story. It is a blueprint for how Pakistan's women in tech are building systems, institutions, and futures without waiting for permission.
Hina Raza is Founder & CEO of RISE, Co-Founder of WeeProCoders, TechWomen 2024 Emerging Leader, and former software developer. In this conversation, we go beyond the career timeline to examine what it actually takes to build something meaningful inside Pakistan's tech ecosystem — and why the answer has less to do with talent and more to do with method, consistency, and designing learning spaces that outlast you.
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What this episode covers:
→ How Pakistan's tech landscape is evolving for women in STEM
→ The TechWomen 2024 program — what it is, how to apply, what it demands
→ Building WeeProCoders — coding education for Pakistan's youngest learners
→ Why discipline outperforms talent in long-term career building
→ Creating institutional systems that produce impact beyond the individual
→ The real barriers women face entering Pakistan's tech industry
→ Lessons from Silicon Valley that Pakistan's ecosystem needs to hear
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Who this episode is for:
Women in tech and STEM across Pakistan and South Asia
University students navigating career decisions without a blueprint
Founders building education and tech initiatives from scratch
Anyone interested in Pakistan's digital future and human capital development
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Timestamps:
00:00 — From Layyah to Silicon Valley — the journey begins
01:12 — When career clarity doesn't come early
02:00 — First steps into code and problem-solving
03:00 — Pakistan's tech landscape — where it stands today
05:05 — Creating institutional space for women in tech
07:30 — The mindset shift from skill to lasting impact
13:52 — WeeProCoders — teaching coding to Pakistan's youngest learners
18:14 — TechWomen 2024 — the US State Department program explained
23:00 — Teaching, mentoring, and building systems that outlast you
29:40 — Lessons Silicon Valley taught that no one prepares you for
32:20 — Rapid fire round
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Connect with Hina Raza:
RISE → / leadwithrise
The Dialectic Arc:
Instagram → / dialecticarc
Facebook → / 1cjmjc
TikTok → / dialectic.arc
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