A Letter from Our President

Dear OPEN Washington DC supporters and well-wishers,

As we welcome the New Year, the previous year has been a period of measurable growth and achievements for OPEN Washington.  We executed to our plan to make 2009 a memorable year for the chapter.  We increased our general membership by more than 100% to 170 by the end of the year. Our charter membership grew by about 40% to 30 during this period as well.
With this strong foundation, I am sure we will build on our successes of last year and with your help make 2010 another banner year for our community.

I am very pleased to report that our management team along with active engagement of our members was a very active and successful year.

Overall, we held over 25 events with a total participation of more than 1000 attendees. Our brief list of accomplishments included:   

• We started our year with a planning meeting with the Charter Members to discuss goals and objectives for the organization and to get them more involved with the chapters.
• We had a very well attended Social Entrepreneurship discussion with Imran Khan  (Cricketer/Social Entrepreneur) where he motivated the attendees with the successful history of Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital.
• Opportunities for social and business improvement in Pakistan were discussed with Wendy Chamberlain (President Middle East Institute & Former Ambassador to Pakistan).
• A brief discussion with General Pervez Musharraf (Former President of Pakistan) on his perspectives of leaderships and challenges during his tenure. 
• An overview of the stimulus and recovery act provided by Andrew Lipman & Frank Lamancusa of Bingham McCutchen LLP
• A discussion on challenges faced by Pakistan by the Pakistan expert and author Shuja Nawaz (Author of Crossed Swords: Pakistan, its Army, & the Wars Within)
• An overview of what it takes to start your own company by Sabiha Malik
• A discussion around Entrepreneurial Challenges in Starting a Global Media Organization Mir Ibrahim Rehman (Founder/CEO of GEO TV)
• Fireside talk & Premier Showing of the Movie "Royal Kill" by director Babar Ahmed
• A  Job Fair and networking opportunity for small business companies as well as potential job seekers. 
• Social & Business Networking Event at Lima Lounge was well attended by our young and enterprising members
• Healthcare Debate in the US - A Provider's Perspective delivered by Dr. Aamir Rehman, EVP of Saint Peters Healthcare System
• Members picnic on a warm summer day attended by over 120 members and their family
• A fireside chat on “Startup to IPO” with Imran Saeed, Founder of OPEN in USA as well as successful serial entrepreneur and current EVP of Keene. 
• Fireside Chat with Dr. Ahmed Durrani, Vice Chancellor of LUMS
• The Art of Bootstrapping - Rashid Khan (Founder Ultimus)
• Going from Services to Product - Abbas Valliani & Umar Syyid (Founders of Primatics Financial)
• A discussion around Islam & Science - The Quest for Rapprochement - Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy, Professor Quaid-e-Azam University as well as political commentator.
• A discussion with Faran Tahir (Actor/Entrepreneur) attracted community members from other walks of life
• Asim Hussain once again held his usual seminar on “To MBA or not to MBA?”
• Our Annual Event was the icing on the cake with over 300 in attendance and a very attractive program
• Quarterly newsletter with chapter information and spotlights on charter members.  

In the year 2010, we intend to remain very active and focus on bringing attractive speakers, experts and programs for both our general and charter members. It was determined that besides general events, we will hold some events exclusively for charter members. 

We are also exploring highlighting successful entrepreneurs in our community.

We continue to receive encouragement and guidance from OPEN Global and other OPEN chapters.  During the current year, we will focus on creating teams and the infrastructure necessary to provide service to our membership. We also intend to revamp our website to improve our visibility and provide more utility to our community.

The management team is committed to making OPEN Washington DC a significant provider of mentoring, networking and continuing education for all members of the Pakistani American community as well as the community at large. My personal commitment is to ensure transparency and continuity in leadership succession and add to the sustainability of this organization as a legacy to the youth of this community

Wishing all of you and your families a healthy, prosperous and joyous 2010