Pakistan is often – and deservedly – known for the resilience of its people. But resilience doesn't only mean toughness; to be resilient, one also requires a creative mind and spirit. It does not just mean to withstand, but also to challenge and innovate.

The spirit to innovate and contest is found in many Pakistanis, especially among entrepreneurs making waves across the board.

Some of these talented individuals, both from the diaspora and the homeland, got a chance to speak at a recent conference titled “Building Resilience through Innovation,” organised by the Organisation of Pakistani Students at Columbia University, New York, as part of their "Soch: Columbia Pakistan Symposium" series.

Space for creatives

“There is enough of a narrative of what is going wrong with Pakistan. We wanted to shift that narrative,” explains Zunaira Malik, former president of the Pakistani Students Association at Columbia University. “There is a lot of good work happening. The conference is about providing a platform, encouraging talent, and inspiring others. It is going beyond the fluff and debates to focus on the real work”.

Malik was full of praise for Pakistani-Canadian journalist and founder of VICE Media Suroosh Alvi, who was present at the conference. “They are doing amazing, innovative work. They are providing alternate media all over the world,” she said.

Providing space for creative minds and organisations is also what Sabeen Mahmud used to do with T2F, and a moment of silence was held for her, as well as for another Karachi icon Parween Rahman, before the start of the proceedings. Both Sabeen and Parween were killed for doing the kind of work they did.

Activism and philanthropy – Pakistan’s forte

Sana Saleem, co-founder of Bolo Bhi, was also present at the event and spoke on activism in the arts and media. Her organisation is one of the leading civil society groups fighting for cyber rights, freedom of expression, and government transparency in Pakistan. Bolo Bhi was instrumental in successfully challenging the government over its three-year ban on YouTube. The organisation continues its activism and is a vocal critic of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill 2015 passed in the National Assembly in April this year.

“Four million children are born in Pakistan each year. Almost half of them never go to school,” said another speaker Mushtaq Chappra, whose organisation The Citizens Foundation (TCF) runs over a thousand schools in the country for underprivileged children.

In 2013, TCF was the recipient of the prestigious Skoll Social Entrepreneur Award.

TCF was not the only one present at the conference working with the poor segments of the Pakistani society. Among the speakers was Saba Gul, founder and CEO of Popinjay. An MIT graduate, Gul quit her six-figure job to work with over 150 women in rural Punjab, providing them dignity, good wages, and a path to self-sufficiency by having them produce high quality handbags that she sells online.

Tech leads the way

Another powerhouse present at the event, this time from the Pakistani tech industry, was Jehan Ara. She is the president of P@SHA (Pakistan Software Houses Association), which focuses on innovation, development, and growth in their sector. One of the most notable projects of P@SHA is the P@SHA Fund for Social Innovation, founded in partnership with Google and Samsung and supported by US State Department funding.

Also read: Can Pakistan be the next Silicon Valley?

Jehan Ara's P@SHA's also runs a tech incubator in Karachi called The Nest l/O. One of The Nest I/O's success stories is Wonder Tree. A gaming platform for children with special needs, Wonder Tree just won third prize at the Global Innovation through Science and Technology (GIST) 2016. GIST is a global competition that judges start-ups on their ability to benefit the economy and the potential to be implemented globally. From a total of 1,074 initial applicants, Wonder Tree was one of 15 start-ups from around the world that competed at the final demonstrations, which were held at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit at Stanford from Jun 22 to Jun 24, 2016.

The Stanford summit also featured Jehan Ara herself. Invited by President Barack Obama, she spoke on Pakistani social entrepreneurship and innovation in a conversation titled “Investing in South Asia: What’s next for Entrepreneurship in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh”.

Owning the narrative

The speakers and organisers at the Columbia conference were adamant that Pakistanis were not mere victims and wanted the world to move away from the lens of victimisation through which the country is seen.

Some even took strong objection to the word ‘resilience’. “None of us here are victims. We were not talking like victims,” insisted Sana Saleem. “I’m told I'm such a resilient person, but what else am I supposed to do? We are just trying to do what normal people do,” she continued.

And the co-founder of Pataari Khalid Bajwa injected: “I am just making music man!”

Disappointments at home

Despite their admirable work, not all of Pakistan’s social entrepreneurs, innovators, and cultural icons get the support at home they deserve.

“We are trained to think a certain way. Pakistan has failed to celebrate its heroes. There is an organised campaign to delegitimise cultural icons in Pakistan. People try to discredit those like Malala Yousafzai and Sharmeen Chinoy,” weighed in Jibran Nasir, who was vital in rallying the civil society to condemn Islamabad’s Lal Masjid cleric Abdul Aziz for his remarks about the APS shootings in Peshawar in 2014.

Nasir pointed out that because these cultural icons and activists are a threat to the Pakistani status quo, they make certain segments of society very uncomfortable.

Some figures only come into limelight once they gain recognition by those outside the country. One such important figure is Syeda Ghulam Fatima, general secretary of the Bonded Labor Liberation Front Pakistan, an organisation helping to free bonded laborers. Nasir said that nobody knew her before Humans of New York’s Brandon Stanton highlighted her work. Last year, she was the recipient of the Clinton Global Citizen award.

Going forward

With a young and increasingly connected population, Pakistani society is vibrant and dynamic.

Read next: 15 start-ups that are changing the way Pakistanis live

With more government support and a politically stable environment, Pakistani entrepreneurs can no doubt expand the scope and impact of their work.

P@SHA’s Jehan Ara hopes that growing international interest in Pakistani social entrepreneurship would also help attract more foreign investment, especially when the country’s economic forecast is on the up.

And those who are already doing great work, conferences like these at Columbia these can inspire others. Talha Chughtai, a Master's student at Columbia, dreams of being an entrepreneur and found the conference very encouraging. “Pakistan can use more people like the one we saw here. If they continue to share their stories, great things will continue to happen”.

Photos by Uroosa Ibrahim

Meriam Sabih is a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in Al-Jazeera America and the Huffington Post UK. She can be reached at Meriam.Sabih@gmail.com and she tweets @meriamsabih