On August 4, 2019, Pakistani-American Forum/Merit Grants for Young Women (MGYW) held a successful annual banquet. The program included overview of MGYW’s almost one dozen projects throughout Pakistan. This year MGYW presented empowerment award to Irvine City Councilwoman Farrah Khan for her brilliant public service. She is the first Pakistani American woman to get elected as council member of a major city. She was presented the award by the Deputy Consul General of Pakistan Shoaib Sarwar and last year’s empowerment award recipient Dr. Shamim Ibrahim. The inspirational keynote address at the banquet was delivered by Dr. Sana U. Khan. Artesia City Council Member Ali Sajjad Taj and Consul Sarwar also made brief presentations about importance of education in positively impacting underprivileged young women, especially in Paksitan.
Since 2000, MGYW has been successfully providing sustained educational opportunities to thousands of young women belonging to impoverished families in urban and rural areas of Pakistan. MGYW works with several reputable non-profit schools & local activists with an impressive network of about 24,000 students.  It also invests in schools’ infrastructure projects & supports operational needs. So far MGYW has supported education directly or indirectly of over 10,000 girls – many girls have graduated & are now gainfully employed as well as positively influencing their families. MGYW has been commended repeatedly for “its exemplary work in the field of female education and social uplifting in Pakistan”.
The program included musical performance by Imtiaz Khan. The Board Members that made the program a huge success included Tasneem Afzal , Abida Ahmed,  Bilquis Haider, Dr. Bina Kamdar,  Dr. Farhana Mohamed , Zeenat Jandga, and Zille Huma Zaman . MGYW’s special thanks to young Adam Jandga for opening the program with Qirat.