# Sheba Najmi

> Sheba Najmi is a Stanford-trained UX leader, civic technologist, and founder of Code for Pakistan — the country's first civic tech nonprofit. Over two decades she has shaped digital products for hundreds of millions of users (Yahoo Mail, LinkedIn, FreeWill) while simultaneously running a parallel mission: using open-source technology to make Pakistani government services work for ordinary people. Her work has served 2.1 million citizens, trained 600 government officials, and opened 6,000 public datasets. In 2024 she received the HUM Women Leaders Award for her contributions to civic innovation in Pakistan.

- **Role:** Founder & Executive Director at Code for Pakistan; Adjunct Professor at San Diego City College
- **Organizations:** Code for Pakistan, Tech for Change, FreeWill, Code for All, San Diego City College
- **Nationality:** Pakistani-American
- **Education:** B.S. with Honors, Symbolic Systems (Human-Computer Interaction / Cognitive Science), Stanford University, M.S., Symbolic Systems (Human-Computer Interaction / Cognitive Science), Stanford University
- **Known for:** Founded Code for Pakistan — Pakistan's first civic tech nonprofit (2013), Launched Pakistan's first civic hackathon (2013), Launched Pakistan's first Government Innovation Fellowship with KP government and World Bank

## Career timeline

- **Early career** — News anchor and political commentator, Indus Television; hosted Press Review
- **~2004–2011** — UX Design Lead, Yahoo! — led design of Yahoo Mail (260M users) for nearly 7 years
- **2012** — Code for America Fellow — led creation of Honolulu Answers, an award-winning civic Q&A tool for the City of Honolulu
- **2013** — Founded Code for Pakistan (country's first civic tech nonprofit) and Tech for Change; launched Pakistan's first civic hackathon
- **2013** — World Bank consultant
- **2013–present** — Founder & Executive Director, Tech for Change
- **2014** — Vice President of Product, LUXE Valet
- **2015–2017** — Senior User Experience Strategist, Exygy
- **2015** — Launched Pakistan's first Government Innovation Fellowship in partnership with KP government and World Bank
- **2012–2017** — UX Design Instructor, Girl Develop It / PariSoMa / UC Berkeley
- **2017** — Delivered keynote to 200 global parliamentarians at the Ukrainian Parliament
- **2017–2020** — Senior Manager, Product Design, LinkedIn — led teams on LinkedIn Profile and LinkedIn Search
- **2021–present** — Director (Head) of UX & Product Design, FreeWill — team facilitated $2B+ in charitable bequests
- **2021–present** — Adjunct Professor, Product Design, San Diego City College
- **2024** — Received HUM Women Leaders Award 2024; Code for Pakistan recognized at Don Norman Design Awards

## Achievements

- Founded Code for Pakistan — Pakistan's first civic tech nonprofit (2013)
- Launched Pakistan's first civic hackathon (2013)
- Launched Pakistan's first Government Innovation Fellowship with KP government and World Bank
- Created Honolulu Answers — IxDA Interaction Award winner (2013), re-deployed in 12+ cities globally
- 2.1 million citizens served through Code for Pakistan digital services
- 210+ technologists mobilized across 45 government departments
- 70 open source civic projects deployed; 6,000 government datasets opened
- 122,000 government hours saved through digital solutions
- 600 government officials trained in civic innovation
- 56 women technologists from remote KP communities upskilled
- Steering committee leader of Code for All — world's largest civic tech network
- Keynote speaker to 200 global parliamentarians at Ukrainian Parliament (2017)
- Led UX at FreeWill contributing to $2B+ in charitable bequests
- HUM Women Leaders Award 2024
- Don Norman Design Awards recognition for three Code for Pakistan projects (2024)
- Spoke at conferences in 15+ countries including Poland, Italy, Kosovo, Japan, Taiwan, Canada, Romania, Croatia, Mexico, Portugal

## Latest updates

- **2024** — Received HUM Women Leaders Award 2024 for civic innovation leadership in Pakistan
- **2024** — Three Code for Pakistan projects recognized at Don Norman Design Awards: FloodLight, KP Women's Civic Digital Internship, and Pharmacy Licensing Digitization
- **2024–2025** — Code for Pakistan launched its 8th Government Innovation Fellowship cohort
- **2021–present** — Serving as Director (Head) of UX & Product Design at FreeWill; over $2B in charitable bequests facilitated
- **2021–present** — Adjunct Professor of Product Design at San Diego City College

## Links

- Website: https://codeforpakistan.org/about/people/sheba-najmi
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/snajmi/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/sheba-najmi
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-04-14