Shaoor Foundation for Education and Awareness

What Shaoor Foundation for Education and Awareness does

Shaoor Foundation for Education and Awareness (SFEA) is a Pakistani non-profit civil society organization founded in 2008 by Syed Ali Hameed and formally registered in July 2012 before being incorporated as a Not-for-Profit Company under the Companies Act, 2017 with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan in 2019. Headquartered in Islamabad with a second operating office in Rawalpindi, the organization runs a 30-plus-project portfolio across four thematic areas — Peace Building and Countering Violent Extremism, Democracy and Governance, Women Empowerment and Entrepreneurship, and Climate Resilience — with no commercial products or paid services. Programs are delivered at no cost to beneficiaries through a distributed network of 100+ universities, 50+ religious seminaries representing Deobandi, Barelvi, Ahle Hadith, and Shia schools, 30+ local CSOs, and direct community engagement, reaching 170+ districts across all four provinces plus Azad Jammu & Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.

Name

Shaoor Foundation for Education and Awareness

Legal name

Shaoor Foundation for Education and Awareness

Website

https://sfea.pk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Shaoor Foundation for Education and Awareness (SFEA) is a Pakistani non-profit civil society organization, founded 2008, delivering peacebuilding, CVE, women empowerment, and democracy programs across 170+ districts via institutional grants and donor partnerships.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Non-profit Peacebuilding and Civic Engagement Services

NAICS

Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133), Educational Support Services (611710), Human Rights Organizations (813311)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus & Resilience Programming (BPADAEAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

International Development & Donor-Funded Education Programs (EDADALAB)

Keywords

• Peacebuilding and CVE
• Women empowerment programs
• Interfaith dialogue
• Democracy and governance
• Youth civic education

Headquarters

HQ city

Islamabad

HQ country

Pakistan

HQ region

Asia

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Grant Funding: SFEA operates primarily through grants and funding from international development organizations, bilateral donors, and foundations. Major funders include U.S. Mission Pakistan, USAID, Canada Fund for Local Initiatives, National Endowment for Democracy, and various European foundations.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Shaoor Foundation for Education and Awareness (SFEA) is a Pakistani non-profit civil society organization that designs and delivers capacity-building, training, and advocacy programs focused on peacebuilding and countering violent extremism, interfaith harmony, women's empowerment and entrepreneurship, democracy and governance, and climate resilience. The organization runs more than 30 grant-funded programs across Pakistan's 170+ districts, partnering with universities, religious seminaries, government institutions, and international donors to deliver fellowships, community action projects, policy advocacy, and entrepreneurship support.

Product overview

Shaoor Foundation for Education and Awareness (SFEA) is a non-profit civil society organization that operates as a multi-project portfolio organization rather than a single unified product. The organization offers programs across four thematic areas: Peace Building and Countering Violent Extremism, Democracy and Governance, Women Empowerment and Entrepreneurship, and Climate Resilience. SFEA's products include over 30 distinct programs/projects including AmnQalaab (first all-inclusive CVE campaign), Salamti Fellowship (residential peace fellowship), PACT for Tolerance (policy advocacy program), Tafheem (intra-faith harmony through madrassah engagement), Active KP (peace education in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), SHE LEADS (technology-facilitated GBV prevention), Women Can Do I-III (women entrepreneurship incubation), FCTEW (critical thinking and entrepreneurship for young women), and digital literacy initiatives like SOFT and Pakistan Digital Literacy Campaign. These programs are delivered through partnerships with universities, religious seminaries, government institutions, and international development organizations, functioning as project-based interventions rather than a software platform or SaaS product.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• AmnQalaab First-ever all-inclusive campaign on peace and countering Violent Extremism (CVE) in Pakistan, engaging academia, youth, think tanks, and organizations through socio-political communication tools and media.
• Salamti Fellowship Pakistan's first residential peace fellowship with 30 participants per cohort, training peace agents across cohorts.
• PACT for Tolerance Policy-driven capacity-building and policy advocacy program focusing on Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) at academic campuses, engaging a core group of experts to develop the PACT Policy Document.
• Active KP Project built upon CVE efforts and community engagement to foster a peaceful society in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province through peace education emphasizing compassion, inclusiveness, and non-violence.
• Tafheem Capacity enhancement and training workshops bringing students and teachers from diverse religious sects closer to promote intra-faith harmony and sustainable social cohesion through madrassah engagement.
• FCTEW Fostering Critical Thinking and Entrepreneurial Skills in Young Women for Gender Inclusive Socioeconomic Development, working with 4 public sector universities to establish networks and promote linkages, with 450 students and 50 teachers trained through WILL trainings.
• Youth for Humanity Project forging sense of inclusiveness and social cohesion, countering divisive narratives by bringing together young individuals from diverse backgrounds including academic institutions and religious schools.
• Bounce and Pronounce (B&P) Innovative one-year project enhancing English language proficiency among underserved youth in Karachi by integrating language learning with basketball training for holistic development.
• WE-Sports Women's Empowerment through Sports training initiative implementing non-traditional sports like kickboxing and soccer to instill self-assurance among young girls in Karachi and Islamabad.
• TEECLD Training for Economic and Entrepreneurial Capacity Enhancement and Linkages Development, engaging 6 universities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with 900 direct beneficiaries.
• Women Can Do I and II Establishing sustainable on-campus virtual incubators for aspiring women entrepreneurs across 12 major public women's universities and 6 large-scale female-only religious seminaries.
• Women Can Do III Pioneering project with NIC-Q in Quetta, Balochistan promoting women's ascent through immersive entrepreneurship training, business acumen development, and seed grants.
• SHE LEADS Multi-country 36-month initiative dedicated to tackling Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TFGBV) in Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan, empowering women and girls in online spaces.
• HumAhang for Rights First project directly engaging Parliamentarians from National Assembly of Pakistan with training, capacity enhancement, and policy dialogue on constitutional human rights violations, engaging the Young Parliamentarian Forum and Women Parliamentary Caucus.
• DASTAK Multi-sectoral capacity enhancement, community engagement, and awareness-raising campaign to effectively counter gender-based violence across Pakistan, with focus on Baluchistan and Sindh.
• Rahber Meta partnership initiative where individuals searching for terms associated with hate or violent extremism are redirected to a specially designed website providing resources for those seeking to distance themselves from extremism.
• Safe Online Future for Teens (SOFT) Two-year initiative empowering Pakistani teens aged 13-18 with essential digital literacy and online security skills, promoting responsible social media use and countering misinformation.
• TVEDE (Transforming Violent Extremism through Digital Engagement)

Quantifiable outcome

• 150,000+ beneficiaries reached across 30+ projects
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

17 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Search for Common Ground (SFCG)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerImplementing partner for CASE program (Capacity Advancement and Skill-Building for Equity) and TVEDE project. Jointly develops and implements PVE initiatives.
• Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative partner for Political Cadre Development Program (PCDP) facilitating political education and training.
• National Counter Terrorism Authority Pakistan (NACTA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGovernment partner for PACT for Tolerance policy document development. Signed MoU with HEC and NACTA for peaceful campus environments.
• Higher Education Commission (HEC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKey institutional partner for university-based peacebuilding programs, PACT for Tolerance policy development, and CVE curriculum integration.
• National Assembly of PakistancoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner for HumAhang for Rights project engaging Young Parliamentarian Forum and Women Parliamentary Caucus on human rights oversight.
• Meta/FacebookcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for Rahber (The Redirect Initiative) - Pakistan's only counterspeech initiative on Facebook that redirects users searching extremist content to support resources.
• National Incubation Center Quetta (NIC-Q)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic partner for women entrepreneurship programs including Entrepowered Women Can Do, providing business incubation facilities and mentorship.
• Pakistan-U.S. Alumni Network (PUAN)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner for PeaceLab master class and Bounce and Pronounce project leveraging alumni networks from U.S. government exchange programs.
• International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner for democracy and governance initiatives including voter education and electoral reform programs.
• Development Alternatives Inc (DAI)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDevelopment partner supporting various social change and governance programs.
• International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner providing fellowship opportunities and international exchange program connections for SFEA team members and beneficiaries.
• Council of Islamic Ideology (CII)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerExpert partner for PACT for Tolerance project providing religious scholars for the 6-member Core Group of Experts on CVE policy.
• Paigham e PakistanminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner for counter-extremism messaging and religious harmony initiatives.
• PINFO Communication and ResearchminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner for Capacity Building and Campaigning for Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (CBCPFUJ) project.
• National Humanitarian Network (NHN)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in CASE program supporting organizational capacity building for CSOs across Pakistan.
• Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy (PCP)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in CASE program providing expertise in organizational development and philanthropy sector engagement.
• Lincoln Corners NetworkminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSFEA provides administrative support for 11 Lincoln Corners across Islamabad and Punjab serving as cultural exchange hubs.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Bargad Organization for Youth Development: Pakistan-based non-profit working on youth empowerment, civic engagement, and life-skills training across provinces. Directly comparable to SFEA's Salamti Fellowship, youth leadership, and peace education programming for the 15–30 cohort.
• Search for Common Ground: International peacebuilding NGO with long-standing Pakistan operations focused on PVE, interfaith dialogue, and inclusive governance. Directly comparable — SFEA jointly implements the CASE and TVEDE programs with SFCG and serves overlapping donor bases on near-identical themes.
• Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT): Pakistani non-profit strengthening legislative institutions, parliamentary capacity, and political party development. Directly comparable to SFEA's HumAhang for Rights program and engagement with the National Assembly and political cadres.
• Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI): Pakistani civil society organization promoting democratic governance, civic education, and peace. Directly comparable to SFEA's democracy and governance programs, including voter education, civic engagement, and parliamentary capacity work.
• Potohar Organization for Development & Advocacy (PODA): Pakistani women's rights and civic empowerment NGO with multi-province operations. Directly comparable to SFEA's Women Can Do, FCTEW, and gender-responsive programming targeting rural and underserved women in Pakistan.

Broad incumbents

• National Democratic Institute (NDI): U.S.-based democracy support organization with active Pakistan programming on political party development and civic participation. Broader incumbent that overlaps with SFEA on governance themes but operates globally and at significantly larger scale.
• International Republican Institute (IRI): U.S.-based democracy and political party support organization with Pakistan programs. Overlaps with SFEA's parliamentary training and political cadre development but covers far more countries and broader program scopes.
• The Asia Foundation: International development organization with deep Pakistan operations across governance, women's empowerment, and inclusive economic growth. Comparable thematic portfolio to SFEA but at materially larger scale and broader geographic mandate across Asia.
• Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS): German political foundation with Pakistan programming on rule of law, democratic participation, and civic education. Comparable to SFEA's democracy and governance work, with SFEA already partnering with peer German foundation Hanns Seidel Foundation on similar themes.

Emerging players

• International Alert: International peacebuilding organization focused on conflict transformation and security-sector reform. Comparable thematic overlap with SFEA's CVE and peacebuilding portfolio, with a narrower geographic footprint and more concentrated policy focus.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ShaoorF
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCEBVSrDsqlM-TrTpJ0-e3MA
• Facebookfacebook.com/sfeapak
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/shaoor-foundation-for-education-and-awareness
• Instagraminstagram.com/shaoorfoundation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Shaoor Foundation for Education and Awareness