A million minutes: partnering for inclusion with ConnectHear

Sign language training from ConnectHear has helped Standard Chartered colleagues in Pakistan reduce barriers. But our partnership is about so much more.

10 July 2024

3 mins

Sustainability

ConnectHear started as a small business on Facebook. Today, it is South Asia’s largest accessibility service provider.

The company has given more than a million minutes of sign language interactions and consulted on accessibility for over a hundred companies – including Standard Chartered.

Working with women-led social enterprises such as ConnectHear echoes our commitment to supplier diversity and inclusion at work.

Training from ConnectHear has given colleagues in Pakistan a way to reduce barriers – but our partnership is about so much more.

Skills for growth

Standard Chartered launched Women in Tech in Pakistan in 2019 to support women entrepreneurs. In 2020, ConnectHear was one of the winners, receiving a seed grant as well as mentoring, coaching and skills training to help grow their business to the next level.

Standard Chartered is extremely proud to have sponsored ConnectHear’s new initiative, Access.Ability.Careers. Over a thousand people attended this job fair for people with disabilities.

Becoming a team

“Throughout the partnership we have very much become a team. Through specialist sign language courses and career fairs, ConnectHear have supported us in driving a more inclusive culture internally,” says Saadya Riaz, Head, Wealth & Retail Banking at Standard Chartered Pakistan.

“We hope to continue this partnership towards our collective aspiration of a disability-inclusive Pakistan.”

Scaling with support

For their part, ConnectHear’s leadership say working with Standard Chartered has pushed them to innovate and grow.

“Working with SCB has demonstrated the scalability of our solutions, showing that our accessibility initiatives can be effectively implemented on a large scale,” says co-founder Azima Dhanjee.

“The collaboration has pushed us to innovate and adapt our offerings and meet the specific needs of a financial institution.”

Learning from each other

Just as Standard Chartered colleagues have learnt new skills from ConnectHear, so too has the business developed through our partnership.

“Our experience with Standard Chartered has taught us effective client management and satisfaction practices, helping us maintain high standards and address client needs proactively,” says Dhanjee.

CTO and co-founder Arhum Ishtiaq agrees. Working with a company in a regulated industry can involve a long onboarding process, but Ishtiaq credits colleagues within the Bank with helping his team understand how to approach it.

“We’ve learnt how to manage this more carefully leaving us with more experience and skills we can leverage in the future,” he says.

Better together

As industry leaders, we all have a responsibility to lead by example. The partnership with ConnectHear is just one example of how working with partner organisations can help us drive positive change, and build a future where everyone has an equal opportunity to thrive.

“We are proud to have Standard Chartered as our accessibility partner,” Dhanjee says.

“Together we hope this collaboration serves as a catalyst to ignite a sense of purpose and nudge organizations to prioritize sustainable practices, social responsibility and embrace avenues to create a more equitable and just society.”