Every stitch, a step toward freedom.
Noor Kasheeda Foundation fosters economic self-reliance among underprivileged women and youth by reviving the ancient art of kasheeda-kari, building sustainable livelihoods, and creating direct market linkages that break the cycle of poverty.
Three pillars of sustainable change
Our work recognizes that poverty is not solved by aid alone β it is solved by skill, market access, and pride in one's craft. These three pillars drive everything we do.
Craft revival
We train women in kasheeda-kari and traditional handicrafts, preserving an endangered art form while creating an income-generating skill that can be practised at home.
Market linkages
We connect artisans directly to buyers β removing middlemen, ensuring fair prices, and helping women understand the commercial value of their own work.
Sustainable livelihoods
Beyond craft, we provide business literacy, financial inclusion guidance, and peer support so that artisans can build lasting economic independence for their families.
The word "kasheeda" (Ϊ©Ψ΄ΫΨ―Ϋ) means "to draw out" β and that is exactly what this art does: it draws out beauty, patience, and skill from the hands of women who have long been told their work has no economic value. We believe it does, and we are building the structures to prove it.
About Noor Kasheeda Foundation
We are a Pakistani nonprofit foundation dedicated to economic self-reliance for underprivileged women and youth through the preservation and commercialisation of traditional handicrafts β particularly kasheeda-kari embroidery.
Across Pakistan, millions of women practise forms of embroidery, weaving, and textile art inherited across generations. Yet most of this labour is unpaid, informal, and undervalued. Noor Kasheeda Foundation was founded on the belief that the same skills which have always existed in these households can, with the right support and market connections, become a genuine and dignified source of income.
The name "Kasheeda" comes from the Urdu word for drawing out β a reference both to the act of embroidering and to the broader act of drawing out potential, opportunity, and economic agency from women who have long been pushed to the margins of formal economic life.
- OrganizationNoor Kasheeda Foundation
- HeadquartersDefence Mall, Defence Avenue,
Sector A, DHA Phase 1,
Islamabad, Pakistan - Primary focusWomen & youth economic empowerment
- Craft traditionKasheeda-kari & traditional handicrafts
- ScopePakistan (Islamabad & beyond)
- Contactpresident@noorkashedafoundation.cfd
What guides every decision we make
Dignity of work
We reject the idea that craft is a lesser form of labour. Every stitch is skilled work that deserves fair compensation and recognition.
Cultural preservation
Kasheeda-kari is part of Pakistan's living heritage. We believe economic empowerment and cultural preservation are the same act.
Community-led
We do not impose solutions. We listen first. Every programme is designed with the women it serves, not for them.
Three stages of transformation
Skill and confidence
We begin by meeting women where they are β at home, in their communities β offering structured training in kasheeda-kari and other traditional crafts. This phase is about more than technique: it is about building confidence in the commercial value of inherited skill.
Market connection
Skilled artisans are introduced to verified buyers β retail partners, exhibition platforms, and online marketplaces β at prices that reflect the true cost of skilled handwork. We negotiate collectively, protecting artisans from exploitative pricing.
Financial independence
As income grows, we provide business literacy, savings facilitation, and peer mentorship so artisans can manage their earnings, plan for the future, and eventually support other women in their communities.
Kasheeda-kari (Ϊ©Ψ΄ΫΨ―Ϋ Ϊ©Ψ§Ψ±Ϋ) is a form of traditional embroidery practised across Pakistan and the broader South Asian region. Using coloured threads, mirrors, beads, and intricate knotwork, artisans create textiles of extraordinary beauty and complexity β often taking weeks or months to complete a single piece. The craft encompasses dozens of regional styles, from the mirror-work of Sindh to the geometric chain-stitch traditions of Punjab and the phulkari floral motifs of the north.
Today, these traditions are endangered by cheap machine-made imitations. Noor Kasheeda Foundation works to ensure that the women who hold this knowledge can earn a dignified living by practising it.
- Art formKasheeda-kari (embroidery)
- TechniquesChain stitch, mirror-work,
knotwork, phulkari, zardozi - Threatened byMachine imitations &
market undervaluation - Our responseTraining, fair pricing,
direct market access
Mission & goals
To foster economic self-reliance among underprivileged women and youth by reviving traditional handicrafts and kasheeda-kari, establishing sustainable livelihoods, and creating direct market linkages to break the cycle of poverty.
We believe that underprivileged women and youth in Pakistan already possess the skills, creativity, and determination needed for economic independence. What they lack is not talent β it is training, market access, and recognition. Our mission is to supply exactly those three things, and in doing so convert an inherited art into a sustained livelihood.
We envision a future in which the women who practise Pakistan's textile traditions are recognized as skilled workers, compensated fairly, and able to pass their knowledge to the next generation not out of necessity but out of pride. Where traditional craft is a source of economic power, not economic vulnerability.
Six commitments that drive our work
Revive and preserve kasheeda-kari traditions
Document, teach, and celebrate regional embroidery traditions at risk of being lost β including chain stitch, mirror-work, zardozi, phulkari, and kantha techniques β ensuring that craft knowledge is transmitted to the next generation of artisans.
Build vocational skill in underprivileged women and youth
Provide structured, certified training in traditional handicrafts to women and young people who have no access to formal employment or vocational education, prioritising those living below the poverty line and in peri-urban communities.
Create direct, fair market linkages
Connect artisans to domestic and international buyers at prices that reflect the skill and time invested in handmade work β removing exploitative middlemen and ensuring that the financial value of craft reaches the hands that made it.
Establish sustainable household livelihoods
Go beyond one-time income to help artisans build stable, recurring revenue β through product design, quality standards, collective ordering, and repeat buyer relationships β so that craft income becomes a reliable part of household economics.
Develop financial and business literacy
Equip artisans with the knowledge to manage income, set prices, open bank accounts, access credit, and plan for the future β because financial skill is as important as craft skill in achieving lasting independence.
Break the intergenerational cycle of poverty
As mothers earn, children stay in school. As daughters see their mothers' work respected and valued, they build higher aspirations. Our long-term goal is not just economic change in one generation, but a shift in how women's work is understood across generations.
Why Pakistan's women artisans need more than just skill training
Across Pakistan, an estimated 5β7 million women practise some form of traditional textile craft. The vast majority are paid far below the market value of their output β often less than one-fifth of what the finished product sells for at retail. The problem is not skill. It is information, access, and representation.
The middleman gap
Most artisans sell to local middlemen who dictate prices and take the majority of the margin. Artisans rarely know what their products sell for at the final point of sale.
The invisibility problem
Handmade craft is frequently unmarked and unbranded, making it impossible for buyers who want to support artisans to do so. Artisans' work disappears into mass markets without attribution or fair pricing.
The isolation barrier
Many women artisans cannot travel to markets or attend exhibitions due to household responsibilities, cultural restrictions, or lack of transport. Their access to buyers is entirely dependent on who comes to them.
Programs
Each Noor Kasheeda program is designed to address a specific barrier that prevents women artisans from earning a fair income from their craft. Together, they create a complete pathway from skill to sustainability.
Kasheeda Taleem β Craft training
Structured training in traditional embroidery techniques, delivered in community centres, homes, and our Islamabad hub.
Embroidery techniques
Training in kasheeda-kari styles including chain stitch, mirror-work, zardozi, phulkari, and cross-stitch β covering both traditional regional patterns and designs suited to contemporary markets.
Product design and finishing
Instruction in translating embroidery skill into marketable products β cushions, apparel, bags, wall art, and accessories β including quality standards, sizing, and professional finishing.
Community-based delivery
Training comes to the artisans, not the other way around. We deliver at community centres and in home settings so that women with household responsibilities and mobility constraints can participate fully.
What artisans gain
- Mastery of 3β5 embroidery techniques
- Knowledge of product design for market
- A portfolio of finished, saleable pieces
- Peer network of fellow artisans
- Pathway into the Kasheeda Bazaar program
Kasheeda Bazaar β Market access
Direct connections between trained artisans and verified buyers, ensuring fair prices and sustained relationships.
Buyer partnerships
We build relationships with ethical retailers, boutiques, online platforms, and institutional buyers β domestic and international β who have agreed to minimum artisan-fair pricing standards.
Exhibitions and showcases
Regular exhibitions at our Islamabad centre and participation in national craft fairs, design weeks, and cultural events β giving artisans visibility and direct customer feedback.
Online marketplace support
Assistance with photographing products, writing listings, and selling through verified online platforms so that artisans can reach buyers beyond their immediate geography.
How we protect artisans
- Published minimum pricing guidelines
- Collective negotiation on behalf of artisans
- No middleman contracts between buyer and artisan
- Product labelling and artisan attribution
- Direct payment to artisan bank accounts
Kasheeda Khud-Ikhtiari β Livelihood building
Financial literacy, business skills, and peer mentorship for artisans who are ready to build long-term economic independence.
Business literacy
Basic accounting, pricing strategy, stock management, and record-keeping β taught in Urdu, in plain language, with examples drawn directly from the craft context.
Financial inclusion
Support opening bank accounts, understanding digital payments, and accessing saving and credit products designed for women with informal income.
Peer mentorship
Experienced artisans mentor newer cohorts β creating a self-sustaining knowledge network and leadership opportunities within the community.
For questions about any of our programs, please use our .
The artisans
Behind every program is a woman whose hands hold centuries of inherited knowledge. These are the people Noor Kasheeda Foundation exists to serve. The profiles below are representative illustrations of the artisans in our network β real names and photographs are shared only with individual permission.
Faces of the Noor network
Each artisan brings a distinct craft tradition, a distinct story, and a distinct reason for believing that their work has value.
Saira β Islamabad
A mother of four from a peri-urban settlement near Islamabad, Saira learned embroidery from her mother but never imagined it could be a source of income. After completing Kasheeda Taleem, she now supplies a boutique retailer and earns three times what her previous informal work paid.
Nadia β Rawalpindi
Nadia inherited phulkari embroidery from her grandmother β a craft she practised for years without payment. Through Kasheeda Bazaar, she exhibited her work publicly for the first time and received her first international order.
Rubina β Attock district
Rubina attended a community training session in her village and progressed to become one of our peer mentors β now teaching kasheeda techniques to twelve other women in her tehsil while managing her own growing order book.
The embroidery styles we work with
Zardozi
Gold and silver thread embroidery worked on rich fabrics β a Mughal court tradition now practised across urban and peri-urban Pakistan. Highly valued but often underpaid.
Shisha / mirror-work
Tiny mirrors stitched into embroidered fabric using surrounding thread loops β a signature of Sindhi and Balochi textile traditions, widely admired internationally.
Phulkari
Floral embroidery in silk thread on cotton or khadi ground cloth β a tradition from Punjab with roots stretching centuries. The term means "flower work."
Chain stitch
Interlocking loop stitches forming dense, textile-like surfaces β the foundational technique of Kashmiri embroidery (also known as Kashida work) that gives our foundation its name.
Cross-stitch (Kamdani)
Geometric cross-stitch patterns worked on aida or fabric ground β a widely practised style across rural Pakistan with strong regional variation in pattern vocabulary.
Kantha
Running-stitch embroidery creating layered textile surfaces β a tradition shared across the subcontinent, producing textiles of extraordinary tactile richness from simple stitch structures.
Every artisan who works with us is named, credited, and paid fairly.
We believe that the invisibility of craft labour is part of what keeps it undervalued. Noor Kasheeda ensures that every product made through our network carries the artisan's name, region, and craft tradition β because attribution is the first step toward fair payment.
Our impact
We are an early-stage foundation building structures for long-term change. The indicators below reflect our current trajectory and the outcomes we are working toward as our programs mature.
Indicators we track across every program
Income increase
The percentage increase in monthly household income attributable to craft sales, tracked before and after program participation β our primary indicator of economic impact.
Craft knowledge transmission
Whether trained artisans pass techniques on to others in their household or community β indicating cultural preservation alongside economic empowerment.
Market relationships
The number of sustained buyer relationships each artisan holds β distinguishing one-off transactions from the repeat commercial ties that create stable income.
Our theory of change is not simply that craft income lifts individuals. It is that a mother who earns a dignified income from skilled work changes what her daughter expects for herself. She keeps her children in school longer. She invests in her own health. She challenges the assumption that her labour has no economic value. These are the second-order effects we are building toward β and they take time to measure.
We are committed to honest reporting. We do not publish numbers we cannot support. As our programs mature and our data collection develops, we will publish transparent outcome reports on this site.
School enrollment
Children of artisans who participate in our programs show higher school enrollment rates β because income stability reduces the pressure to withdraw children from school.
Savings behaviour
Women who complete the Khud-Ikhtiari program demonstrate measurable changes in savings behaviour β opening formal bank accounts and setting aside income for the first time.
Peer teaching
Many of our artisans go on to teach others in their community β multiplying impact without additional program cost, and creating community-led structures for knowledge transmission.
Whether you are a retailer interested in stocking artisan-made products, an individual who wants to support a woman artisan directly, an organisation that can offer training or funding, or a researcher interested in handicraft economics β we want to hear from you.
Purchase artisan-made products at fair prices
Retail, institutional, or NGO collaboration
Donations, grants, and in-kind contributions
Contact us
Whether you are a buyer, a partner organisation, a potential artisan, a donor, or someone who simply wants to know more about our work β we welcome your message.
Official details
- OrganizationNoor Kasheeda Foundation
- AddressDefence Mall, Defence Avenue,
Sector A, DHA Phase 1,
Islamabad, Pakistan - Emailpresident@noorkashedafoundation.cfd
- FocusWomen & youth economic empowerment through traditional craft
Who should contact us?
Artisans who want to join
Select "Join as an artisan" and tell us your location and craft skills. We will be in touch about upcoming training cohorts near you.
Retailers and buyers
Select "Buy artisan products" and tell us what you are looking for. We can introduce you to artisans whose work fits your needs.
Partners and funders
Select "Partnership or funding" and briefly describe your organisation and your interest in our work.
Press and researchers
Select "Press / research" and we will direct you to the right person for interviews, data, or site visits.
Our Islamabad centre serves as a training space, exhibition venue, and artisan coordination hub. Visits by appointment.
- AddressDefence Mall, Defence Avenue,
Sector A, DHA Phase 1,
Islamabad, Pakistan - Emailpresident@noorkashedafoundation.cfd
- VisitsBy appointment only
Privacy policy
This policy explains what information Noor Kasheeda Foundation collects through this website, how it is used, and the choices available to you.
- Data controllerNoor Kasheeda Foundation
- AddressDefence Mall, Defence Avenue,
Sector A, DHA Phase 1,
Islamabad, Pakistan - Privacy contactpresident@noorkashedafoundation.cfd
How we handle your information
What we collect
When you use our contact form we collect your full name, email address, location, reason for contact, and the message you write. We do not collect payment details, government identity numbers, or sensitive personal data through this website.
How we use it
We use the information solely to respond to your inquiry β whether that is a question about our programs, an expression of interest in joining as an artisan, a partnership proposal, or a media request. We do not use contact form data for advertising or profiling.
How your message is delivered
Contact form submissions are sent to president@noorkashedafoundation.cfd via our web server. If server-side delivery is unavailable, the form opens your own email application so you can send the message yourself β in which case your message is not processed by this website at all.
Browser storage
This site uses your browser's local storage to save an unsent contact form draft on your own device. This draft is never transmitted to us and is cleared once you submit the form.
Cookies and analytics
This website does not use tracking cookies, advertising cookies, or visitor analytics scripts. The only browser storage in use is the contact-form draft described above.
Third-party services
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Artisan data
We hold information about artisans in our network as part of our operational records. Artisan names, photographs, and craft details are never published without explicit individual consent. Artisans may request access to, correction of, or deletion of their records at any time by writing to president@noorkashedafoundation.cfd.