Sheeza is co-founder of UpEffect, a crowdfunding platform and consultancy advancing opportunities for socially responsible leaders. Frustrated by disparities in social wealth distribution and funders prioritising conventional products over impactful solutions, Sheeza launched UpEffect in 2016 with her co-founder to equip social entrepreneurs with tools to turn their ideas into ventures. UpEffect's unique crowdfunding support model has driven its 95-percent campaign success rate, helping founders build sustainable enterprises and raise capital directly from socially conscious customers.
Sheeza is a leading voice on Islamic finance and beneficial business models and her work has been covered widely including being named in Forbes' "20 Tech-for-Social-Good Startups to Watch," the Financial Times' "Top 100 Most Influential BAME Leaders in UK Tech," Computer Weekly's "Most Influential Women in UK Tech" and Asians in Tech's "Top 100 Asian Stars in UK Tech." She has also been featured in the National Museum of Computing, Sophos Lab and was recognised as the UK's Business Woman of Excellence by His Holiness Mirza Masroor Ahmad.
Sheeza has guest lectured at Warwick Business School and UCL and was a contributing writer in 'Perspectives on Impact' by Nina Montgomery; the book was endorsed by Nobel Peace Laureate Muhammad Yunus. She has also written for The Guardian and Thomson Reuters. She received an MSc from The University of Nottingham in Computer Science and Entrepreneurship with a Distinction.