- Award-winning author of "A Dutiful Boy"
- Advocate for LGBT rights, BAME representation, and social mobility
- Recognised by The Financial Times as a top future LGBT leader
Mohsin Zaidi is an award-winning author, commentator, and lawyer. His memoir, A Dutiful Boy (Penguin, 2020), received critical acclaim and was named a Book of the Year by the Guardian, GQ, and New Statesman. It also won the Lambda Literary Award. The Guardian praised it as a profound meditation on cultural contradictions and acceptance, while The Times described it as a life-saving book.
The first from his school to attend Oxford University, Mohsin qualified as a lawyer at the international firm Linklaters and is now a criminal barrister at a leading chamber in England. He has worked at a UN War Crimes tribunal in The Hague and served as a Judicial Assistant to Lord Sumption and Lord Wilson at the UK Supreme Court.
An advocate for LGBT rights, BAME representation, and social mobility, Mohsin sits on the board of Stonewall and is recognised by The Financial Times as a top future LGBT leader. He regularly comments on Sky News and writes for CNN Style, The i Newspaper, Bustle, Mr Porter, and Newsweek. Recently, he was listed in The Lawyer Magazine Hot 100 and named a trailblazer by Attitude magazine.
Mohsin's showreel and videos
Topics, sessions and talks
Destigmatising Mental Health
In this session, Mohsin Zaidi addresses the stigma around mental health within ethnic minority communities. He draws a parallel between this and a cultural stigma around discussing mental well-being in the workplace. Through very personal and, at times, harrowing tales, Mohsin articulates the case for honesty in personal identity within yourself but also at work and amongst colleagues.
Understanding And Exploring Social Mobility
The single most pressing issue of diversity facing society and businesses is the one to which we give the least attention. While measures of equity on race, gender, and sexuality move in the right direction, the gap between rich and poor continues to widen. Through personal experience of growing up in a council house and going to a school ridden with gang violence (a school from which he became the person to go to Oxford University), Mohsin Zaidi addresses the issue of class bias and discusses what we can do about it.
Intersectionality: A Personal Perspective
None of us are just one thing, and Mohsin Zaidi is the personification of an intersectional life. On race, Mohsin has the facts and figures to back up the experiences of ethnic minorities we so often hear about in the news. On class, he speaks candidly about the difference between the world he came from and the world he now lives in. On sexuality, he describes the struggle to accept yourself in the face of cultural stigma. But the strength in his experience lies in the intersectional tale it tells.
The Power Of Representation
Through eye opening stories in a professional and personal context, Mohsin Zaidi explains how diverse representation in key roles doesn’t just demonstrate a commitment to being an inclusive organisation but adds value to it.
LGBTQ+, Pride and Allyship
Mohsin Zaidi passionately addresses the challenges of being a minority within a minority, exploring intersectionality and the true meaning of pride. He discusses the issues of racism and sexism within the queer community, offering strategies to combat these challenges. Mohsin emphasises the importance of embracing one's whole identity for improved wellbeing and highlights the power of allyship. Attendees will learn how workplaces can foster inclusivity and support their LGBTQ+ employees effectively.
Why we recommend booking Mohsin
Book Mohsin Zaidi as a speaker to inspire your team with his remarkable journey from a challenging background to becoming an award-winning author and top criminal barrister. His insights on diversity, acceptance, and social mobility are not only compelling but also transformative for any audience. Elevate your event with his powerful narrative and expert commentary on critical social issues.
I have engaged Mohsin as a speaker twice, once at BBC Studios for its Inclusion Summit in 2017 and again at The LEGO Group in time for National Coming Out Day in 2020. Mohsin is an engaging and charismatic speaker on D&I topics including social mobility and mental health, who gives his audience pause for thought and opens up valuable discussions within organisations. Mohsin's professional experience means he is a great collaborator in terms of designing a keynote session or panel discussion, and in both instances I've seen Mohsin tailor his content to specific audiences. The feedback on both his appearances has been excellent
Charlie Henniker
LEGO Group, LEGO Group
A Dutiful Boy is utterly brilliant, and a conversation with Mohsin to get an even deeper insight into his experiences is even better than that. At Mental Health First Aid England we had an hour long conversation. Mohsin answered our questions candidly and generously. I know from feedback that we got goose bumps, felt his pain and felt his joy. The sign of a brilliant conversation is wanting more when it finishes. I was left wanting more
Simon Blake
CEO, Mental Health First Aid England
I hosted an event between PwC and NatWest where Mohsin talked about his book and the themes in it with PwC's Head of Client Experience…[it was] one of the largest events we have ever had in the Diversity and Inclusion space both virtually and in person. I have had a huge amount of positive feedback after the event that it was an incredibly important set of topics to cover (including social mobility and mental health) and that it was great that our company had taken the time to discuss them. Mohsin was a pleasure to work with - helped us prepare appropriately and spent a good amount of time with the facilitator to get her up to speed. He was brilliant on the day and helped us navigate through some difficult yet important questions.
