Available to book
Mohsin Zaidi
LGBTQ+
Diversity and Inclusion
Social Mobility
Transform workplace diversity with Mohsin Zaidi, speaker, award-winning author and barrister. Mohsin works with organisations to advance LGBT inclusion and social mobility, delivering powerful insights backed by Lambda Literary Award recognition and Financial Times future leader status.
Pride
Legal
Inclusion
Author
Executive
Inspirational
IDAHOBIT
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.
Topics, sessions and talks
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Testimonials
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frequently asked questions
Something we've not covered here?
Email mohsin.zaidi@getapeptalk.com or call PepTalk on +44 20 3835 2929 (UK) or +1 737 888 5112 (US), and one of our speaker agents will contact you within hours to confirm Mohsin's availability and fees. If you can, please include your budget upfront – it helps us fast-track your request. It’s also helpful to know the date, format (virtual or in-person), location, and a bit about your audience.
Mohsin Zaidi draws on personal memoir — rooted in his published autobiography, A Dutiful Boy — to structure his sessions, weaving first-hand accounts of class, race, and sexuality into a narrative that moves between lived experience and data-backed analysis.
Mohsin Zaidi speaks on mental health stigma in ethnic minority and workplace contexts, social mobility and class bias, and intersectionality across race, sexuality, and identity. His memoir, A Dutiful Boy (Penguin, 2020), won the Lambda Literary Award and was named a Book of the Year by the Guardian, GQ, and the New Statesman.
No. PepTalk adds no booking fee, so you pay the speaker's fee and nothing beyond it. The service, from shortlist through to contracts and event-day logistics, is included. For repeat or multi-event bookings, PepTalk can agree preferential rates with your procurement team.
Share your event date, audience, format, objectives and budget, and PepTalk sends a hand-picked shortlist within 24 hours. Each suggestion comes with a profile, a fee and a recommendation on the strongest fit. Once you choose, PepTalk handles contracts, travel and logistics through to event day.
The typical fee range is the speaker's standard in-person fee in their home market, shown in their local currency. It moves with format, location, date and session length: virtual sessions and shorter slots usually cost less, while international travel and peak dates cost more. Send your brief to PepTalk and the team will confirm the exact fee in your currency.
Not all of them, and it makes no difference to your booking. PepTalk's network of 15,000+ speakers covers talent the team works with directly alongside speakers represented by agents and agencies worldwide. PepTalk approaches the speaker, negotiates the fee and handles contracting either way.
Three to six months ahead is comfortable for most events, and 12 months is better for large conferences, peak-season dates or one specific in-demand speaker. Shorter timelines are workable, and PepTalk regularly fills last-minute and replacement bookings within days. Availability is the constraint, so get in touch as soon as you have a date.
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