Mohsin Zaidi

Mohsin Zaidi is a qualified lawyer, commentator, and award-winning author.

His 2020 memoir, A Dutiful Boy, provides an insight into issues of diversity, inclusion, justice, and mental health. It won the Polari Prize and the Lambda Literary Award, and was named by the Guardian, GQ, and New Statesman as their best book of the year.

Mohsin Zaidi is an advocate for BAME representation, LGBTQ+ rights, and social mobility. He sits on the board of LGBT charity Stonewall as a trustee, and was named a top future LGBT leader by The Financial Times.

He is also a regular commentator on CNN and Sky News, and has written for Mr Porter, Newsweek, and The Lawyer Magazine.

In 2023, Mohsin and best friend Dalia started up the Tiny Huge Decisions Podcast. The podcast follows the two of them as the may a potential relationship altering choice – whether she will be the gestational surrogate for Mohsin and his husband? Together, they discuss the processing, their choices, and whether it is the worst idea in the world, or the greatest gift a friend can offer.

Contact Great British Speakers today to book diversity speaker Mohsin Zaidi for your next event.

Type Of Talent

DiversityEquality, Diversity & InclusionLGBTQ+ (Pride)Mental HealthSpeaker

More About Mohsin Zaidi

Mohsin Zaidi was the first person from his school to go to Oxford University, qualifying with a BA Law with European Legal Studies. Following his graduation, he worked as an intern at the Office of the Prosecutor, a Research Assistant at Harvard Kennedy School of Government, an Intern for the UK Ministry of Justice, an Associate for Linklaters, and a Judicial Assistant to Lord Sumption and Lord Wilson. In 2015, he transferred to the Bar and became a Barrister for 6KBW College.

He left 6KBW in 2021 and joined the strategic advisory company Hakluyt and Company as a management consultant and director, working with investors and corporates on risks facing their businesses, such as market entry, policy, and regulation. The following year, he co-founded wenup, an online marketplace for couples agreements.

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MOHSIN ZAIDI AUTHOR

Mohsin Zaidi is the award-winning author of the memoir, A Dutiful Boy (2020). Described by The Guardian as “a profound meditation on the power of the human heart to transcend the contradictions of diverse cultures and create something new, utterly compelling…providing a lesson of acceptance for us all, and for the future of our multicultural society”, it won the Polari Prize, and the Lambda Literary Award.

He has featured on CNN, BBC, and Sky News, and has contributed to, and been referenced in, The Times, Vogue, Tatler, GQ, The Irish News, The Guardian, New Statesman, Attitude, and Gay Times. Topics he has covered in print and online publications include essential beach reads, Asian icons, literary prizes, British identity, reading and mental health, law and lawyers, books on Pride, growing up Gay and Muslim, mental health and lockdown, the school curriculum, virtual learning, suicidal thoughts, racism, class and clothing, and religion.

Mohsin Zaidi hire best-selling Author speaker book at agent Great British Speakers

MOHSIN ZAIDI SPEAKING

Mohsin is now a popular keynote speaker on topics including social mobility, sexuality, mental health, race, intersectionality, and representation.

MOHSIN ZAIDI KEYNOTE TOPICS

Mental Health: Mohsin addresses the stigma around mental health, particularly within ethnic minority communities, and draws a parallel between it and the stigma of mental health in the workplace.

LGBTQ+ and Pride: Mohsin speaks passionately about being a minority within a minority. Subjects include racism and sexism in the queer community, hot to combat it, and the positive impact that living as one – instead of as an amalgamation of parts – can have on your wellbeing. He also discusses the power of allyship and making work environments more inclusive.

Social Mobility: While there is more equality in race, gender, and sexuality, the gap between rich and poor continues to widen. Mohsin uses his personal experience of growing up in a council house, going to school ridden with gang violence, and attending Oxford, Mohsin addresses the class bias and what can be done about it.

Diversity & Inclusion, and Intersectionality: None of us are just one thing, and Mohsin uses this talk to explore that further. He provides the facts and figures on ethnic minority experiences; speaks candidly about the differences between the world he grew up in and the world he lives in; and he describes the struggle to accept his sexuality in the face of cultural stigma.

The Power of Representation: Through eye-opening stories of both personal and professional context, Mohsin explains how diverse representation adds value to an inclusive organisation.

Book Group: A Q&A session discussing his critically acclaimed memoir.

Clients include: Airbnb, Lego, Linklaters, pwc, UBS

Call +44 1753 439 289 or email Great British Speakers now to book diversity and LGBTQ speaker Mohsin Zaidi for your next live event or corporate video.

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Testimonials

Mohsin’s speaker session at Bain was incredibly powerful. We had an outpouring of positive feedback after the talk – from people expressing both their gratitude for having the chance to be part of an open conversation on critical intersectional topics, and their praise for Mohsin as a powerful storyteller. If you’re an organization that cares about DE&I and mental health you MUST get Mohsin to come for a session with your people.
Som Holliday, Partner, Bain

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.
Susan Smith, PWC

Mohsin brought every bit of himself to the discussion and let the audience in on the conflict that was raging inside of him for a long time. He deeply moved his listeners and made them re-think what they can do to make their environments more inclusive. He is witty, thought-provoking, eloquent and worth every minute of your time.
Saleh Panahi, Blackstone

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

We were delighted to have Mohsin talk to clients, partners and staff as part of a joint LGBT+ History Month event with Combar, Techbar and the Chancery Bar Association. Having read from A Dutiful Boy, Mohsin answered questions for nearly an hour – candidly engaging across many of the themes and stories so poignantly told in his memoir. He has a way of tackling difficult subjects such as mental health, intersectionality and class authentically, and in a completely non-preachy way. And he was a delight to deal with.
David Stone, Partner, Allen and Overy LLP

It was an absolute pleasure to have Mohsin speaking at the Faculty. The event flowed like no other and the conversation covered so many relevant topics, I wish we had him with us for longer. One could see from the numbers and the kinds of questions we received how needed this conversation was and how inspirational Mohsin story is. He was brilliant and we hope he will consider coming back, once the pandemic is over, as he can definitely captivate an audience!
University of Oxford Law Faculty

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

Poignant, funny, and searingly beautiful, both deeply personal yet often universal in its portrayal of love, family, and religion
The New Arab

The moving personal story of a gay Muslim’s tribulations and triumphs at the interface of family, faith and freedom, told with great candour and eloquence.
Amelia Abraham, DAZED