In conversation with Zaharan Sofi

“I think it’s important that we are more informed about our government and how capitalism creates various issues that impacts our everyday life.”

- Zaharan Sofi

Image: Zaharan Sofi

Zaharan Sofi is a corporate finance partner by day and an activist by night. She is founder of fast-growing platform @talkingcirclelondon, a platform focused on highlighting key social issues using compelling data. She is currently signed with Bell Lomax Moreton agency to write a book on her journey in dismantling shame for equality.

Why did you decide to go into the financial sector and what steps did you take to get there?

Since college, I studied accounting for A-levels, after some pressure from my mother to get into finance. I was pretty decent in Maths in school so it wasn’t a hard path to take. I then took up accounting and management in university so it’s been over a decade of learning and working in finance! I qualified as a chartered accountant few years ago and have worked in various roles over the years. I thoroughly enjoy working with different teams and collaborating on multiple projects.

 What words of advice would you have for anyone who wanted to pursue a career as a Finance Business Partner?

To be honest, if you want to be in finance, it isn’t necessary for you to study finance in university or even college. My bosses studied politics and psychology in university. I think it’s important to study what you love and excel in that first before thinking about your career. At the moment, the finance industry is going through massive change due to the fast development of technology. I would recommend that people diversify their skills and look at how they can use technology in their jobs to give them an edge.

 Can you tell us a bit more about Talking Circle?

Talking Circle is a platform which discusses key issues such as abortion, prison system or even housing crisis using recent data, which we present in easy and digestible format. We launched in June 2020 to create a safe space for people to talk about social issues, some controversial, others uncomfortable. Ideally we wanted to create events but since the pandemic we moved online which helps us reach more people.

I think it’s important that we are more informed about our government and how capitalism creates various issues that impacts our everyday life. But what makes this platform different is that we focus on action. Ideally, we want to protest in person but we found that it’s also effective for people to engage with their local MPs and get involved with government petitions to be debated in parliament.

Our followers are now more familiar with their local MPs, so we can put pressure on them to represent us when it’s time for them to vote in parliament on issues. MPs care a lot about their media image nowadays, and so digital activism is definitely becoming more effective in getting things done. We also support other charities doing incredible on ground by amplifying their campaigns for donations like Goodwill Caravan who rescue unaccompanied minors who have been travelling on their own to escape war.

What was your motivation for starting Talking Circle?

After decade of austerity, many of us feel powerless with our current government. Poverty and inequality is increasing in one of the world’s richest countries in the world. The reality is that we are the losers in this game, and we will continue to be, so unless we decide to get involved and start making changes ourselves. Once Black Lives Matter protests started in UK, I made a promise to myself that my focus was going to be informing people on why our current system doesn’t work for them. The pandemic has taught us that we were asleep for too long and can no longer claim ignorance when we see injustice.

What do you hope to achieve with Talking Circle?

There are three areas of focus for our platform and our followers:

• Highlight key issues that aren’t covered by news such as controversial laws impacting women, suicide crisis, housing crisis and child poverty (mostly concentrated in London)

• Getting our followers to be more engaged with their local MPs. They are meant to represent you and vote on your behalf in parliament. We need to keep our eyes on them!

• Help charities get more support and funding by highlighting their great work. With more people needing services from charities, they are still doing the same amount of work with very little. We need to support them.

Can you tell us about the work you do with Key4Life?

Essentially, Key4Life, is focused on giving young offenders a second chance. They have a wonderful mentoring scheme where you can be partnered with a young offender to help them navigate life after prison. Anyone can do this and it’s so rewarding for them to know they are not alone.

The national re-offending rate is 64% but with Key4Life, this drops to 16% which is incredible. I started working with them few years ago and currently mentor two men. You get to go inside prisons and visit them to build a rapport. At first, I couldn’t believe how kind they were. It’s incredible how media presents these young offenders as aggressive thugs when in reality, they have been abandoned by society and need a safe loving environment like the rest of us. My mentees are both wonderful and cheerful human beings want to live a life with dignity like the rest of us. Fortunately many companies accept employees with criminal record and Key4Life has incredible opportunities for the young offenders.

What do you think are some of the most overlooked social issues in the UK right now? And what do you think people need to start doing to combat them?

While abortion is legal in England and Wales, it has actually not been decriminalised. Northern Ireland only decriminalised abortion in 2019. This means you do not have the right to terminate pregnancy before 24-weeks unless you meet specific criteria, one of which is that having a baby will cause grave, permanent injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman. Also, the 1967 Abortion Act required that the procedure must be certified by two doctors before being performed. This means doctors can deny your request for abortion.

Another issue being overlooked is our prison system which is slowly being privatised. The UK Government is in the middle of building mega prisons in Yorkshire. This means we will continue to invest in harsh punishment for crime, despite the fact that most studies prove that harsh sentences do not actually reduce crime. Rehabilitation has been proven to reduce crime and cost taxpayers much less than keeping people in prison.

What’s next for you and for Talking Circles?

We hope to expand the team and collaborate with other activists to prepare us for the UK general elections in 2024. We hope to influence our followers to vote for the party that represents us. We hope to push more petitions to parliament for debate and actually influence changes using digital activism. Also We hope to work with other big charities to help them with their campaigns. Currently we are working with Crisis and Goodwill Caravan which we are very excited about.

What’s the most important piece of advice you’ve been given?

Everybody is winging it so just do your best. 

 

Who inspires you?

Sounds like a cliché but my mother is my inspiration. She escaped civil war and managed to run a successful business with no education. She is a true feminist who protected us from female circumcision despite pressure from our community.

What does International Women's Day mean to you?

Solidarity. To celebrate other women from all over the world. To celebrate them equally. IWD reminds me that we still have a long way to go.

Instagram: @talkingcriclelondon