Lawyer, Policy Strategist & Mission Holder, Dark Matter Labs
Zehra works at innovation agency Dark Matter Labs (Dm) on global governance, risk and diplomacy issues and as mission holder for an area called Planetary Civics. Dm is a co-founder of the Planetary Civics Inquiry which envisions a future governed by principles of planetary stewardship and governance and aims to expand global thinking and governance through the lens of ‘the planetary’ as interconnected systems and their entanglements. Supply chains and sustainability are a critical component of this work.
She is a qualified UK Solicitor and in her consultancy work, Zehra has built up considerable expertise in global governance, security, diplomacy, international development and humanitarian issues.
Zehra has also been a committed campaigner on humanitarian and social justice issues for the last 20 years. This includes projects launched by the movement We Too Built Britain from the John Ystumllyn rose created as a sign of friendship and tolerance to the Hidden Heroes statues campaign to more diverse banknotes and coinage. In addition, her humanitarian work has supported vulnerable groups in conflicts around the world. Most recently, she has worked tirelessly to support the cause of Afghan women and girls. In the UK, she campaigned successfully to create an All Parliamentary Group on Afghan Women and Girls, co-wrote a Homes for Afghans scheme that was partly adopted by the government and campaigned for and helped deliver the first ever global summit for Afghan women and girls.
She has been awarded an OBE for services to international development, humanitarian action and community cohesion.