ZafigoX returns stronger than ever this October 2024 with a lineup of awe-inspiring women spearheading the way across multiple industries!
Simple introductions are insufficient for these six admirable figures, but we at Zafigo understand our responsibility to keep your excitement at bay as we gear up for your dream weekend.
Thus, we present to you the international speakers who will be joining us this year to enrich and rejuvenate you both physically and mentally:
Plestia Alaqad
Palestinian Journalist & Activist
Having witnessed over four Israeli aggressions throughout her life, this Gaza-born-and-raised 22-year-old Palestinian journalist started reporting on the Israeli war in 2023. Her fearless coverage has amassed her more than four million followers on Instagram alone, with her work featured by major international media outlets such as Al Jazeera, The New York Times, the BBC, and The Washington Post.
Outside of journalism, Plestia Alaqad is also an author, poet, and activist advocating for Palestine. This TEDx Talk alum is showing no signs of stopping, especially with the impact she has been making through her coverage of calling for more worldwide attention towards Palestinians’ lifelong suffering and the genocide they’re currently enduring.
As ZafigoX approaches, her commanding presence is definitely felt as we anticipate the personal stories she will have to share with us. Her session will be one to exemplify through the waves of courageous spirit she is sure to awaken among those present.
Sara Jane Ho
Etiquette Expert & Host of ‘Mind Your Manners’ on Netflix
Gracing Netflix with her Daytime Emmy-nominated program Mind Your Manners, this etiquette expert is no stranger to everyone. Pre-Netflix, she developed, produced, wrote, and starred in The Sara Show, a prime-time weekly lifestyle show on Beijing Television that amassed over 3 million views in its first run. Her guests in the first season include the likes of Marie Kondo, Jessica Alba, Arianna Huffington, and Jean Georges.
Sara Jane was quite the traveller growing up. Spending her earliest years in Papua New Guinea, she moved to England and Hong Kong, where she attended the German Swiss International School. However, the U.S. remains her longest home after she relocated to the country at 14, and thus, she got most of her education there, including an MBA from Harvard Business School.
While there is no shame in being ourselves, what you can anticipate from Sara Jane’s session is the delicate art of being our best selves through good manners. Perhaps you will find yourselves with an elevated sense of social fluency after a rejuvenating slot with Sara Jane Ho!
Dr. Mona Minkara
Assistant Professor of Bioengineering at Northeastern University
Passionately committed to the mindset that ‘Vision is More than Sight’, Dr Mona Minkara is a blind scientist, adventurer, and storyteller who has been pushing boundaries since losing her eyesight at a young age. She currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Bioengineering at Northeastern University with the Minkara COMBINE Lab under her wing while continuing to strive for inclusivity and accessibility in STEM fields for people like herself.
In addition, she is also the Founder and Creative Lead behind the original YouTube travel show, Planes, Trains, and Canes (PTC). This platform introduces the global audience to the diverse cultural experiences of public transportation and inspires reflection on hidden assumptions about disability and independence.
Mona has been a guest on many podcasts, discussing her advocacy, sciences, and PTC, including our Hello Zafigo podcast in 2020. Posing to her PTC audience with the challenge of considering freedom in new ways, she is an individual with refreshing perspectives that will broaden your horizons in life.
Noelle Martin
Activist, Researcher, & Lawyer
Being an awardee of the Young Western Australian of the Year, honouree on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list, and included in Marie Claire’s Power List in 2023, Noelle Martin is an acclaimed activist, researcher, and lawyer. Her instrumental fight in tackling image-based abuse and deepfake abuse around the world goes unnoticed, especially with the uprising of related cases lately.
This consistency in her fight for human rights and women’s rights in the digital age is admirable, barely grazing the tip of the iceberg of what ZafigoX attendees can expect to hear from her approaching session. As a survivor of image-based abuse herself, Noelle is someone that the audience can rely on for an insightful conversation on navigating this issue as stories like her own continue to permeate through modern society.
Dr. Sakia Haque
Doctor, Social Worker, & Co-Founder of Travellettes of Bangladesh
Dr. Sakia Haque is one of the first two women to ever travel across all 64 districts of Bangladesh on a motorcycle! As co-founder of Travelettes of Bangladesh – an organization of 77,000 women that aims to empower women through travel – her spirit resonates with Zafigo’s, speaking to travelling women worldwide.
Through her project, নারীর চোখে বাংলাদেশ/Bangladesh through women’s eye, Sakia has interacted with 23,000 girls, led talks about menstrual health, and arranged self-defence workshops for them. The high number of volunteers who continue to arrange workshops for schools in Bangladesh establishes their presence and connection across the community.
Sakia is also not easily halted by tough barriers, which has led her to win several awards, including the Acumen Fellowship, Diana Award, Youth Excellence Award, etc.
Her journey has been extensively presented at TEDx, Berlin Travel Festival, ZafigoX, and most recently, on BFM. Listen to the podcast here:
Extending upon her last attendance as our lauded speaker at ZafigoX 2018, this ZafigoX alum will be gracing us with her presence again this year, and she will have a lot more wisdom to share with the audience.
The conference will be packed with all things wonderful especially made just for you! Seal the deal with your family and friends with our Conference Group Ticket at RM400 for 3 people (An individual conference ticket is RM150.) by clicking the button below.
13th October 2024
9:00am to 5:00pm
The Space, Menara KEN TTDI, Kuala Lumpur
Ticket price: RM150 (inclusive of access to all panel sessions)
Group ticket: RM400 (for 3 people)
Our sixth international speaker is no less special and will be present for ZafigoX on Saturday, 12th October 2024 for a limited-capacity sharing session!
Asma Khan
Chef, Owner of Darjeeling Express
This India-born personality is a force to be reckoned with in the London culinary scene. Asma Khan’s speciality is serving authentic, homestyle food in the city’s heart through her Michelin Guide-listed restaurant, Darjeeling Express. An activist at heart, Asma Khan’s strong commitment to grassroots social and environmental causes is evident through the all-female kitchen under her wing which remains a constant favourite among Hollywood A-listers.
Recognised in TIME magazine as one of 2024’s 100 most influential people in the world, this chef advocate for the UN World Food Programme is also the first British Chef ever to be profiled on Netflix’s Emmy-nominated Chef’s Table while also having appearances in Celebrity Masterchef and Top Chef. She has written two award-winning cookbooks so far and is currently working on a third.
As a sought-after keynote speaker, we cannot promise that your mouth would not be watering from both admiration and hunger as Asma intimately shares her journey at ZafigoX soon. However, we can promise you would not want to miss it for anything else happening over the weekend!
12 October 2024, Saturday
10:40am to 11:40am
The Space, Menara KEN TTDI, Kuala Lumpur
The excitement is already through the roof, and we can’t wait to take you through a charged weekend soon.
Once you’ve booked your spots, all that is left to do is to mark your calendars, press that countdown button to D-Day, and sit back as we gear up for a rejuvenating weekend. See you there!
