Keynotes · Fireside conversations · Panels
Practical leadership for an unpredictable world.
Keynotes and conversations that give your leaders practical tools to decide with incomplete information, do more with less, and keep teams performing under pressure.
- TEDxOxford speaker
- UN Security Council
- World Economic Forum, Davos
- BBC 100 Women
- Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia
- Oxford MPP
- Earth Company Impact Hero 2025
As featured in
Why leaders book Freshta
Lessons tested in the real world.
Freshta brings what she has done, not just what she has read. Her lessons come from building and running an organisation when nothing was certain.
A track record
She founded Charmaghz from nothing, raised international funding and led it for ten years. It reached 62 public schools and won a Library of Congress Literacy Award.
Lessons that travel
Making decisions with incomplete information, adapting plans fast and keeping a team focused apply to any organisation facing change.
Shaped around your room
Every session starts with a conversation about your people and what they are facing, so it speaks directly to them.
Signature keynotes
Three talks for leaders and teams
Each can be given as a keynote or a fireside conversation, and is tailored to your audience.
Leading through uncertainty
How to make good decisions with incomplete information, change plans fast and keep people focused when the future is unclear.
- Your team leaves withA simple way to decide and act when the plan stops working
- Best forLeadership offsites, conferences, change programmes
Build more with less
What it takes to start from nothing, win support and grow with tight resources. Resourcefulness as a leadership skill.
- Your team leaves withPractical ways to find options when budgets and time are short
- Best forTeams facing restructures or budget pressure, founders, growing companies
Resilience that lasts
How leaders keep performance high under long-term pressure, without burning out themselves or their teams.
- Your team leaves withClear habits that protect energy, focus and wellbeing
- Best forPeople and HR teams, managers, wellbeing programmes
International Women's Day · 8 March 2027
Lead in rooms that weren't built for you.
A keynote or fireside conversation for women's networks and International Women's Day events, on confidence, voice and influence, from a woman who has spoken at the UN and Davos.
Work with Freshta
Two ways to work together
Pick the format that fits your event. Not sure? Get in touch and we'll work it out together.
Keynote talk
A story-led talk built around one of the signature themes, with clear takeaways.
- Best forConferences, summits and leadership events
- Length30, 45 or 60 minutes, with optional Q&A
- IncludesBriefing call, tailored talk, bio and photos for your promotion
Panel or moderation
Freshta joins your panel, or hosts it, and keeps the conversation sharp and honest.
- Best forForums, member events and fireside chats
- Length30 to 75 minutes
- IncludesPrep with panellists, question plan, on-stage hosting
Every engagement is tailored, and you'll receive a proposal after you share your brief.
What your team gets
Practical takeaways your team will use.
- A clear way to make decisions when the plan stops working
- Practical tools for resourceful leadership under pressure
- Habits that protect performance without burning people out
- A memorable story that gives the ideas staying power
Watch
See Freshta on stage
Three talks that show what Freshta brings to a room, and where it all began.
TEDxOxford
Three Leadership Lessons from the Frontlines of Extreme Uncertainty
Drawing on ten years of leading an organisation through extreme uncertainty, Freshta shares three practical lessons for any leader taking a team through change.
Watch on YouTube ↗
Earth Company · Bali 2025
Heroes Night 2025: Impact Hero talk
Named an Earth Company Impact Hero for 2025, Freshta spoke at Heroes Night in Bali about building mobile libraries for children in Afghanistan.
World Economic Forum · Davos 2022
"Prioritise education for girls"
Speaking to global leaders at Davos, Freshta made the case for girls' education, and for Afghan girls in particular, as a priority that cannot wait.
Watch on YouTube ↗Where it began
A 12-year-old news presenter
At 12, Freshta presented a children's news programme on Afghan television. It's where her love of storytelling began.
Where she has spoken
Trusted on global stages
Panel: social entrepreneurship in conflict and post-conflict settings
Panel on journalism, conflict and the girls left behind
Sixth Form enrichment talk
Opening session keynote to education ministers
- UN Security CouncilBriefing on Afghanistan
- Sherborne GirlsLeadership Q&A with students
- Earth Company Heroes NightImpact Hero talk, Bali 2025
- Monkton Combe SchoolThe Knight Lecture
About Freshta
A founder and CEO with a proven record.
Freshta founded Charmaghz and built it from nothing into one of Afghanistan's best-known education organisations. Over ten years it grew to more than a million library visits by children across 62 public schools, with a team that was 72% women. She raised international funding, led through political upheaval, and won a Library of Congress Literacy Award.
She has addressed the UN Security Council, spoken at Davos and written for The Economist. Today she helps companies, universities and leadership teams lead through change with clarity.
- Master's in Public Policy, Oxford
- WEF Young Global Leader
- BBC 100 Women
- Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia
- Library of Congress Literacy Award
- Former Senior Advisor, Malala Fund
- Earth Company Impact Hero 2025
How it works
Booking is simple
Email Freshta
Send a short email with your date, audience and goals.
Get a tailored proposal
Freshta reads every email herself, replies with a short questionnaire, then sends a proposal shaped around your answers.
Shape it together
A briefing call makes sure the session fits your audience and your moment.
Get in touch
Get a tailored proposal for your team
Tell Freshta about your event and she will come back with a tailored proposal.
Email Freshta directly
freshtakarim123@gmail.com
Email address copied.
Helpful to include in your email:
- Your organisation and your role
- The event date, or rough timing
- Who will be in the room, and roughly how many people
- Which talk interests you (or "not sure yet")
- What you would like people to take away