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A workforce for the future debate at the National Liberal Club

A special invitation was extended to Safaraz Ali as a thought leader and influencer in the diversity, equity and inclusion arena by the Diversity Working Group and the Commonwealth Forum of the National Liberal Club in London.

“It can be too easy to live in an echo chamber of our creation, talking to people who violently agree with us. That is why it is so important to take the big messages about the workforce of now and the future and generally about skills and employability to audiences that may not be discussing these regularly. I was very pleased that I agreed to this and found myself away from my usual ‘beat’ and in the Downton Abbey style setting of the National Liberal Club in central London, just a few hundred yards from the Houses of Parliament.”

Safaraz Ali

The National Liberal Club is one of the tremendous historic London Clubs, founded in 1882 by William Gladstone, the standout Prime Minister of the 19th century.

It has an illustrious list of current and former members, including Lloyd George, the Prime Minister at the end of the First World War and Winston Churchill, Prime Minister for much of the Second World War and again in the 1950s.

Dr Elizabeth Negus, who is an international speaker on Educational issues and a judge for the English-Speaking Union’s Churchill Public Speaking – the largest public speaking competition in her role as a Committee member and Chair of the Diversity Group, stated, “we have been working with Safaraz and his team to invite him to over to share with us his journey, his thoughts and views on all things relating to diversity in its current settings as well as the employability and skills situation of the country. It is our delight to host him, and we thank him sincerely for his contribution”.

Some of the unique points that were debated included:

We all see life through the prism of our own experience.
There are opportunities in most situations.
Education is a powerful lever in levelling up but not the only factor.
Life is a relay race, not a sprint.

Nothing is guaranteed, and change is part of life. The group that attended included leading correspondents and members of various policy think tanks, a representative from Bloomberg and Lambeth Council, one of the most significant local authorities in the country, as well as international and national journalists, in addition to being broadcasted across different platforms.

Pathway Group is known for open networking and opportunities where we can collaborate, and for its phrase: Everything starts with a conversation. So, let’s talk