Building the Next Generation of Ethical Leaders.

What if the most important thing we could teach children isn't a subject, but a way of being? Drawing on Conscioushood's framework of 20 human virtues, from courage and empathy to honesty and perseverance, Maryam makes the case for character as the foundation of everything: learning, leadership, and a life well lived.

She draws on her experience reporting on children in armed conflict for the UN Security Council, her work with educators across the world, and the science of moral development to show how families, schools, and organisations can make virtue a daily practice, not a once-a-year assembly.

Best for: education conferences, school leadership events, parenting summits, wellbeing forums, NGOs working with children.

Courage isn't the absence of fear. It is the decision that something else matters more. In a time of screen addiction, rising anxiety, and global uncertainty, how do we raise children who know who they are and what they stand for?

Maryam combines her experience as a conflict journalist, a parent, and the co-founder of Conscioushood to explore what courage, resilience, and empathy look like in practice, at the breakfast table, in the classroom, and in the moments that define us. Includes practical tools from the Conscioushood virtue deck.

Best for: parenting conferences, family wellbeing events, school communities, faith organisations.

Across two decades of reporting from conflict zones, Maryam has witnessed what happens when empathy breaks down at scale. She has also seen what happens when it holds: communities that rebuild, leaders who listen, children who grow.

This talk draws on Conscioushood's neuroscience-backed virtue framework to explore why empathy is not a soft skill but a survival skill, for teams, for schools, and for societies navigating fracture and change.

Best for: corporate leadership events, HR and people teams, NGOs, international development organisations.