Talyn Rahman-Figueroa

Talyn Rahman-Figueroa (née Talyn Rahman; Bengali: তালিন রহমান; born 8 May 1985) is a British diplomatic consultant and Executive Director and founder of Grassroot Diplomat.^[1]

Early life

Rahman-Figueroa was born and brought up in London, England to Bangladeshi parents.^[2] As a child, she was a fan of fighting video-games and the arts, and participated in theatre performances around London.

Education

In 2008, Rahman-Figueroa received her BA in Japanese and Management from SOAS, which included further language training at the Kyoto University of Foreign Studies in Kyoto, Japan.^[3][4]

In 2010, she was awarded the Diplomatic Academy of London scholarship to pursue a postgraduate degree in Diplomatic Studies, where she gained a Distinction award.^[5]

In 2011, she completed an MA in Diplomatic Studies from the University of Westminster^[3] with additional training at the United Nations and the European Union. She later gained a Diploma in Middle Eastern and North African Politics from Université Al-Akhawayn in Morocco^[3][5][6] and a Human Rights Fellowship at McGill University in Canada.

After her studies, Rahman-Figueroa completed supplementary diplomatic training at the House of Commons, the European Union Commission,^[5][6] and the United Nations Headquarters in New York.^[4]

Career

Rahman-Figueroa spent two years completing her diplomatic training at various global governmental institutions, non-government organisations (NGOs) and government departments.^[7]

Rahman-Figueroa joined the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) to engage in issues of women's rights operated by the United Nations. As an active member, she was nominated on to the executive board where she influenced national campaigns and introduced initiatives to attract younger members. In the same year, she also joined Action for UN Renewal, an organisation that educates the public about the work of the UN, as an executive member updating the organisation's media campaign about the work of the United Nations. She spent much of her time engaging in issues, including women's rights, corporate social responsibility, nuclear disarmament, climate change, militarism, gender justice, and UN reform.^[3] Rahman-Figueroa's work in relation to such issues have been published in foreign policy magazines, including American Diplomacy, Diplomatic Insight, Political Insight and many others.^[3] Her work in these organisations plus many more led her to a career in diplomacy.^[8]

Rahman-Figueroa has participated and attended several international summits such as the Millennium Development Goals Conference, United Nations Climate Change conference and Global Humanitarian Forum^[5] and used this opportunity to network with government officials who were already serving their country on the world stage.^[9] Rahman-Figueroa's work is active in projects based in Sudan, Nigeria, the Pacific Islands, India and Canada, and is in the process of developing a large public conference on "Women's Role in Diplomacy Revisited" for International Women's Day with a celebrity keynote speaker and an all female high-level panelist of ambassadors and grassroots activists.^[10] She is on the board of several NGOs and is a networker in the diplomatic and political sector.^[10]

Grassroot Diplomat

Rahman-Figueroa has been described as changing the nature of diplomacy in building trust between civil society and political leaders.^[3] In 2008, Rahman-Figueroa established Grassroot Diplomat as a not-for-profit.^[2] In 2011, Grassroot Diplomat was launched as a diplomatic consultancy service for governments and civil society.^[11]

Within the first year, Rahman-Figueroa managed to capture 50 national and 39 international news from 14 different countries - all within her own capacity.^[10] Her work and writing on the grassroot diplomacy concept has been covered by international media, including Al Jazeera, Sky TV, The Huffington Post, The Guardian, The Diplomat, Diplomatic Courier, The Muslim Times and Next Women Magazine.^[10] Established in August 2011,^[6][12][13] Grassroot Diplomat has now managed policy-related projects in 10 countries worldwide.

As an unofficial diplomat, Grassroot Diplomat provides her with opportunities to step into the diplomatic realm and liaise with top officials that are otherwise out of public reach.^[8] Over the years,^[4] she has networked with diplomats, political officials and celebrities such as Desmond Tutu, Sir Bob Geldof,^[6] former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Mayor of London Boris Johnson, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and former U.S governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to advocate the necessity in closing the gap between governments and civil society. As an intermediary, she worked with Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus in clearing his name against the smear campaign led by the Bangladeshi government^[10] and worked with the Minister for Equalities Lynne Featherstone MP.^[3]

In January 2013, Rahman-Figueroa hosted the inaugural Grassroot Diplomat Initiative Awards, an award that recognises politicians and diplomats representing civilian interests at the highest level.^[14] She passed on the role to television psychologist Dr Linda Papadopoulos to host the second awards in 2014.

Personal life

Rahman-Figueroa lives in London with her husband, Anthony Figueroa.^[6] She is also former student of the Shotokan Arts,^[15] Taekwondo and Krav Maga. She is an active participant of CrossFit and engages in daily high-intensity interval training known as Tabata.

In February 2013, Rahman-Figueroa's debut novel, Street Fighter: Dream Never Ends, based on the fighting video-game Street Fighter was unofficially published.^[6][15][16]

Awards

In April 2012, Rahman-Figueroa won the Channel S Award for Graduate Excellence.^[10]

See also

• British Bangladeshi
• List of British Bangladeshis

References

External links