Farzana Baduel
President-elect (2026) of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations and CEO and Co-founder of Curzon PR (UK), is a leading specialist in global strategic communications. She advises entrepreneurs at Oxford’s Said Business School, co-founded the Asian Communications Network (UK), and serves on the boards of the British Asian Trust, the Halo Trust, and Soho Theatre. Recognised on the PRWeek Power List and Provoke Media’s Innovator 25, she also co-hosts the podcast, Stories and Strategies. Farzana champions diversity, social mobility, and the power of storytelling to connect worlds.
A Humbling Reset: What Clearing Mines in Northern Sri Lanka Taught Me About Safety, Dignity, and Real Reconstruction
Sometimes life delivers a humbling reset. Last week, I travelled eight hours north from Colombo to Jaffna with The HALO Trust, the world’s largest humanitarian demining organisation.
The psychology of Feedback: Why Our Egos Get in the Way of Growth
Every leader has been told that feedback is essential. Business books and management consultants have built empires on frameworks for how to give feedback, how to make it “constructive,” how to cushion it with praise, how to ensure it lands softly.
Cognitive Load: The Invisible Weight We All Carry
Like most working mothers, I juggle. I juggle being a mother, a wife, a daughter, a businesswoman who runs a strategic communications firm, and someone who sits on several charity boards. Multitasking is a constant companion.
Inside Prague’s Forum Media 25: Where the Battle for Truth Begins
The last week of November, Prague, a city whose beauty is matched only by its sense of history played host to the 25th anniversary of the Foreign Media Forum, one of Europe’s most respected gatherings for strategic communications, political messaging, and media scholarship. It was my first time attending this long-running conference, and indeed my first time in the Czech capital. Yet from the moment I arrived, it was immediately clear why this ev
A Changing World Calls for New Skills in the Boardroom
Last week I chaired a panel at the Chartered Institute of Public Relations National Conference which explored a question that, until recently, many in our profession never imagined would be asked. Should PR professionals serve as non-executive directors as a standard. The discussion was lively and thoughtful, and what struck me most was how quickly the room agreed on one thing. Boards need communications expertise now more than ever. Our skills,
THE BBC, TRUST, AND THE GREY RHINO WE ALL SAW COMING
There are very few media organisations in the world that genuinely transcend their national borders.
SRI LANKA MUST WIN THE PR BATTLE FOR ITS ECONOMIC FUTURE
Every few years, Sri Lanka finds itself at the same crossroads, compelled to prove, once again, that it deserves continued access to the European Union’s GSP+ trade concession.
WHEN WOMEN LEAD, NATIONS RISE
In the grand committee rooms of the British Parliament, under the portraits of old white men and centuries of history, I sat among women who embodied a new kind of leadership.
RAISING THE RESILIENT GENERATION
When I was growing up, slippers could fly. Not figuratively, but quite literally across the room. Discipline was swift, emotional, and entirely unfiltered. It was how many of us learned boundaries, accountability, and a certain rough-edged resilience. You got scolded, you cried, you moved on.
The Stories That Bind Us
From ancient myth to modern cinema, the same universal story continues to unfold. What Joseph Campbell called “the hero’s journey” is not only found in books and films, but also in the lives we live and the stories we tell in Sri Lanka and beyond.
Learning the Art of Negotiation
For years I mistook people pleasing for diplomacy. It took time, training and humility to realise that negotiation is not conflict but connection. I have always been a people pleaser. Even as a child, I would go
The Currency of Influence In everyday life, persuasion, not power, moves the world forward.
Last week in New York, I found myself watching the dance of influence at the United Nations General Assembly. Delegations swept into meetings with carefully chosen phrases. Leaders leaned into the right photo opportunities. Civil society groups worked the corridors, and corporate chiefs reminded everyone that markets can move faster than treaties.
Manufacturing Consent
Edward Bernays was born in 1891 in Vienna, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His family emigrated to New York when he was still a child. He had a unique connection: he was the nephew of
FROM COLOMBO TO NEW YORK WHY SRI LANKA NEEDS ITS OWN STAGE AT THE UN
As Sri Lanka marks 70 years as a UN member amid shifting global power, the global south must stop waiting for invitations. By creating its own presence during United Nations General Assembly week through
When Fear Marches Through London
That was the message flooding WhatsApp groups in South Asian communities across London last week.
Soft Power, Strong Future: Why Sri Lanka’s Story Matters.
There is something magical about Westminster on a crisp London evening. Last week, as I walked past the historic buildings glowing in the soft light, I felt the hum of global conversations taking place all around me. Diplomats, academics, journalists and policymakers were gathering for the launch of the Foreign Policy Centre’s latest report on soft power, and I was lucky enough to be in the room. As I listened to the discussions, it struck me tha
