Taban Shoresh was a teenager when she escaped genocide in Iraq. She escaped to the UK, where she grew up, but quit her City job to go back to Kurdistan to help refugees displaced by conflict, and set up Lotus Flower.


Lotus Flower is a non-profit that supports women and girls impacted by conflict and displacement. They empower vulnerable women and girls so that they are safe, have opportunities to learn, given the tools to become financially independent and have the freedom to speak out and lead change.They create and operate community centres for women and girls that provide programming structured around 6 pillars chosen in accordance with the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. Each centre offers bespoke programming based on the community's needs and incorporating their feedback, with classes like boxing, English language and computing skills.


Follow Lotus Flower on Twitter and Instagram @thelotusf and find out more at www.thelotusflower.org


Follow Future Heist on Instagram and Twitter @future_heist for episode updates, news and giveaways. 


Produced and recorded by Rena Niamh Smith
Theme music by Benjamin Tassie
Artwork by Fleur Beck
Sound engineering by Simon Guy
Special thanks to Chloe Vasseghi