Asia Sharif

Asia Sharif is a multi-award-winning software engineer, mentor, and inspirational speaker whose extraordinary journey spans continents and defies expectations. After fleeing war-torn Somalia and growing up in the UK foster care system in her teens, often labelled “troubled” as a child, Asia defied the odds. 

By teaching herself to code during lockdown, eventually becoming a prominent figure in fintech and a multi-award-winning engineer. Along the way, she has mentored dozens of aspiring technologists and advocated for greater diversity in tech, especially for women of colour and those from underrepresented backgrounds.

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Asia’s life took another dramatic turn when she was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer in the midst of her rising career. Her resilience in overcoming multiple relapses, a stem cell transplant, and the loss of her physical identity has made her a powerful voice on what true resilience really means; Asia continued to inspire, despite the obstacles against her.

In her TEDx talk, Asia shares how breaking down and rebuilding from the ground up shaped her life, and how we can engineer identities that are truly our own. Her story is a testament to the power of breaking the mold, embracing vulnerability, and finding strength in rebuilding.