Sophia Swire is a British social entrepreneur and impact venture capitalist with a focus on gender, climate and sustainability.
Early life
Sophia Swire is the daughter of Humphrey Roger Swire, a director of
Sotheby’s
Sotheby's ( ) is a British-founded multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and maintain ...
,
[Sally Williams, ”Future Brilliance charity gives Afghan women chance to make and sell jewellery”, ''Thurrock Mail'', 15 September 2013] and descendant of
Sir John Swire. Through her mother, Philippa, The Dowager Marchioness Townshend, daughter of Colonel George Jardine Kidston Montgomerie of Southannan
[Burke’s Peerage, volume 1 (2003), p. 1016] who married secondly
George Townshend, 7th Marquess Townshend, she is descended from William the Conqueror, Mary, Queen of Scots and Oliver Cromwell. She has three brothers: Mark, Philip and
Hugo Swire, Baron Swire,
a member of the House of Lords and former Minister of State at the
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is the ministry of foreign affairs and a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom.
The office was created on 2 ...
.
Swire was raised in Britain and educated at
Queen's Gate School
Queen's Gate School is a private day school for girls aged 4–18 in Queen's Gate, South Kensington, London, England.
The '' Good Schools Guide'' described it as a "Charming popular school, with a mixed intake, which does jolly well by its gi ...
in London, and at the
University of Manchester
The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...
, where she graduated in 1986 with a bachelor's degree with honours in the History of Art with Italian.
Career
In the late 1980s, Swire worked in the City of London
The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...
in equity analysis and for Kleinwort Benson
Kleinwort Benson was a leading investment bank that offered a wide range of financial services from offices throughout the United Kingdom and Channel Islands. Two families, the Kleinworts and the Bensons, founded two different merchant banks in ...
in institutional equity sales.[ She left banking after ]Black Monday (1987)
Black Monday (also known as Black Tuesday in some parts of the world due to time zone differences) was a global, severe and largely unexpected stock market crash on Monday, October 19, 1987. Worldwide losses were estimated at US$1.71 trillion. ...
to found a non-profit, Learning for Life .
In 1990, she became noted for selling pashmina shawls through her sustainable fashion brand, after seeing them worn by Bollywood stars at a fund-raising benefit of Imran Khan
Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi (born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician, philanthropist, and former cricketer who served as the 19th prime minister of Pakistan from August 2018 until April 2022. He was the founder of the political party Pak ...
’s in Lahore
Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...
, then finding a source for the shawls at a Himalayan workshop in Nepal.[
In 1993, Swire co-founded Learning for Life, an educational charity, acting as a trustee and chairing its board from 1995 to 2000. This established over 200 schools for girls in rural ]Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
, Pakistan
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
, and India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
, an achievement for which she was awarded the 2010 Award for Empowering Women in Pakistan.
In 2008, at the invitation of Rory Stewart
Roderick James Nugent Stewart (born 3 January 1973) is a British academic, broadcaster, writer, and former diplomat and politician. He has taught at Harvard University and at Yale University. He currently teaches and co-directs the Brady-Jo ...
and the Turquoise Mountain Foundation
The Turquoise Mountain Foundation is a non-governmental organization legally established in Scotland. It takes its name from Turquoise Mountain and initially focused on the enhancement of the Afghanistan craft industry.Felicia CraddockIn Afghanis ...
, she returned to Afghanistan to establish a school for jewellers and gem-cutters at Turquoise Mountain. The first students graduated in 2010.
In 2010, Swire became the senior gemstones advisor to the Afghan Ministry of Mines and Petroleum, with funding from the World Bank.
In 2012, Swire established Future Brilliance, non-profit offering workplace skills and enterprise development training with a focus on Afghan women. She worked to revive the jewellery industry in gemstone-rich areas of Afghanistan.[ The first Future Brilliance Afghanistan project trained 36 Afghan gem-cutting and jewellery artisans in ]Jaipur
Jaipur (; , ) is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the List of cities and towns in Rajasthan, largest city of the north-western States and union territories of India, Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had ...
, India, and assisted them in forming Afghanistan’s first jewellery co-operative and brand, Aayenda Jewelry. Future Brilliance successfully delivered the first Digital Literacy training project in Afghanistan, in 2013, funded by the Canadian Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI).
In October 2013, Swire was announced as a Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
candidate in the European Parliament election of 2014 in South West England and Gibraltar, together with Ashley Fox
Sir Ashley Peter Fox (born 15 November 1969)''Who's Who'' for second forename,birthplace, parents, marriage and family details is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Bridgwater since July 2024 ...
, Julie Girling
Julie McCulloch Girling (born 21 December 1956) is a British politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for South West England between 2009 and 2019, and leader of the Renew Party from 2019 to 2020.
Formerly a Conservat ...
, James Cracknell
James Edward Cracknell, (born 5 May 1972) is a British rowing and endurance athlete, double Olympic gold medalist and winner of six world championship titles. Cracknell was appointed OBE for "services to sport" in the 2005 New Year Honours ...
, Georgina Butler
Georgina Susan Butler (born 30 November 1945) is a retired British diplomat. After postings at the Foreign Office, UKREP in Brussels, the European Commission, and in Washington D.C., she served as British Ambassador to Costa Rica and to Nicaragu ...
, and Melissa Maynard.[Your candidates for the European Parliament Elections 2014]
30 October 2013, devizesconservatives.com The names were confirmed when nominations were lodged in April 2014. Swire said during the campaign that her financial background would enable her to get value for money from the European Union for causes in the region and for protecting the United Kingdom as Europe's principal financial centre. She also wished to develop policy to address the growing refugee crisis and tackle the rise of radical extremism.[
In August 2021, following the fall of Kabul to the Taliban, Swire recruited 170 volunteers from her GEDI.VC network to launch a Task Force for Future Brilliance. Together with her team, she provided support to over 1500 Afghans, evacuating several hundred women and their families to safety. Among the women she evacuated, was Sharbat Gula, the famous National Geographic "green-eyed Afghan girl", whom she rescued at the request of Steve and Bonnie McCurry, and evacuated with the support of the distinguished Italian diplomat and head of the Italian Secret Service, ]Elisabetta Belloni
Elisabetta Belloni (; born 1 September 1958) is an Italian diplomat and civil servant, Director of the Dipartimento delle Informazioni per la Sicurezza, Department of Information for Security from 2021 to 2025.
Biography
Graduated in Political ...
. They were evacuated to a Future Brilliance safehouse for asylum seekers in Pakistan, where Afghan women were taught ICT and computer skills, digital literacy and English language and Afghan child refugees were taught maths, science and robotics.
Swire created and produced the documentary film, ''Burning Man: Art on Fire''. She co-produced the BBC Inside Story film, ''Smoke Rings''. She also produced the Channel Four documentary ''Mr Jinnah: the Making of Pakistan''. On behalf of Global Witness
Global Witness is an international NGO that investigates environmental and human rights abuses. The organisation campaigns for greater representation of people affected by the climate crisis in climate decision-making. They have offices in Lon ...
, she contributed to the first Natural Resource Charter.
In 2015, she spoke at the United Nations in New York on Women’s Entrepreneurship Day.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swire, Sophia
1963 births
British businesspeople
Conservative Party (UK) politicians
Living people
Swire family
People educated at Queen's Gate School