Sophia Aliza Jamal

Sophia Aliza Jamal is the Co-founder of Pinkcollar Employment Agency, Malaysia’s pioneering ethical recruitment agency transforming the high-risk domestic work sector through a proprietary worker–employer matching model, innovative post-placement, and market-redefining ethical operations. Since its founding in 2019, Pinkcollar has placed over 750 workers through fair and transparent processes, eliminated illegal recruitment debt amounting to RM700,000, and raised industry standards for ethical hiring across the region.

For her work, Sophia was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia – Social Impact List (2022) and received the UN Women’s Women’s Empowerment Principles Award as Malaysia’s National Champion in the Gender-Responsive Marketplace category and Asia-Pacific 1st Runner-Up.

She graduated magna cum laude from Duke University with a degree in Public Policy Studies and a Certificate in Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Before co-founding Pinkcollar, she worked as a Strategy Associate at Khazanah Nasional Berhad, focusing on responsible investment.

Sophia is driven by a belief that organisations can be powerful tools for change and is committed to shaping systems that uplift women, challenge inequality, and expand opportunity across communities in Asia.

To me, making an impact means being intentional about the kind of change your work creates in the world, and ensuring that the value you bring goes beyond profit or growth. It’s about building organisations and designing business models that ease human suffering, protect our planet for future generations, and bring us closer to a fairer, more equitable world.