2019 Speakers

Abir Awad is BBC Media Action's Country Director for Iraq. She has managed a number of large-scale media development programmes there, from setting up a public service media outlet in Basra to working with the Iraqi parliament's culture and media committee on revisions to legislation affecting the media. Before shifting her focus to media development, Abir was head of the international desk at the UK's commercial news organisation, ITN, and a media and communications consultant for the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Royal Society of Arts.

Ahmed Famau is a lead Community Facilitator with Green String Network tackling violent extremism in Kenya’s coastal town of Lamu through initiating trauma-informed workshops that advocate for wellbeing and peacebuilding practice among the youth and National Police Service Commission of Kenya.

Alan Wm. Wolff became WTO Deputy Director-General on October 1, 2017. He has had a long career dealing with international trade, as a negotiator for the United States, as chief trade lawyer of the U.S. executive branch, and subsequently in private law practice advising major clients in business and labour on matters of international trade policy. Ambassador Wolff has served in and advised both Republican and Democratic administrations. Prior to joining the WTO, he served as the Chairman of the National Foreign Trade Council.

Dr. Alejandro Ponce is the Chief Research Officer of the World Justice Project and is one of the original designers and a lead author of the WJP Rule of Law Index. Dr. Ponce leads the research and data collection initiatives of the WJP, from the WJP Rule of Law Index to nationwide surveys in Afghanistan, Pakistan, the EU, and Mexico. He holds a B.A. in Economics from ITAM in Mexico, and a M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics from Stanford University.

Alex O. Awiti is the Vice Provost and Interim Dean of the Graduate School of Media and Communications at Aga Khan University. Awiti is an interdisciplinary scholar, whose research intersects agriculture, ecology, education, society, population health and the economy. Prior to joining the Aga Khan University, Awiti was a research fellow at the Earth Institute at Columbia University in the City of New York. He is an Associate Professor and holds a PhD in Ecosystems Ecology from University of Nairobi.

Alexandre Stutzmann is a Senior Adviser and Team Leader for Social, Humanitarian and Cultural issues in the Office of the President of the General Assembly of the United Nations (74th session) in New York City.

He was previously the Director for parliamentary committees in the field of external policies in the European Parliament (2015-2019). An EP official since 2001, he previously headed the Secretariat of the Foreign Affairs Committee (2014-2015) and served as the Diplomatic Adviser to three consecutive Presidents of the European Parliament (2007- 2014).

He is a graduate in German studies, political science and law from the Ecole Normale Supérieure as well as the Sorbonne University in Paris. He was a postgraduate scholar in international relations at the European University Institute in Florence (1997-2001), while teaching political science at New York University (1999-2001).

In his role as Vice President for Public Affairs of Kaspersky, Anton coordinates the company’s worldwide public policy agenda by managing the company and the CEO’s cooperation and communications with national and international governmental bodies (EU, etc.) and public institutions and organizations (United Nations, Europol, INTERPOL, etc.), including coordinating participation in government-level programs and projects, and negotiating contracts and strategic alliances. Anton is a member of Europol’s Advisory Group on Internet Security, and advisor at Polys, secure online voting system based on block chain technology.

Dr Benedetta Berti is Head of Policy Planning  in the Office of the Secretary General at NATO. An Eisenhower Global Fellow, a Foreign Policy Reserach Institute Senior Fellow and a TED Senior Fellow, in the past decade Benedetta has held research and teaching positions at  West Point, The Institute for National Security Studies, Tel Aviv University and the Foreign Policy Research Institute, among others. Her research focuses on armed groups, internal wars, and protection of civilians. Dr. Berti is the author of four books, including "Armed Political Organizations. From Conflict to Integration" (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013) and her work and research have appeared, among others, in Al-Jazeera, Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, the National Interest, Wall Street Journal and The New York Times; as well as in academic journals including Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, Parameters, the Middle East Journal, ORBIS, Democratization, Civil Wars, Government & Opposition and Mediterranean Politics.

As President of Community Development, Mrs. Machaille Hassan Al-Naimi plays a vital role in enriching Qatar Foundation’s (QF) contribution to the social and economic prosperity of Qatar and its people.

Led by Mrs. Al-Naimi, QF’s Community Development pillar places a strong emphasis on youth empowerment and encouraging all members of Qatar’s community to be active, engaged citizens, through providing opportunities for creative expression, cultural exchange, social interaction, and personal growth – pivotal elements of a strong and sustainable society, and of Qatar’s vision for human development on a nationwide scale.

The initiatives, programs, activities, and entities under QF’s Community Development pillar – all of which are overseen from a strategic perspective by Mrs. Al-Naimi – focus on areas including sustainability, encouraging the adoption of healthy lifestyles, art, music, and Qatari and Islamic cultural heritage. QF’s Community Development pillar also promotes the benefits of reading among Qatar’s population, and enables Qatar’s youth to develop their critical-thinking skills and identify future career paths.

Mrs. Al-Naimi began her career as an attorney at Patton Boggs, a US law firm where she advised both local and international clients. She later joined ExxonMobil Qatar Inc. as Legal Counsel, supporting Qatar Petroleum Joint-Venture projects. Mrs. Al-Naimi also has experience working with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 18/CMP 8). As the Chief Legal Counsel and Advisor to the President, she represented Qatar at multiple negotiations and engagements with global institutions, such as the United Nations Office in New York, the United Nations Secretariat in Bonn, the World Bank, MEF, the White House, and others.

Building on her rich career in law, Mrs. Al-Naimi transitioned to business when she became Deputy CEO of Artan Holding, a Qatari Holding company that owns and manages a portfolio of companies, and lead the group’s corporate restructuring efforts, new governance structure, strategy, and business development initiatives.

Mrs. Al-Naimi holds a Masters (M.Sc.) in International Business Management from the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom and a Masters (LL.M.) in International Business Economic Law from Georgetown University in the United States. She also holds an undergraduate degree (LL.B.) in English law and French law from the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom and Sorbonne University in France, and is a qualified attorney certified by the New York Bar.

Christophe Deloire became the Secretary General and Executive Director of the NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in 2012. From 2008 to 2012, he was the director of the French leading journalism school CFJ. Before, he worked for the French weekly newsmagazine Le Point from 1998 to 2007, as an investigative reporter at the Society and Politics departments. He previously also worked for the TV channels ARTE and TF1.

Dr Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah became Chief Executive of Oxfam GB in January 2019. Previously, he led CIVICUS, the Johannesburg-based alliance of civil society organisations with members in more than 180 countries. Prior to that, he spent four years as Director General of the Royal Commonwealth Society. Danny is passionate about the power of civil society to challenge injustice and tackle the root causes of poverty.

Edna Jaime Treviño has more than 25 years of applied investigation experience in diverse public policy disciplines and more than 10 years of experience directing think tanks in Mexico. Currently, she directs the think tanks, México Evalúa and CIDAC. Throughout her career, Edna Jaime has written and collaborated on more than 30 influential publications concerning anti-corruption, financial transparency, public finance, budgets, security and justice. She currently writes as a columnist for the national newspaper, El Financiero, and participates as an expert on the radio program “Primera Emisión,” transmitted by Enfoque Noticias and hosted by Leonardo Curzio. Jaime is a political scientist from the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM). Along with the México Evalúa team and other social actors, Edna Jaime has advocated for the implementation of the National Anti-Corruption System as well as participated in the legal revision process for transparency laws in Mexico. She has participated in important forums and decision-making spaces, generating public policies that reduce homicide and crime.

Lizzie is the Managing Director of Harvard's Solar Geoengineering Research Program, which aims to advance natural and social science research on solar geoengineering. Prior to Harvard, Lizzie worked for a nonprofit advocacy organization. She also staffed a U.S. Senate campaign and served as an intern at the White House Council on Environmental Quality. Lizzie graduated from Williams College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and from the Harvard Kennedy School with a Master in Public Policy.

Evelyn Njeri Mbugua is a Senior Superintendent of Police and is the Head of Counseling Services within the National Police Service in Kenya. She has been in the Service for 15 years developing and championing psycho-support mechanisms for police officers and their families. Currently, she’s working on implementing a functional psychosocial support system for the National Police Service. As part of this key process, she was involved in the development of the Kenya National Police Service Psychological Counseling Policy. She conceived the partnership with Green String Network on writing curriculum and resource training materials to roll-out the Trauma Informed Resilience for police officers where she’s an advanced Resource Facilitator. The program is called Muamko Mpya: Healing the Uniform. Njeri intends to build on Muamko Mpya program program and strategies to bring together police officers and community members to create their own individual and collective mechanisms towards social healing. She is a certified trainer on Child Protection for United Nations Police, Strategic Command and Leadership. She holds a M.A degree in Leadership and Security Management, an Executive MSc. in Organizational Development and a B.A in Psychology. She has also been a member of the Chartered Management Institute (UK) and holds a level 7 Strategic Management and Leadership Certificate. Evelyn also has professional background training on Holistic Trauma healing, strategic leadership, Child protection, Women in Leadership for Peace and Security among others. She’s a member and Associate Psychologist with the Kenya Psychological Association.

Fanta is an International Development master's student at Sciences Po Paris, specializing in Human Rights and Project Management. She is also part of a collaborative team project with Oxfam on youth engagement. She holds a BA in Political Science and Peace, Conflict, and Justice Studies from the University of Toronto. Previously, she worked as a program associate with the Toronto based Journalists for Human Rights, working on media development programs in the DRC, South Sudan and Mali.

Frank Laczko (PhD), has over 20 years experience in the field of international migration. His previous posts with IOM were in Budapest, Vienna and Geneva. He has acted as a consultant for UNHCR, ILO and OECD and is currently the Co-Chair of the UN Expert Group on Migration Statistics and Co-Editor of Migration Policy Practice. He has published reports on a range of migration issues including migration and development, labour migration, irregular migration, migration and the environment and migration governance.

Gerbrand Haverkamp is the Executive Director of World Benchmarking Alliance, a non-profit bringing together investors, NGO’s, business platforms, governments and existing disclosure standards to develop free and publicly available benchmarks that rank companies on their contribution to the SDGs.

He originally founded Index Initiative, one of WBA’s founding partners, and prior to this he worked for the Dutch Government in the areas of inclusive business, sustainable agricultural supply chains and food security.

Ghida Fakhry is Doha Debates’ live events moderator and is a current affairs presenter for TRT World. She anchors the network’s flagship political program, Bigger Than Five, from Washington, DC, and serves as its managing editor.

With over 20 years in journalism, Ghida was previously a lead anchor for Al Jazeera English, presenting the network’s Newshour and the award-winning program Witness. She has reported extensively from the United Nations, conducting in-depth interviews with heads of state and other senior international officials. Ghida has moderated high-level panels around the world for the UN and its specialized agencies, the World Bank, and leading NGOs, facilitating debates on political affairs, economic issues, renewable energy, climate change, human rights and gender issues. She is a contributor to HuffPost, writing on US foreign policy and global affairs.

Ghida is a graduate of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. She hold a master of arts degree in Near and Middle Eastern studies. She also holds a master’s in international relations. She is fluent in English, French and Arabic and is conversational in Spanish.

Hauwa Ibrahim is an internationally known human rights lawyer who was awarded the Sakharov prize in 2005. She took over 150 cases pro bono defending women who were sentenced to death by stoning and men whose sentences included amputation under Shariah law.

Hauwa teaches at Harvard, and University of Rome. Hauwa seeks to offer young people an alternative to violence. She's a visiting Scholar at Wellesley college (Wellesley Centers for Women) and the President of The Peace Institute.

Henrik Urdal (PhD) is Director at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO). He has held consultancies for numerous international organizations and was part of a PRIO team producing a key background paper on inequality and conflict for the WB/UNDP report Pathways for Peace. His research focuses on the population-conflict nexus, including security implications of urbanization, ‘youth bulges’, and climate change. He has worked extensively on global conflict trends for the Norwegian MFA.

Dr. Huiyao (Henry) Wang is the Founder and President of Center for China and Globalization (CCG), the largest Chinese independent think tank that makes into the world’s top 100 think tanks of the 2017 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report. Chinese Premier also appointed Dr. Wang as a Counselor of China State Council, China’s cabinet.

Jaspher Nyauma Ombati is the Assistant Inspector General of the National Police Service of Kenya. He’s the Director incharge of Directorate of Police Reforms and Transformation charged with the responsibility of coordinating the Police Transformation agenda. He’s worked in the National Police Service for 24 years. Within this period, he’s been part of four key international Peace Keeping Missions in the Republic of South Sudan. He’s undergone various professional trainings including: Strategic Leadership and Command from the UK College of Policing leading to the award of a Level 7 CMI Certificate (QCF); Peace and Conflict Management from UN's Peace Operations Training Institute (POTI); Civil Military Coordination (CIMIC) in Peace Support Operations Environments from the International Peace Support Training Centre (IPSTC) -Nairobi; and Peace Support Operations and the Role of Stability Police Units - offered by the Centre of Excellence for Stability Police Units (CoESPU), Vicenza, Italy. He holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration (MBA) from Laikipia University, specializing in Strategic Management and another Master’s Degree (MA) in Leadership and Security Management from Kenyatta University's School of Peace, Diplomacy and Security Studies. In addition, he holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Mass Communication from the University of Nairobi’s School of Journalism where he had completed his undergrad studies. Currently he’s pursuing PhD in Security Studies and International Relations at Kenyatta University.

Jean-Christophe Dumont has been the Head of the International Migration Division in the Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs, OECD since 2011. He joined the OECD Secretariat in 2000 to work on international migration issues. He oversees the OECD annual flagship publication on migration, the International Migration Outlook, and numerous publications on the economic impact of international migration, as well as on migration management and the labour market integration of immigrants and their children in OECD countries. He has also worked on migration and development issues and on the international mobility of health workers. He holds a PhD in development economics from the University Paris IX-Dauphine and was a research fellow at Laval University, Quebec, Canada.

Joe Powell is the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Open Government Partnership. He leads OGP’s global engagements, including working with the OGP Steering Committee, OGP Summits and linking OGP with other multilateral processes. He previously worked for the ONE Campaign, where he was managing ONE's global campaign for increased transparency in the extractive industries.

Jeremy Shapiro is the Director of Research at the European Council on Foreign Relations and a non-
resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. He has held positions as a member of the Policy
Planning of U.S. State Department, the Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of State for
European Affairs, fellow and director of research at the Brookings Institution and as at analyst at
RAND.

Kai Uwe-Schmidt has worked on the climate crisis for over two decades. As a senior member of the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Change Support Team, he led work on the global climate action agenda that became the landmark Paris Agreement in 2015. Today, he is senior program director with Carnegie Climate Governance Initiative. He has 3 children who, by the same they are his age in 2050, should live a world with net-zero emissions. He is dedicated to finding the right forms of governance to achieve that.

President of the Policy Center for the New South and Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences of the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University. He is also Advisor to the Chairman of the OCP Group. He was Director of Economics and International Relations within the Central Bank of Morocco, and economist at the World Bank. Also member of the Board of the OCP Foundation and the Trilateral Commission, he holds a PhD in economics from the University of Bordeaux.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania since 2012. Former Permanent Representative of Lithuania to the North Atlantic Council (2005-2012), Minister of National Defence of the Republic of Lithuania (2000-2004),  Ambassador to the WEU and NATO (1997-2000), Minister of National Defence (1993-1996), Member of Seimas (Parliament), Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Head of the parliamentary delegation to the North Atlantic Assembly (1992-1993).

Dr. Lu (Mabel) Miao is the Secretary-General of China Global Talent Society. She was awarded “International Young Leader” by the King of the Belgians H.M. Philippe Leopold Louis Marie in 2016, as the only north-east Asia recipient. She holds a Ph.D degree in Contemporary Chinese Studies from the Beijing Normal University and was a visiting fellow at New York University and Harvard University. Dr. Miao is also a member of Hupan University, an exclusive top elite program founded by Alibaba’s Jack Ma.

Mandakini Gahlot is an award winning Journalist and Filmmaker based in New Delhi. Her work has appeared in The Guardian, Al Jazeera, Arte TV, Channel News Asia, Canal+ and France 24. She is the recipient of the 2016 Asian Pitch award, given each year to a young Asian filmmaker to direct a documentary of their choice. The subsequent film The Buyers Club, about a group of patients who take on a powerful pharmaceutical company, will be released in early 2020.

Maryam Alhajri Co-founded a pioneering website that set new standards for Arabic web presence, she headed the IT operations there for 10 years. Maryam moved on to serve the education sector when she was awarded the rights to establish a high tech primary school for 1000 students. She lead the school for 6 years, during which the school was ranked as a top school in Qatar. For the next five years, Maryam has been the principal of Qatar Academy Alwakra , a Qatar foundation school. She has been developing the schools bilingual program in an IB and RTI framework. She also lead the development of the Ethics curriculum, which has been very successful with students and parents. Maryam also lead the integration of the MOE History curriculum into the Academy’s MYP program, she also designed a multi strand Computer Science curriculum for grades 6 onwards. Maryam is currently establishing the first progressive school of its kind in Qatar; Academyati, the school opened its doors to students in August 2019.

Michel Colombier is Co-Founder and Scientific Director of the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations. He monitors emerging subjects and the evolution of the scientific debate, participates in the Institute’s planning process and guarantees the rigour of its work. He is also a member of the High Council on Climate, Chairman of the Expert Committee for the Energy Transition in France, and an associate professor at Sciences Po Paris.

Ambassador Mohan Kumar is Chairman of Research and Information System for Developing Countries since June 2018. He had an outstanding career in the Indian Foreign Service lasting 36 years which culminated in his being India's Ambassador to France based in Paris. Under his watch, the Indo-French strategic partnership was strengthened and consolidated further in spheres such as defense, space, nuclear & solar energy, smart cities and investment. Earlier, he was India's Ambassador to the Kingdom of Bahrain where he witnessed and dealt with a strategically complex region characterized by events such as the "Arab Spring". He has enormous expertise in the area of international trade - he was India's lead negotiator first at the GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) and then at the WTO (World Trade Organization) in crucial areas such as Intellectual Property Rights, Services, Dispute Settlement, Rules and Technical Barriers to Trade. He was a leading member of India's delegation at the WTO Ministerial Conferences held in Marrakesh (1994), Seattle (1999) and Doha (2001). He has strategic understanding of India's ties with some of her key neighbours such as Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Maldives. He oversaw India's ties with these countries as Joint Secretary and Head of the Division at the Ministry of External Affairs. His specialization thus includes: diplomatic practice & foreign policy, strategic partnerships with India’s neighbours, multilateral negotiations especially trade negotiations, climate change and globalization.

Ms. Noëlla Richard, Youth Global Programme Manager, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Noëlla Richard leads United Nations Development Programme’s Youth team in the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support, in New York and manages UNDP’s first Youth Global Programme for Sustainable Development and Peace (Youth-GPS) -a response to both the 2030 Agenda and United Nations Security Council Resolution 2250 on Youth, Peace and Security. Noëlla is the co-chair of the Inter-Agency Working Group on Youth & the Sustainable Development Goals and she also represents UNDP in the Global Coalition on Youth, Peace and Security. She previously served in UNDP’s Democratic Governance Group, focusing on Public Administration, Local Governance, Women’s Leadership and Gender Equality and broader Governance issues. Prior to UNDP Headquarters, she worked for the French Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, UNESCO, the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Paris Economic Council for Sustainable Development and UNDP in Morocco. She was educated in France, Morocco, Spain and Argentina and is a graduate from of Sciences Po Paris and Sorbonne University.

The WBA is a global initiative, measuring companies on their performance on the UN SDGs. Pauliina leads the WBA’s advocacy, engagement, policy and regulatory outreach, ensuring benchmarks reflect societal expectations and are relevant to the external environment they seek to change. This includes the WBA’s dialogue with companies, investors, governments, civil society and multi-lateral institutions. Pauliina has a background in finance and policy, having joined WBA from Aviva, a global insurance company and asset manager.

Since September 2019, Pia Fuhrhop heads the Berlin Office of IFSH. Previously she has worked as foreign policy advisor to Omid Nouripour, Member of the German Bundestag. She has held research positions with Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik in Berlin and worked as a consultant for the German Ministry for Development and International Cooperation. In her various capacities Pia Fuhrhop has worked extensively on transatlantic crisis management in Syria, Afghanistan and the Balkans. She also has written and researched on German foreign and security policies, particularly Germany’s crisis management capacities and reform of the armed forces. She also holds a PhD from Free University Berlin, awarded for a dissertation on European influence on US crisis management policies. In the context of her doctoral studies, she was a visiting fellow at the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies (AICGS) in Washington DC.

Ravi Agrawal is the managing editor of Foreign Policy. Before joining FP, Agrawal worked at CNN for more than a decade, including his most recent position as the network’s New Delhi bureau chief and correspondent. Previously, he served as a senior producer in CNN’s New York and London bureaus, receiving a Peabody Award and three Emmy nominations for his work. Agrawal is the author of India Connected: How the Smartphone Is Transforming the World’s Largest Democracy. He is a graduate of Harvard University.

Robert Malley is the President and CEO of International Crisis Group. Prior to taking on this role in 2018, Malley served in senior Middle East-related roles in the U.S. administrations of Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. Before joining the Obama administration, he was for more than a decade Program Director for Middle East and North Africa at Crisis Group, leading the independent conflict prevention organisation’s regional research, analysis, policy prescription and advocacy. He studied at Yale University, Harvard Law School and Oxford University.

Rosa M. Gonzalez is since 2012 the Deputy Secretary to UNESCO’s International Programme for Development of Communication (IPDC), a programme that that has been supporting freedom of expression and media development around the world for the past 40 years.  UNESCO being the UN-designated “custodian agency” for SDG indicator 16.10.2 (access to information), Ms Gonzalez has been coordinating a number of initiatives to support countries in monitoring the implementation of Access to Information laws.  With 26 years of experience in the media development field, Ms. Gonzalez has also worked as Communication and Information Advisor for UNESCO in Latin America and Asia.

Mr. Yousafzai started his professional career as a Journalist in 1988. Being a founding member of the Pakistan Tehreek Insaf Party (PTI), he worked as media adviser and political adviser to the chairman PTI Mr. Imran Khan, the current Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. He was elected as Member of Provincial Assembly (MPA) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2013 and became Provincial Minister of Health. Currently, he is the Provincial Minister of Information.

Dr. Shirin Ebadi is an Iranian lawyer, former judge and human rights activist. On 10 October 2003, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her significant and pioneering efforts for democracy and human rights - especially women's, children's and refugee rights. She was the first Iranian and first Muslim woman to ever receive the prize. Dr. Ebadi became Iran's first female judge when she was just 23 years old. Despite initially supporting the Iranian revolution like many Iranians, she soon became its scourge. Although described as "the worst nightmare of Iran's hardline clerics", her fight for human rights, particularly those for women, is not anti-religion. "I am against patriarchy, not Islam," she says. Demoted to a secretary in her own court by the regime, which considered women unsuitable to be judges, she set up her own pro-bono law practice to focus on injustices in the legal system, acting for political dissidents and on child-abuse cases. Despite being put on a death list by the regime, Dr. Ebadi became the country's most high-profile human rights activist, founding the Human Rights Defenders Centre. Dr. Ebadi lived in Tehran, but she has been in exile in the UK since June 2009 due to the increase in persecution of Iranian citizens who are critical of the current regime. In 2004, she was listed by Forbes Magazine as one of the "100 most powerful women in the world". She is also included in a published list of the "100 most influential women of all time."

Hu Shuli is the founder and publisher of Caixin Media. With four decades of journalism experience, she is one of China’s best-known thought leaders, a journalism professor and an entrepreneur. Among her international recognition of achievements are Ramon Magsaysay Award, Missouri Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism, joining the list of World’s Greatest Leaders by Fortune in 2017 and twice being listed as Top 100 Global Thinkers by Foreign Policy. She was awarded the honorary doctorate degree from Princeton University in 2016.

Stefan Pfalzer is currently enrolled in the Dual Degree in International Affairs between Sciences Po Paris and LSE. Previously, he has gained experience at the UN Security Council, the European Commission in Vienna as well as in various think tanks and NGOs. He is currently serving as President of the European Student Think Tank (EST). The EST's mission is to bridge the gap between decision-makers and Europe's next generation and to involve young people in policy-making processes."

Toby Mendel is the Executive Director of the Centre for Law and Democracy, a human rights NGO that provides legal and capacity building expertise regarding foundational rights for democracy, including access to information, freedom of expression and the right to participate. Prior to that, he was for 12 years Senior Director for Law at ARTICLE 19, a human rights NGO focusing on freedom of expression. He has collaborated extensively with inter-governmental, governmental and NGO actors working in these areas.

Valerie Dekimpe is a France 24 journalist and producer who specializes in environmental and climate issues. As a producer for the channel’s environment show, she has covered stories about climate change, agriculture and biodiversity. She has also reported on the youth climate movement and climate negotiations.  Born in Caracas, Venezuela, and raised in different continents, Valerie graduated from the London School of Economics and Political Science before earning a master’s degree from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.

Yasmine is the newly recognized “Young European of the Year 2019” and she is an advocate for social and gender justice. She delivered policy recommendations on women/youth peace and security, countering violent extremism, education and migration for the European Commission, EEAS, Foreign Affairs Canada, WISE Qatar, UN Women, Women Deliver, Union for the Mediterranean.

She was recently named EDD Young Leader by the European Commission and she is an expert on Peace & Security at the AU-EU Youth Cooperation Hub, mandated by the EU and the AU. In this role, she wrote a proposal in tracking basic services in fragile contexts with accessible digital support to feed into peace processes.

She is also an award-winning fellow at Women Deliver and a member of the Gender Innovation Agora at UN Women.