FP Digital Summit: Her Power

As the co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Melinda sets the direction and priorities of the world’s largest philanthropy. She is also the founder of Pivotal Ventures, an investment and incubation company working to drive social progress for women and families in the United States, and the author of the bestselling book The Moment of Lift.   Melinda grew up in Dallas, Texas. She received a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Duke University and an MBA from Duke’s Fuqua School. Melinda spent the first decade of her career developing multimedia products at Microsoft before leaving the company to focus on her family and philanthropic work. She has three children, Jenn, Rory, and Phoebe, and lives in Seattle, Washington. 

Ana Brnabić was born in 1975 in Belgrade. She holds a master's degree (MBA) from the University of Hull from the United Kingdom and has worked for more than ten years with international organizations, foreign investors, local governments and the public sector in Serbia. In August 2016 Brnabić was elected Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, and she held that position until the election for the Prime Minister. As Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, she particularly worked on the reform of public administration through introduction of e-government in Serbia, so that the state would become a true service for citizens. The introduction of e-government in Serbia also meant a much more efficient and transparent administration and a tool for a resolute and practical fight against corruption.

Internationally known as “Africa’s Iron Lady,” Nobel Laureate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is a leading promoter of freedom, peace, justice, women’s empowerment and democratic rule. As Africa’s first democratically-elected female head of state, she has led Liberia through reconciliation and recovery following the nation’s decade-long civil war, as well as the Ebola Crisis, winning international acclaim for achieving economic, social, and political change. Recognized as a global leader for women’s empowerment, President Sirleaf was awarded the prestigious Nobel Prize for Peace in 2011. She is the recipient of The Presidential Medal of Freedom—the United States’ highest civilian award—for her personal courage and unwavering commitment to expanding freedom and improving the lives of Africans. Her many honors also include the Grand Croix of the Légion d’Honneur, France’s highest public distinction, and being named one of Forbes’s “100 Most Powerful Women in the World.” And in 2017, former President Sirleaf was awarded the Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership, which celebrates excellence in African leadership. The Ibrahim Prize recognizes leaders who, during their time in office, have developed their countries, strengthened democracy and human rights for the shared benefit of their people, and advanced sustainable development. Sirleaf was the first female recipient. President Sirleaf was elected President of the Republic of Liberia in 2005, two years after the nation’s bloody civil war ended. Her historic inauguration as Africa’s first democratically elected head of state took place on January 16, 2006. Prior to the election, she had served in the transitional government, where she chaired the Governance Reform Commission and led the country’s anti-corruption reform. She won reelection in November 2011.

Helen Clark was Prime Minister of New Zealand 1999–2008. Throughout her tenure as Prime Minister and as a Member of Parliament, Helen Clark engaged widely in policy development and advocacy across the international affairs, economic, social, environmental, and cultural spheres. She advocated strongly for a comprehensive programme on sustainability for New Zealand and for tackling the challenges of climate change. In April 2009, Helen Clark became Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme at the same time, she was Chair of the United Nations Development Group. As Administrator, she led UNDP to be ranked the most transparent global development organisation. She completed her tenure in April 2017.   Prior to entering the New Zealand Parliament, Helen Clark taught in the Political Studies Department of the University of Auckland, from which she earlier graduated with her BA and MA (Hons) degrees.   Helen continues to speak widely and be a strong voice on sustainable development, climate action, gender equality and women’s leadership, peace and justice, and action on non-communicable diseases and on HIV. She serves on a number of advisory boards and commissions, including as Chair of the Advisory Board of the Global Education Monitoring Report, Chair of the Board of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, and Chair of the Board of the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health.

U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth is an Iraq War Veteran, Purple Heart recipient and former Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs who was among the first handful of Army women to fly combat missions during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Duckworth served in the Reserve Forces for 23 years before retiring at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in 2014. She was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2016 after representing Illinois’s Eighth Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives for two terms. In 2004, Duckworth was deployed to Iraq as a Blackhawk helicopter pilot for the Illinois Army National Guard. On November 12, 2004, her helicopter was hit by an RPG and she lost her legs and partial use of her right arm. Senator Duckworth spent the next year recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where she quickly became an advocate for her fellow Soldiers. After she recovered, she became Director of the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs, where she helped create a tax credit for employers that hire Veterans, established a first-in-the-nation 24/7 Veterans crisis hotline and developed innovative programs to improve Veterans’ access to housing and health care. In 2009, President Obama appointed Duckworth as an Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs, where she coordinated a joint initiative with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to help end Veteran homelessness, worked to address the unique challenges faced by female as well as Native American Veterans and created the Office of Online Communications to improve the VA’s accessibility, especially among young Veterans. In the U.S. House, Duckworth served on the Armed Services Committee and was an advocate for working families and job creation. She helped lead passage of the bipartisan Clay Hunt SAV Act, which enhanced efforts to track and reduce Veteran suicides. She also passed the Troop Talent Act to help returning Veterans find jobs in the private sector and worked to cut waste and fraud at the Pentagon and throughout government, including passing a common-sense provision that was projected to save taxpayers $4 billion by reducing redundancy in military uniforms. In the U.S. Senate, Duckworth advocates for practical, common-sense solutions needed to move our state and country forward like rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure. She co-founded the Senate’s first-ever Environmental Justice Caucus and also continues her lifelong mission of supporting, protecting and keeping the promises we’ve made to our Veterans as well as ensuring that we stand fully behind the troops our nation sends into danger overseas. In 2018, after Duckworth became the first Senator to give birth while serving in office, she sent a message to working families across the country about the value of family-friendly policies by securing a historic rules change that allows Senators to bring their infant children onto the Senate floor. Senator Duckworth serves on several influential committees that give her an important platform to advocate for Illinois’s working families and entrepreneurs: the Armed Services Committee; the Environment & Public Works Committee; the Commerce, Science, & Transportation Committee; and the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Committee. The first Senate bill she introduced became law in record time. As a result of her achievements, Duckworth was ranked as a "highly effective lawmaker" and as the most effective freshman Democratic Senator in the 115th Congress by the Center for Effective Lawmaking. Duckworth is fluent in Thai and Indonesian. She attended college at the University of Hawaii and earned a Master of Arts in International Affairs from the George Washington University. Following graduation, Duckworth moved to Illinois and began pursuing a Ph.D. in Political Science at Northern Illinois University and later worked for Rotary International. Senator Duckworth and her husband Bryan are the proud parents of two daughters, Abigail and Maile.

Congresswoman Jackie Speier is a fearless fighter for women’s equality, LGBTQ rights and the disenfranchised who has dedicated her life to eliminating government corruption while working to strengthen America’s national and economic security. She was named to Newsweek’s list of 150 “Fearless Women” in the world and one of “Politico's 50” most influential people in American politics for bringing the Me Too reckoning to Congress. She proudly represents California’s 14th Congressional District, stretching from the southern portion of San Francisco through San Mateo County to East Palo Alto. Speier serves on the House Armed Services Committee, where she is the Chair of the Military Personnel Subcommittee, and on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, where also she serves as Chair of the Strategic Technologies and Advanced Research Subcommittee and serves on the Counterterrorism, Counterintelligence, and Counterproliferation Subcommittee. Additionally, she serves on the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, where she serves on the Subcommittees on National Security and Economic and Consumer Policy. Speier is also Co-Chair of the Democratic Women's Caucus, the Congressional Armenian Caucus, the Bipartisan Task Force To End Sexual Violence, and the Gunviolence Prevention Task Force.

Vera Songwe is the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa. Upon her appointment, she became the first woman to lead the institution in its 60-year history. As Executive Secretary, Songwe’s reforms have focused on “ideas for a prosperous Africa,” and have brought to the fore critical issues of macroeconomic stability, development finance, private sector growth, poverty and inequality, the digital transformation, trade and competitiveness. She was listed as one of Africa’s 50 most powerful women by Forbes in 2020 and named as one of the ‘100 Most Influential Africans’ by Jeune Afrique in 2019. In 2017, New African Magazine listed her as one of the ‘100 Most Influential Africans’ and the FT named her one of the ‘25 African to watch’ in 2015. Songwe is acknowledged for her long-standing track record of providing policy advice and her wealth of experience in delivering development results for Africa. She has written extensively on development and economic issues including on debt, infrastructure development, fiscal and governance issues. She is well published and contributes to the development debate across a broad spectrum of platforms including in the Financial Times. Prior to ECA, she held a number of senior leadership roles with the International Finance Corporation and World Bank.

Ravi Agrawal is the editor in chief 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.

Ms. Reem Alsalem (Jordan) is the United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, since August 2021. She holds a Masters in International Relations from the American University in Cairo, Egypt (2001) and a Masters in Human Rights Law from the University of Oxford, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (2003). She is an independent consultant on gender issues, the rights of refugees and migrants, transitional justice and humanitarian response. Prior to becoming a consultant in 2016, she worked for 17 years with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees” serving with it on all continents in conflict and post-conflict settings.

The first female federal Chief Justice of Ethiopia and IVLP alumna, Meaza Ashenafi spent her lifetime breaking barriers through her contributions in the legal field. She strives to promote and advocate for human rights and women's issues. Ashenafi looks forward to restoring public trust in the judiciary and ensuring judicial independence. Co-founder of Enat Bank, the first bank targeted to women's economic empowerment, Ashenafi is dedicated to vocalizing the needs of marginalized women. She founded the Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association to provide pro-bono services to women unable to afford a legal defense, created a word in Amharic to describe sexual harassment, and reformed the way the Ethiopian judicial system treats sexual harassment cases. Ashenafi is changing women's lives and inspiring the next generation of female lawyers.

Shaida Badiee is Senior Advisor to Data2X. As Managing Director of Open Data Watch, Shaida brings several decades of experience in managing global development statistics as the long-time Director of the World Bank’s Development Data Group. During her tenure, flagship global statistical products were launched such as the World Development Indicators, Global Development Finance, and the Atlas of Global Development. In 2010, she led the World Bank’s Open Data Initiative, a ground-breaking program to provide full and free access to the World Bank’s extensive statistical databases. Prior to that, she played a key role in the creation and operation of PARIS21 as well as leading international efforts to coordinate technical and financial support for statistics through initiatives like the Marrakech Action Plan.

Prior to serving as Deputy Executive Director for Resource Management at UN Women, Ms. Bhatia has had a distinguished career at the World Bank Group. She brings extensive experience in the area of strategic partnerships, resource mobilization and management. Ms. Bhatia has served as Director of Global Partnerships for the International Finance Corporation. She developed and expanded innovative partnerships with public and private sector partners to support IFC strategy in key areas, including fragile and conflict-affected states, gender equality, financial inclusion, support to women-owned businesses and other priorities critical for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. In addition, she has served as Director of Development Partner Relations for the World Bank in which she led efforts to ensure strategic alignment between institutional priorities and resource mobilization across the World Bank Group. In various positions she focused on enhancing sustainability, institutional effectiveness and impact through strategic partnerships. As Head of IFC’s Latin America Advisory Operations, she successfully grew the Corporation’s reach and impact in the region. As Director of Partnerships and Advisory Operations, she oversaw financial management, risk management, portfolio management, knowledge management and learning for Advisory Services across the globe. She has led diverse teams, including as Global Head of Knowledge Management, Head of Business Process Improvement and Head of Change Management. In addition to Latin America, she has worked in Africa, Europe, Central Asia and South and East Asia. Ms. Bhatia holds a BA in History from Calcutta University, an MA in Political Science from Yale University and a Juris Doctor in Law from Georgetown University.

Mirai Chatterjee is the Director of the Social Security Team at Self-Employed Women’s Association, (SEWA). She is responsible for SEWA’s Health Care, Child Care and Insurance programs. Currently she serves as Chairperson of the National Insurance VimoSEWA Cooperative Ltd and is actively involved with the Lok Swasthya Health Cooperative, of which she is a founder. In addition, she is Chairperson of the Gujarat State Women’s SEWA Cooperative Federation of 106 primary cooperatives with 3 lakh members. She joined SEWA in 1984 and was its General Secretary after its Founder, Ela Bhatt. Ms Chatterjee serves on the Boards of several organizations, including the Public Health Foundation of India, Save the Children and PRADAN. She was advisor to the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganized Sector and is in the Advisory Group on Community Action of the National Rural Health Mission. She was also a Commissioner in the World Health Organization’s Commission on the Social Determinants of Health. She was a member of the National Advisory Council, appointed by the Prime Minister of India in 2010. She was conferred the Global Achievement award by the School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University. Ms. Chatterjee has a B.A. from Harvard University in History and Science and a Masters from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Public Health, USA.

Sylvia Earle is President and Chairman of Mission Blue / The Sylvia Earle Alliance. She is a National Geographic Society Explorer in Residence, and is called Her Deepness by the New Yorker and the New York Times, Living Legend by the Library of Congress, and first Hero for the Planet by Time Magazine. She is an oceanographer, explorer, author and lecturer with experience as a field research scientist, government official, and director for several corporate and non-profit organizations.

Ambassador Bergdís Ellertsdóttir has had extensive experience working on international trade as well as security issues, multilateral and bilateral issues in her long career within the Icelandic Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Bergdís has served as the Ambassador of Iceland to the United States since September 2019. She is the first woman to be appointed Ambassador of Iceland to the United States. Despite the Pandemic, the Embassy of Iceland is working towards enhancing ties and cooperation with the United States in various fields, including trade and investment, security and defense as well as on green energy, gender equality and human right issues. Before taking up the position in Washington, Bergdís was the Permanent Representative of Iceland to the United Nations. Previously she headed the Mission of Iceland to the European Union and was the Ambassador to Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Switzerland. In 2012, she was the Chief negotiator and finalized one of the first European Free Trade Agreements with China. Between 2007 and 2012, Bergdís was Deputy Secretary General of the European Free Trade Association. Other positions include Director General for International Security and Development Co-operation Affairs and Foreign Affairs Adviser to the Prime Minister of Iceland.

Previously New Zealand’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva and Prime Minister's Special Envoy, Ms Ellis played a key role in New Zealand's successful UN Security Council bid. She subsequently served as UNSC Co-Chair for Humanitarian Access into Syria. Prior to that, as Deputy Secretary in the NZ Foreign Ministry Ms Ellis was the first woman to lead the NZ Aid program.  Previous roles include Lead Specialist Poverty Reduction and Economic Management for the World Bank Group, Head of the Global Gender Group at the International Finance Corporation, and National Manager Women in Business at Westpac Banking Corporation. The author of two best-selling Random House books and five research titles on gender and growth in the World Bank Directions in Development series, Ms. Ellis is a founding member of the Financial Alliance for Women and the recipient of the TIAW Lifetime Achievement Award for services to women’s economic empowerment. Ms Ellis serves on a number of advisory boards, including the Global Governance Forum, the Institute for Climate and Peace, the International Leadership Association, the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles, the East-West Center and Bishop Museum.

Laura is a Mexican feminist who has advocated for human rights, social justice, and civil society throughout her career. Before joining Global Greengrants, Laura served for seven years as the Executive Director of Fondo Semillas, a Mexican nonprofit organization that finances grassroots organizations to achieve gender equality. Laura has vast experience in grassroots philanthropy, human rights, and movements for social justice, and she has co-created networks to promote community philanthropy in the Global South. She holds a Master's Degree in International Peace and Security, from King’s College, London. She currently serves on the boards of Oxfam Mexico, Justicia Transicional MX, El Día Después, and the Global Fund for Community Foundations.

Sabrina Natasha Habib is a social entrepreneur and global health practitioner who leads Kidogo’s Strategy, Partnerships & Impact. Prior to co-founding Kidogo, Sabrina spent 4 years working with the Aga Khan Development Network in Kenya & Tanzania, where she managed an Integrated Primary Health Care Start-Up Project, led the Social Innovation portfolio of a $13.5M maternal and child health grant and explored eHealth and community midwife franchising initiatives to curb the high maternal, neonatal and child mortality rates in East Africa. Sabrina recently worked with the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network to promote a child-integrated approach in the post-2015 global agenda. She is an enthusiastic writer and frequently contributes to publications, including the World Policy Journal. Sabrina holds a Masters of Public Administration in Development Practice from Columbia University and was named Canada’s Female Entrepreneur of the Year by ELLE Magazine.

Rangina Hamidi is an Afghan-American writer, educator, social activist and politician. She is well known as an advocate for women's rights in Afghanistan and has engaged in various social projects to empower girls and women in Afghanistan. Hamidi has served as an education minister of Afghanistan until the Taliban takeover. She is the first female education minister of Afghanistan. Despite Afghanistan being taken over by the Taliban, she vowed to stay in Afghanistan and continue her humanitarian efforts by actively involving in empowerment of Afghan women

Dr. Susan Harvey is currently the Hologic Vice President of Global Medical Affairs. Susan was the Director of Breast Imaging for Johns Hopkins Medicine for over 7 years, overseeing the organization’s growth in the areas of clinical service, teaching, and research. In April of 2019 Susan joined Hologic and her goal is to position the organization to transform breast cancer care globally. Susan has worked in underserved and resource scarce regions around the world to identify the most appropriate detection, diagnosis and treatment opportunities in these resource constrained areas. Susan attended medical school at the University of Vermont and completed her residency in diagnostic radiology at Yale New Haven Hospital before completing a fellowship in Oncoradiology with a focus in breast cancer care at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and The Dana Farber Institute in Boston. She joined the faculty at Brigham and Women’s Hospital for four years, then returned to UVM where she continued practicing until 2005 when she joined Johns Hopkins Medicine as a full-time breast imager. While at Hopkins, Susan held leadership positions in the department of radiology including being the Director of breast imaging. She received many student mentoring awards in the School of Medicine, Bloomberg School of Public Health and in Biomedical Engineering as well as being elected as a member of the Miller Coulson Academy of Clinical of Excellence. Currently Susan is on the Board of Directors for RAD-AID, a global NGO and Johns Hopkins Biomedical Engineering.

Mikko Hautala is the Ambassador of Finland to the United States since September 2020. Prior to that, he has served as Finland’s Ambassador to Russia and as Foreign Policy Adviser to the President of the Republic of Finland. He joined the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 2001 and has served also in Brussels and Kyiv, Ukraine (1998-2001). He holds degrees of Master of Political Science and Master of Philosophy, both from the University of Helsinki. Besides his native Finnish, Ambassador Hautala is fluent in English, Swedish, Russian, Ukrainian and Polish. He is married to a career diplomat. They have two sons.

Seema Jalan is the Executive Director of the Universal Access Project and Policy at the United Nations Foundation, a multi-stakeholder initiative of philanthropists, advocates and companies striving for a world where all people can realize their sexual and reproductive health and rights.  Seema has almost 20 years of experience promoting gender equity and girls’ and women’s health and human rights globally; and serves on the Board of the Funders for Reproductive Equity and as a Leadership Liaison to the nonprofit funders’ group Rachel’s Network. Seema previously led Women Thrive Worldwide’s global policy portfolio, where she was instrumental in contributing to the adoption of the first-ever U.S. government strategy to address violence against girls and women globally, announced by President Obama in 2012; and USAID’s comprehensive gender policy. Seema has worked with the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction in Ethiopia, Women for Afghan Women and the United Nations. She supported U.S. Representative Carolyn Maloney’s efforts to address the wage gap and gender inequity in the workplace. As an expert on sexual and reproductive health and rights, Seema is frequently quoted in top-tier media outlets including Slate, Foreign Policy, CNN, NBC, and Vice. She also routinely provides commentary on these topics in her Medium series and as a contributor to The Huffington Post, CNN, and The Hill.

Helle Bank Jorgensen is the CEO of Competent Boards (CB), which offers global online ESG board and executive education, including a timely new Climate Competent Boards certification in partnership with ASU Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory, Oxford Business School and Thunderbird School of Global Management. CB has a faculty of over 100 renowned international board members, executives and experts. She is also the author of the book, Stewards of the Future: A Guide for Competent Boards.

Dr. Sanjeev Khagram is the Director General and Dean of the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University and the Foundation Professor of Global Leadership and Global Political Economy. He is a world-renowned scholar and practitioner in the areas of globalization, transnationalism, leadership, strategic management, entrepreneurship, social enterprise, cross-sector innovation, public-private partnerships, inter-organizational networks, good governance, transparency, the global political economy, sustainable development, human security, and the data revolution. He holds a bachelor's in development studies and engineering, a master's degree and doctoral degree minor in economics and doctorate in political economy, all from Stanford University.

Silvana is the President and Founder of Women Political Leaders (WPL), the worldwide network of women Politicians. WPL is an independent, non-partisan and not-for-profit foundation that aims to increase both the number and influence of women in political leadership. Silvana served as Vice-President of the European Parliament (2009-2011) and Member of the European Parliament (2004-2014). Before her time in politics, she founded and ran a public affairs consultancy in Brussels, which later merged with a larger US firm. She also worked as Senior Special Advisor for EY and as Senior Policy Advisor for GPLUS Europe. In addition to her work for WPL, Silvana serves on the board of the Council of Women World Leaders, the network of female Presidents and Prime Ministers. She is also a member of the European Leadership Network, a Board Director of the Social Progress Imperative and member of the Global Advisory Network of Apolitical Academy Global. Since 2016, Silvana has been representing the European Union in the Executive Committee of W20, an official engagement group of the G20. In 2018 and 2019, she was ranked as one of the 100 most influential persons in gender equality by Apolitical. Silvana is a Young Global Leader Alumni of the World Economic Forum. She lives in Brussels, Belgium with her three kids and their Irish father.

Henriette leads the Gender and Economic Inclusion Group at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group. She serves as an advocate for gender equality issues in the private sector and works with IFC’s clients to include both women and men as entrepreneurs, employees, consumers, community stakeholders and leaders. She leads a global team that is engaged in co-creating gender-smart private sector solutions through research, investments, advice and peer learning platforms.   Before joining IFC in September 2013, Henriette was the CEO of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, where she remains involved as a senior advisor. Earlier in her career, Henriette was the UN representative in the Middle East Quartet team advising Tony Blair in Jerusalem. She also worked for the Office of the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO). She has held positions as governance advisor with the European Commission Delegation to Tanzania, the German Technical Cooperation Agency in Germany, and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Tanzania, where she worked on conflict reduction, civic education, and socioeconomic issues in East Africa.   Henriette graduated with an MSc in Development Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies in London and received her MA from Freiburg University, Germany. She is also a Harvard Kennedy School Women in Public Policy Program fellow (2018).  Henriette is a Bucerius and Hertie summer school alumna and a frequent contributor to blogs hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations, Huffington Post, and Business Fights Poverty.

An expert in security policy, law of the sea and Arctic issues, Ambassador Krutnes has served with the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs since beginning as a trainee in 1994. In her previous position with the Ministry, she served as Deputy Director General of the Department of Security Policy. Before that, she was Norway’s Ambassador for Arctic and Antarctic Affairs. Ambassador Krutnes has had postings in several European countries, including ambassadorship of the Netherlands and Luxembourg. She was recently a member of the UN Group of Governmental Experts on Advancing responsible State behavior in cyberspace in the context of international security. She holds a Master of Laws from the University of Oslo and a Master of Science in Economics and Administration from the Norwegian School of Economics, and has also studied international management at Universittá Luigi Bocconi in Milan, Italy. Ambassador Krutnes is a Commander of the Norwegian Order of Merit, and a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau (Netherlands). She is married and has three adult children.

Maggie Lake is a veteran journalist with more than two decades of experience covering business, technology, politics, and international affairs. She started her career at Reuters, where she worked in both the New York and London bureaus covering economics and global finance. In 2001, she joined CNN International, where she served as a correspondent and anchor for the network’s flagship business shows. Over the course of her career, she has interviewed the world’s top CEOs, celebrities, and politicians and has been a consistent champion of economic inclusion and sustainable development. She has served as a weekly contributor for NPR and moderated events for the United Nations, World Bank, Council on Foreign Relations, and Global Citizen. She now runs the communications consultancy Maggie Lake Media and is a founding board member of the newly created Rutgers University Center for Women in Business.

Sara Leavitt is the Deputy Director of the Global Natural Climate Solutions Science team at The Nature Conservancy. Over the last 5 years, she has been involved in building foundational Natural Climate Solutions research and promoting NCS policy and implementation through close partnerships with teams across the globe, particularly in China, Colombia, and Indonesia. Sara studied political science, natural resources, and international studies at Kansas State University, including research on the correlation between women’s social rights and environmental performance, and worked on environmental education and small-scale renewable energy implementation in Peru for several years prior to joining TNC.

Amelia Lester is the executive editor at Foreign Policy. She has worked as a journalist on three continents, most recently reporting in Japan for publications including the Economist, the New York Times, and the New York Review of Books. Previously, she was editor in chief of the weekend magazine of the Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne Age newspapers and, before that, managing editor and an executive editor of the New Yorker. Amelia lives in Washington, D.C., and is a graduate of Harvard University.

Helena Liikanen-Renger is a Journalist and Communications Expert originally from Finland. She is also the former Press Counselor at the Embassy of Finland in Washington D.C. Today is Helena is based in France, where she continues her career in through her own company. Helena has more than two decades of experience in covering subjects all the way from international affairs to features, and terrorist attacks to film festivals. Over the course of her career, she has worked with several Finnish Media outlets, including Helsingin Sanomat and MTV3, and is fluent many forms of media; TV News live reporting, long-form magazine articles and radio documentaries. Helena Liikanen-Renger has an M.A in Specialized Journalism from USC Annenberg and a Master in Social Sciences from the University of Helsinki.

Leah is the CEO and co-founder of 412 Food Rescue, a social enterprise with a technology, logistics and civic engagement model that aims to fight hunger and promote sustainability by preventing perfectly good food from entering the waste stream and directly distributing to organizations that benefit those who are food insecure. Founded in 2015, 412 Food Rescue is one of the fastest-growing food recovery organizations in the U.S. Creating the infrastructure for national retailers, 412 Food Rescue has prevented over 7 million pounds of food from going to waste via technology that mobilizes over 8,000 drivers in 5 cities --food rescue heroes--the largest volunteer food transport network. 412 Food Rescue's innovative distribution model bridges the last mile and significantly impacts access and food security as well as mitigates food waste’s impact on the environment. By redirecting surplus food about to go to waste, 412 Food Rescue responds to SDG Target 12.3 - to halve per capita food waste by 2030, as well as redirects perfectly good food to organizations that serve those who are food insecure, responding to SDG 2. Food waste is one of the major sources of carbon emissions and wastes significant natural resources. By redirecting food from going to landfill, the organization also helps mitigate climate change, responding to SDG 13. Set to expand globally, Leah’s work at 412 Food Rescue has been featured in national media including NPR, Fast Company, FoodTank, Martha Stewart Living, Food & Wine, Saveur, Organic Life, Bust Magazine, Redbook, Success Magazine and Civil Eats. In April 2014, she gave the TEDx Talk “Why the Farm Is Not Getting to the Table.” Leah was named in FoodTank‘s “17 Food Heroes to Inspire Us in 2017" and in 2018 she was named "Pittsburgher of the Year" by Pittsburgh City Paper. Additionally, 412 Food Rescue was recognized as Pittsburgh Tech 50's "StartUp of the Year" in 2018 and received the Carnegie Science Award for Information Technology in 2019 - making it the first social enterprise to receive both awards. Leah received her graduate degree in Public Policy & Technology from Carnegie Mellon University. She serves as Entrepreneur in Residence at the Block Center for Technology & Society at Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University. She was born and raised in the Philippines and currently lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Sustainable Development Goals 2 (zero hunger), 12 (responsible consumption and production) and 13 (climate action).  

Amy Mackinnon is a staff writer for Foreign Policy magazine. Originally from Scotland, she has reported from across Eastern Europe and was based in Moscow and Tbilisi Georgia as a senior editor for the crisis-reporting site Coda Story. Mackinnon was a 2018 recipient of the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia award for her reporting from St. Petersburg on the Reveal podcast “Russia’s New Scapegoats.” She is a regular commentator for BBC World Service radio and television and her work has been published and broadcast by Coda Story, BBC Radio Scotland, Slate, Vice and CNN among others. She speaks Russian and has a master's in journalism from the Newmark School of Journalism at CUNY and a joint master's in Russian, Central and East European Studies from the University of Glasgow and Corvinus University in Budapest.

Anu Madgavkar is a partner with the McKinsey Global Institute, McKinsey’s business and economics research arm. Anu leads global research focused on labor markets and human capital, technology’s economic impact, gender economics, digital and financial inclusion, and inclusive growth. She has led research efforts focused on India’s economic growth, labor market, and digital economy. Some MGI reports she has coauthored include The future of work after COVID-19; The future of women at work: Transitions in the age of automation; The power of parity: How advancing women’s equality can add $12 trillion to global growth; The social contract in the 21st century; Digital identification: A key to inclusive growth; Outperformers: High-growth emerging economies and the companies that propel them; People on the move: Global migration's impact and opportunity; and Digital India: Technology to transform a connected nation. Anu was previously based in Mumbai, where she co-led McKinsey’s financial institutions work in India. She served a range of clients, including top-tier global banks, Indian state-owned banks, capital markets, and infrastructure-focused financial institutions across portfolio mix, organization, and product market strategy in wealth management, wholesale banking, life insurance, and retail banking. She has advised business and government leaders on economic development and frequently contributes to policy debates through articles and conference presentations. She serves on the economic affairs council of the Confederation of Indian Industry, The Conference Board’s labor-market advisory committee in the United States, and the advisory board of Rocket Learning, a not-for-profit organization that facilitates education tech and catalyzes early childhood education and foundational learning for millions in India.

Diana Marrero is the Senior Vice President of Strategic Development at Foreign Policy Magazine, where she works with a wide range of global partners on events, analytics projects, podcasts and marketing campaigns. In this role, she launched Her Power, an initiative comprising of events, research and editorial coverage of women’s leadership, economic inclusion and gender equity. She also is leading the company’s business strategy around new podcasts launched by FP Studios. Diana has years of experience working on integrated media initiatives and thought leadership campaigns – now at FP and previously at The Hill and The Washington Post. At The Hill, she launched and ran The Hill Latino, an online news and events platform that grew to reach 5.4 million Latinos in the US in less than two years. Diana was an award-winning journalist at the beginning of her media career. She covered a number of beats during her decade-long reporting career, including national politics, local government, criminal justice and US-Cuba relations.

Cecilia Mwende Maundu is broadcast journalist based in Kenya. She is also a specialist in gender digital security training with experience training women, journalists’ and human rights defenders. She is the current elected secretary general of the International Association of Women in Radio and television Kenyan Chapter. Cecilia is on the quest to make sure that even the most vulnerable feel safe online. She is also a User experience expert (UX), and leads training on collecting feedback and evaluates how effective online security tools are. She is focused on creating a holistic approach to digital security. Ms. Maundu is a graduate of the University of Nairobi where she completed a Bachelor of Arts. She also has a Master of Arts in communication from the same university. She is currently pursuing her Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in communication Studies at Moi University in Kenya and her thesis is on “digital security in this era of data mining”.

Reena is a television journalist who has worked as a White House correspondent, foreign reporter, and news anchor for ABC, CBS, and Fox News. She has reported around the world from India to Israel, Libya to Lebanon. She was the anchor, most recently, of the CBS evening news on Saturday nights. She is the founder of Good Trouble Productions, a media company focused on creating content with purpose.

Sanda Ojiambo of Kenya was appointed CEO & Executive Director of the United Nations Global Compact by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in June 2020. As the world grappled with the COVID-19 pandemic, Ms. Ojiambo launched an ambitious new UN Global Compact strategy to accelerate and scale the global collective impact of business by upholding the Ten Principles and delivering the Sustainable Development Goals through accountable companies and ecosystems that enable change. During her tenure she has also promoted stronger business engagement with UN partners to deliver and finance the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Ms. Ojiambo brings to the UN Global Compact more than 20 years’ experience in the public, multilateral and private sectors including as Head of Sustainable Business and Social Impact, Safaricom Plc in Kenya; and capacity development work in CARE International and United Nations Development Programme Somalia. Ms. Ojiambo holds a Master of Arts in Public Policy from the University of Minnesota, USA, and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and International Development from McGill University, Canada.

Her Excellency Karin Olofsdotter took up her post as Ambassador of Sweden to the United States on September 1, 2017. Ambassador Olofsdotter is an accomplished diplomat, with a career spanning nearly 30 years. Prior to assuming the role as Ambassador of Sweden to the United States she served as Director-General for Trade at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs back in Stockholm, Sweden. She has also held the position of Deputy Director-General and Head of the Department for Promotion of Sweden, Trade, and CSR at the Foreign Ministry. Ambassador Olofsdotter has served as Chief of Staff for several Ministers and as Sweden’s Ambassador to Hungary. She also served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of Sweden in Washington, DC 2008-2011. Ambassador Olofsdotter has a B.A. in psychology, economics and Russian. She studied at UCLA Anderson School of Management and speaks Russian, French and English. She is married and has a son and a daughter

Stéphanie Seydoux has been appointed French Ambassador for Global health in 2018, representing France in various international organizations. She was involved in the 6th Global Fund replenishment conference in Lyon, in October 2019 and is currently active in the French multilateral response to the Covid crisis, which was developed alongside strengthening major health and development priorities such as health system strengthening, gender equality, the fight against pandemics for instance. After starting her career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Stéphanie Seydoux joined the General Inspectorate of Social Affairs in 2004. From 2007 to 2010, she was Head of Equality Promotion at the French Independent Equality Commission. From 2010 to 2013, she was Deputy Ambassador at the French Embassy in Kenya. She was head of the French Women’s rights department from 2014 to 2017. Stéphanie Seydoux holds a master's degree in literature from the University of Oxford, a graduate of the Paris Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po) and is a former student of the National School of Administration (ENA) - promotion "Léopold Sédar Senghor"

Nemat (Minouche) Shafik is a leading economist whose career has straddled public policy and academia. She was appointed Director of the London School of Economics and Political Science in September 2017. She did her BA at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, her MSc at LSE and her DPhil at the University of Oxford and, by the age of 36, had become the youngest ever Vice President of the World Bank. She taught at Georgetown University and the Wharton Business School and has published widely. She served as the Permanent Secretary of the Department for International Development from 2008 to 2011, Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund from 2011-2014 and as Deputy Governor of the Bank of England from 2014-2017, where she sat on all the monetary, financial and prudential policy committees and was responsible for a balance sheet of over £500 billion. Minouche has served on and chaired numerous boards and currently serves as a Deputy Chair of the British Museum, and is a member of the Supervisory Board of Siemens, the Council of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, and the Global Board of BRAC. She was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list in 2015 and made a cross-bench peer in the House of Lords in 2020. Her book What We Owe Each Other: A New Social Contract is out now.

Emily Sharpe serves as Director of Policy at the World Wide Web Foundation. In this role, she is responsible for developing the Foundation’s policy positions and goals, and for leading our advocacy engagement as we aim to ensure that everyone, everywhere can access the free and open web. Prior to joining the Web Foundation, Emily led Facebook’s privacy policy engagement team in Europe, Middle East and Africa. Trained as a human rights lawyer, she has held legal, policy and research positions with a number of NGOs, human rights law practices and public bodies. Emily earned her law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center and her undergraduate degree from Cornell University, and was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to Qatar and Kuwait.

Chetna Gala Sinha has worked with people’s movements since the early 1980s. In 1996, she founded the Mann Deshi Foundation in Mhaswad, a drought-stricken area of Maharashtra, with the aim of economically and socially empowering rural women. In 1997, she set up the Mann Deshi Mahila Sahakari Bank - India’s first bank for and by rural women. Chetna was chosen to be Co-Chair of the Word Economic Forum 2018 and won the Forbes Social Entrepreneurship Award in November 2017. She has been awarded the 2005 Jankidevi Bajaj Award for Rural Entrepreneurship, the 2005 Ashoka Changemakers Award, the 2009 Godfrey Phillips Bravery Award, the 2010 EdelGive Social Innovation Honors (Livelihood Category) and the Schwab Foundation’s and Jubilant Bhartia Foundation’s 2013 Social Entrepreneur of the Year (India). The RBI, NABARD and other regulatory financial and banking institutions regularly seek her advice on financial inclusion. She is on several national boards including the Rashtriya Mahila Kosh of the Department of Women & Child Development ,the National Committee for Promotion of Social and Economic Welfare constituted under Section 35AC of Income Tax Act, 1961, the Maharashtra State Livelihood Mission Board and the RBI Training Institute on Financial Inclusion for Senior Bankers. Chetna is passionate about listening to women. She loves to read, travel and dance. She especially loves the traditional Guajarati garba dance!

A leader in international development and humanitarian response, Sofía brings over 25 years of experience of working at CARE.  She spearheaded CARE’s first program strategy and was integral to placing gender equality at the very heart of CARE’s worldwide work. In CARE’s 75th year history, her leadership is pivotal to CARE’s 2030 Vision in contribution to Sustainable Development Goals. Sofía, originally from Uruguay, lives in Quito, Ecuador. First joining CARE in 1994, she has served in several positions, providing support to programs in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. With extensive experience in program design and implementation; impact measurement and evaluation; and advocacy, Sofía is dedicated to transforming power relations inside and outside of the organization. Her unshakable commitment to gender equality is drawn from many years of working alongside some of the worlds most marginalized women; from domestic workers, women working in the garment sector and victims of gender-based violence. Prior to working in international development, Sofía worked in the field of public opinion polls and audience research. She holds a B.A. in Sociology from the Universidad de la República Oriental del Uruguay and an MSc in Epidemiology from the University of London/London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Dr. Beth Tellman is the Chief Scientist and Co-founder of Cloud to Street, where she oversees the science team to map flood exposure, risk, and social vulnerability. She has been passionate about reducing flood vulnerability for vulnerable communities since she worked in flood relief and resilience efforts in El Salvador from 2009-2012. Beth received her PhD in Geographical Sciences from Arizona State University in 2019. She engages in a wide array of disciplines and methods from land system science, to hydrology, to the social sciences to understand and map the causes and consequences of vulnerability. Beth received her M.S from Yale School of Forestry in Environmental Science and B.S in Sustainable Globalization from Santa Clara University. She is a former Fulbright fellow, National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow, and a fellow at Echoing Green.

Naima Te Maile Fifita is an indigenous, youth and island advocate for Blue Ocean Law, the Institute for Climate and Peace, and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature new Climate Crisis Commission. Naima is passionate about environmental justice, climate migration policy, and strengthening cross-cultural competencies throughout her legal and non-profit work. Her Pacific Islander and multicultural upbringing and world-embracing views have charged her engagement in numerous areas, particularly legal research, education, and policy transformation. With family residing in Tuvalu, Hawaiʻi, Aotearoa New Zealand, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands, she is committed to helping coastal communities in the South Pacific combat the effects of climate change with peace and resilience. She is a graduate of Punahou School, Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, and Amherst College, Amherst Massachusetts and is President of the Pacific Islander Legal Association at the William S. Richardson School of Law, where she is a JD candidate.

In 2009, President Obama nominated Melanne Verveer to be the first U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues. She led efforts to integrate women’s rights and participation into U.S. foreign policy. President Obama also appointed Verveer to serve as U.S. Representative to the UN Commission on the Status of Women. Today she is the Director of Georgetown University’s Institute for Women, Peace and Security. The Institute seeks to enhance national and global security by documenting the crucial role women play in peace-building and security through research and scholarship and by engaging global leaders from government, civil society and the private sector in conversations on the urgent issues of our time. She also serves as Special Representative on Gender Equality for the OSCE Chairmanship. Ambassador Verveer is the founding partner of Seneca Point Global, the global women strategy firm. She is the co-author of the book, FAST FORWARD: How Women Can Achieve Power and Purpose. Prior to her role at the State Department, Ambassador Verveer was Chair and Co-CEO of Vital Voices Global Partnership, an international NGO she co-founded to invest in emerging women leaders. Prior to Vital Voices, she served as Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff to the First Lady in the Clinton Administration. She also led the effort to establish the President’s Interagency Council on Women and was instrumental in the adoption of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000. Ambassador Verveer is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Trilateral Commission. She serves on the boards of the Atlantic Council, the National Endowment for Democracy and the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, as well as the World Bank Advisory Council on Gender and Development. She was 2013 Humanitas visiting professor at Cambridge University and in 2017 was selected to deliver the Tanner Lecture on Human Values at Clare Hall College Cambridge where she is an honorary fellow. She has a BS and MS from Georgetown University and holds several honorary degrees. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the U.S. Secretary of State’s Award for Distinguished Service. She was named to the NEWSWEEK “150 Women Who Shake the World” list; Fast Company’s “60 Influencers who are Changing the World;” and Enterprising Magazine’s Hall of Fame. She was awarded the Order of Princess Olga by the Government of Ukraine and the Order of the Rising Sun by the Government of Japan.

Brianne West is a New Zealand entrepreneur and founder of Ethique – the world’s most sustainable beauty brand, now sold in over 20 countries and more than 4000 stores. She was named a ‘Top 100 Global Thinker’ by Foreign Policy magazine in 2016, the 2019 NZ EY ‘Young Entrepreneur of the Year’ and the One Young World's Entrepreneur of the Year in 2020. She is passionate about protecting and restoring our environment and believes that business should benefit everyone involved, from suppliers, to the team - not just shareholders.

Ambassador Lone Dencker Wisborg is the Ambassador of Denmark to the United States. Most recently, she held a position as State Secretary and Chief Operating Officer in the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Ambassador Wisborg has also been Ambassador of Denmark to Spain (2011-2015). Ambassador Wisborg has been with the Danish Foreign Service for more than 25 years and held various positions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She held also has been State Secretary for Foreign Policy (2015-2017), Under-Secretary for Global Security (2009-2011) and Head of Department for Security Policy (2007-2009) both in Copenhagen. Prior to that she served as Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Denmark in Warsaw (2004-2006) and as Private Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs (2001-2003). Before that, she served as Head of Section in the International Department of the Danish Parliament (2001-2003), First Secretary at the Embassy of Denmark in Tallinn and Head of Section in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Ambassador Wisborg holds a Master of Law from Aarhus University

Julie Ann Wrigley has long been interested in conservation; she has wanted to do her part to ensure that future generations would have the same quality of life that her generation has enjoyed. That was her intention when she went to law school in the mid 1970’s. Today, as a successful businesswoman and philanthropist, she has found a way to give back—or, more accurately, to invest in the future. She believes that a confluence of factors will cause her investments to pay huge dividends. Wrigley serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of Wrigley Investments, LLC, President of the Julie Ann Wrigley Foundation, Manager of GlenNeva Land Holdings, LLC, GlenNeva Land Holdings II, LLC. She is a past member of the Board of Directors of the E.W.Scripps Co., Associated Bank of Chicago, First Bank of Idaho, American Eagle Group, and Wyndham Foods. Among her philanthropic efforts, Wrigley is founder and co-chair with Rob Walton, chairman and retired CEO of Wal-Mart, of ASU’s Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability; a former board member and Chair Emeritus of the Peregrine Fund Inc.; a former member of the board of visitors for the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at her alma mater, Stanford University; former co-chair of the capital campaign for the Barrow Neurological Institute at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Phoenix; a former member of The Nature Conservancy Board of Governors; and was also a state Trustee for The Nature Conservancy in Idaho and Nevada. In addition, she has served on the Board of Trustees for the World Wildlife Fund and is currently on the National Council for WWF and has served on the Advisory Board for the Ray C. Anderson Foundation. Early in her business career she was Vice-Chair of Keep America Beautiful. She is co-founder with her late husband, of the University of Southern California’s Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies. In addition, Wrigley is a member of the Burns Family Foundation, which was founded by her grandfather and which she currently manages with her five sisters. Wrigley graduated from Stanford University with a degree in anthropology. She also earned a Juris doctorate, summa cum laude, from the University of Denver’s College of Law.

Rachel Vogelstein is Senior Advisor to the White House Gender Policy Council, where she leads the Council’s global portfolio. She is the author of Awakening: #MeToo and the Global Fight for Women’s Rights (Hachette), the first book to capture the global impact of the groundbreaking #MeToo movement. Previously, she was the Douglas Dillon Senior Fellow and Director of the Women and Foreign Policy Program at the Council on Foreign Relations, where her research focused on the relationship between women’s advancement, prosperity, and stability. She also served as an advisor to Secretary Hillary Clinton on women’s issues for over a decade, helping
her become the first woman to win a U.S. presidential major party nomination. During the Obama administration, Vogelstein was as a member of the White House Council on Women and Girls and an official in the Office of Global Women’s Issues at the U.S. State Department, where she helped develop a landmark foreign policy agenda for women’s empowerment. A lawyer by training, she has served on the boards of the National Women’s History Museum and Planned Parenthood Global.