Advisory Board

The Rt. Hon. the Lord Alderdice

Chairman, The Centre for Democracy & Peace Building, Belfast

As Leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland, Lord Alderdice played a significant role in the Talks on Northern Ireland including negotiation of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.

He was the first Speaker of the new Northern Ireland Assembly and on retirement in 2004 was appointed to the Independent Monitoring Commission, tasked with closing down terrorist operations and overseeing normalization of security in Northern Ireland.

Haifa Fahoum Al Kaylani

Founder Chairman, Arab International Women's Forum

Mrs Haifa Fahoum Al Kaylani is the Founder Chairman of the Arab International Women’s Forum, and is well known in international government and business circles as a high-impact change agent focusing on leadership in cultural and gender issues.

An economist and graduate of the American University of Beirut and Oxford University, she brings a wide range of skills and experience to her personal mission of encouraging greater cultural understanding between Arab and international communities, supporting a strong role for women in that process.

Mrs Al Kaylani holds senior roles in several cultural, commercial and educational UK and international organisations. These include: Board Member, The Women's Leadership Board at Harvard Kennedy School; Advisory Board Member, The Middle East Institute, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London; Advisory Board Member, The Institute for Women’s Studies in the Arab World, Lebanese American University, Beirut; Board Director, EastWest Institute; and Board Member, The Arab British Chamber of Commerce in London. Mrs Al Kaylani also serves on The Commission on Global Security, Justice & Governance, and became the first Honorary Member of the Euro Mediterranean Association for Cooperation and Development in 2012.

In January 2017, Haifa Al Kaylani was invited to become a Fellow of the Advanced Leadership Initiative at Harvard University to join 45 global leaders selected for an intensive, multi-disciplinary program and yearlong Fellowship to research and address significant social problems. As a Fellow of Harvard's Advanced Leadership Initiative, Mrs Al Kaylani looks forward to carrying forward on a global level the mission she cares deeply about and to which she has devoted over three decades of her life – economic development through the empowerment and advancement of Arab women and youth and by advocating job creation, entrepreneurship, education and economic empowerment, not only in the MENA region but internationally.

Gregory Beitchman

Vice President , CNN International

Greg Beitchman is VP Content Sales and Partnerships, CNN International. In this capacity he is responsible for overseeing and developing the network’s content sales business internationally, with a focus on leveraging its broadcast and digital assets.

His role encompasses content sales and partnerships, out of home services, and licensing deals. He also works across CNN’s NewSource content syndication service, its out-of-home distribution channels, and its international affiliate business of more than 1,000 broadcast partners. Prior to joining CNN International, Beitchman worked for Reuters where he was Global Head of Multimedia Content. An accomplished journalist with over 20 years’ experience, Beitchman’s multiple achievements span both editorial and commercial disciplines, and include the development of strategic partnerships and channel launches for Reuters, Times Global Broadcasting, CCTV and The Tribune Group, as well as a range of international editorial postings in India, China and Japan among others. He holds a BA in Government and East Asian Studies from Colby College and speaks fluent English, Japanese, French and Hindi / Urdu.

Sir Dirk Brossé

Music Director, The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia

Sir Dirk Brossé, born in Ghent, Belgium, in 1960, is a multi-faceted composer and a respected conductor on the international music scene. He is currently Music Director of ‘The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia’, Music Director of the Filmfestival Ghent and Music Director and Principal Conductor of the ‘Star Wars in Concert World Tour’.

Sir Dirk Brossé began his music studies at the Music Conservatories of Ghent and Brussels. He subsequently specialised in conducting, which he studied in Maastricht, Vienna and Cologne. Alongside his many guest professorships, he is currently Professor of Composition and Conducting at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Ghent. Dirk Brossé has conducted all the leading Belgian orchestras, among them, the Brussels Philharmonic, the Royal Flemish Philharmonic, the Orchestra of the Flemish Opera and the National Orchestra of Belgium. Outside his native Belgium, he has conducted the London Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra London, l’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Shanghai, the Vancouver Opera, the KBS Symphony Orchestra of South Korea, l’Orchestra de l’Opéra de Lyon, the World Symphony Orchestra (Japan), the Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra, the Ulster Symphony Orchestra of Northern Ireland, the Camerata St Petersburg, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and the National Orchestras of Venezuela and Ecuador. Dirk Brossé is also a versatile and prolific composer. He has written some 200 works, including concerti, oratorios, lieder, chamber music and symphonic works, that have been performed all over the world and have been recorded in more than 40 countries. His most important works are ‘La Soledad de América Latina’, written in collaboration with the Nobel Prize winner Gabriel Garcia Marquez, ‘Artesia’, a universal symphony for orchestra and ethnic instruments, the ethno-classical symphony ‘The Birth of Music’, the oratorio ‘Juanelo’, the lieder cycles ‘Landuyt Cycle’ and ‘La Vida es un Sueno’, the ‘War Concerto’ for clarinet and orchestra, and the violin concertos ‘Black, White & Between’, ‘Sophia’ and ‘Echoes of Silent Voices’. In 2010, at the request of the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, he wrote ‘The Hallow-e’en Dances’. This Halloween-inspired work is specially written for age-old, traditional Chinese instruments. Besides this, on numerous occasions, Dirk Brossé has composed for the theatre and the cinema.

Reem N. Bsaiso

Founder & Managing Partner Global Outreach/ Consultant

Reem is a Senior Consultant specializing in knowledge economy policies and public reform; her focus is on merging ICT in Education and national training schemes, working with international agencies on ICT in Education in the MENA region, such as World Bank, UNESCO and EU Investment Bank.

She’s an advocate of Open Education Resources (OER), part of the US Department of State “Open Book Initiative” with the League of Arab States, and member of the UNESCO-Paris Advisory Panel of Experts on Debt Swaps & Innovative Approaches to Education Funding. She is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of the new Global Outreach, to bridge knowledge across the Gulf and between West and East. Reem is ex-CEO of World Links Arab Region and World Links International, initiated by the World Bank committed to spreading and merging ICT-based Knowledge Economy & Entrepreneurial skills in education and training of youth and women. She has created scalable and sustainable schemes that reached millions of students and youth through highly effective and low-cost models. She was part of the Prime Ministerial National Agenda of Jordan for the Labour, Employment & Vocational Training and Education components. In 2002 – 2003, she initiated Jordan’s first National ICT Training Strategy, anchoring ICT-literacy, e-learning and technical maintenance in public education under a UNDP/ Government of Jordan scheme.

REEM N. BSAISO IS A 'FOUNDING' MEMBER OF GLOBAL THINKERS FORUM​.

Victoria A. Budson

Executive Director, WAPPP Harvard Kennedy School

Victoria A. Budson is a founder and the Executive Director of the Women and Public Policy Program (WAPPP) at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. WAPPP is the preeminent institution for advancing interdisciplinary research on approaches to closing gender gaps, educating students and leaders on gender policy, and implementing policy changes at local, state, and national levels.

WAPPP created and hosts one of the field’s most significant research seminars to foster faculty dialogue, promote the exchange of innovative ideas, and disseminate findings.

Budson’s policy advice is regularly drawn upon by leaders across the sectors including: the White House Council on Women and Girls, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the U.S. Senate Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee, the U.S. Department of State, and the U.S. Army and Air Force, as well as multinational corporations leading on diversity and inclusion. She served as the Chairperson of the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women from 2010-2017 and has served as a board member or advisor to numerous other organizations including the Eisenhower Fellowships, the Boston Mayoral Women’s Workforce Council, the Global Thinkers Forum, Womensphere, Women2Women, the Women and Public Service Project, and the National Council for Research on Women.

She speaks regularly on topics related to closing gender gaps such as gender and public policy, electoral politics and political action. Budson also addresses how diversity and gender equality improve the profitability of corporations and the prosperity of families and society. She focuses on evidence-based methods that are proven to improve diversity and gender equality in the workplace.

Budson is a frequent commentator for news publications, television, and radio programs including CNN, Fox News, The New York Times, C-Span, CNBC, The Boston Globe, New York Times Magazine, US News & World Report, USA Today, and National Public Radio. 

She has received numerous awards and honors. She was recognized by CNN as one of Ten Visionary Women from across the globe (2014) and by Boston Magazine, as a member of the “The new Power Class; the visionaries, idealists and thinkers whose insights are transforming the way we live, work, learn and play” (2014).  

Budson earned a B.A. from Wellesley College and a master’s degree in public administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University where she was a recipient of the Lucius N. Littauer Fellow award for academic distinction and leadership.

Maxime Chaya

Corporate Ambassador, Sportsman & Climber

Lebanon’s foremost sportsman and climber, Maxime Chaya was the first person from his home country to hoist its flag atop Everest.

He did so at the climax of his challenge to ascend the highest mountain on every continent – the Seven Summits – while also skiing to the North and South Poles. After his homeland’s civil war resulted in a multi-cultural Lebanese, French, Greek and Canadian education, Max graduated with honours from the London School of Economics, and today he regularly visits schools, universities and clubs to help motivate youngsters to ‘climb their own Everest’. Knighted twice for his achievements, Max lives on the Mediterranean coast, just north of his native Beirut, with his children Edgard and Kelly.

Jana Cohen Barbe

Partner & The Former Global Vice Chair, Dentons

Jana Cohen Barbe is a Partner and the former Global Vice Chair of Dentons, the largest law firm in the world. Since its inception, Jana has been integrally involved in the development and implementation of a strategic vision that created a top tier global legal business with 149 locations in 61 countries.

In addition to serving on the Global Board of Dentons, the Global Advisory Committee and the U.S. Board, Jana chaired the firm's Financial Institutions Sector - the largest sector of the law firm  - as well as its pre-eminent real estate practice.  Jana advises leading global financial institutions and insurance companies on community development and social investing; her substantive expertise bridges tax, corporate, partnership, finance and real estate law and she is ranked among the best real estate attorneys in the world. 

Equally committed to serving her community, Jana is the president emerita of Thresholds, Illinois' oldest and largest provider of supportive services and housing to individuals with severe and persistent mental illnesses.  Her service to Thresholds, which serves more than 9,500 adults and youths each year, has spanned more than 25 years.

 Recognized for her transformative and pioneering leadership, Jana is a frequent author and speaker on women in business, globalization, entrepreneurship and authenticity.

Michael E. Economakis

Executive Vice Chairman & CEO , A.G.Leventis Group (Nig.) Plc

Michael E. Economakis started his career in Coca-Cola Hellenic the 2nd biggest bottler of The Coca-Cola Company in the world, operating in 28 countries. Over the first years he worked in Sales, holding a variety of Sales Field and Commercial positions.

He had been constantly progressing throughout his career into wider and higher responsibility roles within Coca-Cola Hellenic appointed as a Commercial Director and Country GM in various operations of CCH and CEO in its subsidiaries. He was, also, CEO of a listed Group of Companies operating in the food sector. He is, also, member of the board of directors of GNCCT (Greek Nigerian Chamber of Commerce and Technology), member of CEO Association and member of the Advisory Board of Global Thinkers Forum, a London based think tank and ecosystem for excellence in leadership with values. He is currently Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of A.G.Leventis Group (Nig.) Plc a listed Conglomerate with operations in Automotive, Logistics, Food, Real Estate, Retail. 

Her Royal Highness Princess Sumaya bint El Hassan

President, The Royal Scientific Society

Her Royal Highness Princess Sumaya bint El Hassan is President of the Royal Scientific Society (RSS) and Chair of the Board of Trustees of Princess Sumaya University for Technology (PSUT).

The Princess is the Chair of the World Science Forum 2017, which will be held in Jordan, she is also Director and Chair of the National Campaign for Public Awareness of the Drivers of Change, a Jordanian initiative to outline and debate the factors that are driving change in the Kingdom and President of the Board of Governors of the UN ESCWA Technology Center. She is an advocate of science and technology as a catalyst for change in the Arab World, through education, research and innovation. The Princess seeks to promote sustainable development by maximising human potential through education and opportunity.

The Princess is an avid archaeologist and is closely involved with the work of the British Institute in Amman for Archaeological Research and the Council for British Research in the Levant. HRH was appointed by HM Queen Rania as Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the first Jordan National Museum, where she is overseeing its development.

Elizabeth Filippouli

Founder & CEO, Global Thinkers & Global Thinkers Forum

Elizabeth Filippouli is an entrepreneur and global leadership expert with particular focus on accountable leadership and inclusive growth.

She is the Founder & CEO of Global Thinkers Forum (GTF), an international organisation that works as an agent for positive change by connecting international thought leaders and promoting values-based leadership, collaboration and cross-cultural understanding. GTF is a London-based and UK registered social-purpose organisation with presence in 6 countries: UK, Jordan, Turkey, Greece, UAE, Saudi Arabia and a fast growth rate. It was launched in 2012 in Amman, Jordan under the patronage of Her Majesty Queen Rania and is proud to have Board members representing more than 20 countries.

Lili Hall

Founder & CEO, Knock

Lili Hall is founder and CEO of KNOCK, inc., leading with acute insight into brand development on a global scale.

She founded KNOCK in 2001 with a commitment to impeccable client service and nimble response to new opportunities. In conjunction with two sister companies—TREAT & COMPANY and Neighbor—Hall’s teams create impactful, effective work for national and international brands. Named one of EY’s Entrepreneurial Winning Women, Hall measures her success not only in the culture, growth and profitability of her companies, but also in the impact they make on communities both locally and around the world.

Dr. Roger Hayes

FCIPR, Member, Emeritus IPRA

Dr. Roger Hayes (FCIPR, Member Emeritus IPRA) is a leading international public relations and public affairs professional with 30 years experience in trade associations, corporations and consultancies and has also advised governments.

He has been Director‐General of the British Nuclear Industry Forum, a lobbying and trade body, CEO of the International Institute of Communications,a research-based think-tank, SVP of PR and Government Relations at Ford of Europe, Director Corporate Communications Thorn‐EMI plc., Head of Corporate Communications PA Consulting Group and a Director of the strategic communications firm Burson‐Marsteller, operating from London and New York. He began his career as a Reuters correspondent in Paris. He was also co‐founder and Non-Executive Chairman of Echo Research, an international stakeholder insight firm.

For the past eight years he has been a Senior Counsellor with strategic communications and public affairs consultancy APCOWORLDWIDE, based in London, although he recently returned from a more than one year assignment as interim MD of the firm’s Indian operation based in Delhi, acting for private and public, Indian and international organisations. Roger is currently an adviser to the UK-India Business Council. He has also spent considerable periods of time as senior adviser to the African operation based in Johannesburg. He was for some years an adviser to the President and Government of Ghana.He is an experienced trainer, running workshops in SE Asia, Africa, India and the Middle East. He is also an approved EU institutions trainer.

During this time Roger Hayes completed his Doctorate in Public Relations and Public Diplomacy in a Globalised World at Henley Business School (2012), conducting research in eight countries. A graduate of London University (Bsc Economics) and the University of Southern California (MA International Relations), he often writes and lectures on leadership communications and public diplomacy issues around the world. He is part-time faculty at Henley Business School and Greenwich University. He is the author of the management best seller Systematic Networking and is currently writing a book on business-government-civil society collaboration.

Gary Horsley

Senior Communications Consultant

For more than 30 years Gary has been a consultant on international communications issues, helping to shape strategies that reach out to client audiences, markets and partners across the globe.

During that time he has worked with major industrials, professional services, government departments and NGOs, helping them to communicate effectively across different cultures. He has extensive experience of working with European institutions, providing communications strategy and actions in areas as diverse as EU investment in R&D and the work of the EC’s Humanitarian Office. In three years of this latter role he managed many donor networking and aid support activities, including events in the West Bank and Gaza and EU presence at the signing of the anti-landmines treaty in Ottawa. For the last six years Gary has been at the heart of a media consultation involving journalists and associated media interests from EU Member States and the countries on the Union’s borders to the South and East. Discussion and analysis in more than 30 conferences, seminars and workshops has tackled key issues for the region: migration, terrorism, human rights, racism and xenophobia, reporting conflict and media freedom. It has also established an informal network of journalists focused around common professional interests, offering mutual support and providing distribution for news direct from colleagues on the front line of the Arab Spring uprisings.

GARY HORSLEY IS A 'FOUNDING' MEMBER OF GLOBAL THINKERS FORUM​.

Roya Mahboob

Founder & CEO, Digital Citizen Fund

Roya Mahboob is a serial entrepreneur President and co-Founder of Citadel Software Company, EdyEdy, DeFelora.

She is also CEO of the Digital Citizen Fund , a non-profit organization focused on #DigitalLiteracy to empower women and children in developing countries. Roya is famous as a leader for being among the first female tech CEOs in Afghanistan, being among the time 100 most influential people in the world for 2013 by TIME magazine, a member of the 2014 Tribeca Disruptive innovation awards and Young leader of world economic from in 2015. She has recently received the award for The Advancement of Gender Equality Through Education. Roya is also on the advisory board of  Forbes school of business of Ashford University, Resolution project, and the Global Thinkers Forum organization.

Haitham Mattar

CEO, Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority

Haitham Mattar, CEO of the Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority, was appointed in May 2015 to drive the economic growth of Ras Al Khaimah by positioning the Emirate as a world-class destination for business and leisure tourism.

With over 25 years of experience in global destination and hospitality management and marketing, Mattar has held senior roles with leading global brands including Marriott, InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), and most recently Hilton Worldwide.

As Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Hilton Worldwide, he was managing a 240+ strong team across the Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe, Turkey and Russia and responsible for 126 trading properties with a further 100 in the pipeline, sharpening his aptitude in hospitality, travel and tourism.

Mattar’s cross-continent experience and valuable global insights allow him to effectively lead Ras Al Khaimah’s destination growth strategy, through capturing existing and emerging source market movements and global tourism trends. Under Mattar’s leadership, Ras Al Khaimah is achieving continued growth in visitor numbers and netting a growing share of the global outbound tourism market.

A Lebanese-born American citizen and Arabic speaker, Mattar holds a Bachelors degree in Marketing from the University of Central Florida, USA, and a MBA in Marketing from the University of Liverpool, UK, having completed a thesis on the sustainability of tourism in Dubai.

HRH Sylvia Nagginda Luswata

Queen, Buganda Kingdom, Uganda, Founder & Patron, Nnabagereka Development Foundation

Her Royal Highness the Nnabagereka Sylvia Nagginda is the wife of the King of Buganda, King Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II.

The Kingdom of Buganda is the largest Kingdom in Uganda, occupying almost a quarter of the country with a population exceeding 7 million people, which is equivalent to 25% of the total population. Her Royal Highness is the first Nnabagereka (Queen) in the history of the Buganda Kingdom to set up a fully-fledged Office, a very crucial phenomenon that has greatly complemented the ongoing development work in the Kingdom and in Uganda at large.

The Nnabagereka carries out charity work for and through the institution of the Kingdom of Buganda, international, national and local organizations and the Nnabagereka Development Foundation (NDF), which she founded in 2000.

HRH focuses on children, youth and women through the Foundation’s support for socio-economic development initiatives including education, health care, community empowerment and the advancement of positive cultural values and practices. A pillar for development and held in high esteem, HRH plays a major role in sensitizing and mobilizing the general population on issues of Health; Education, Culture Preservation and Promotion of Sustainable Livelihoods. HRH’s innovation, the Ekisaakaate kya Nnabagereka is a popular Social Transformation Camp for young people in Uganda and among Ugandans in the Diaspora. 

The Nnabagereka is a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Uganda, a Torch Bearer for the Millennium Development Goals; Ambassador for Mama Club — an initiative of mothers living with HIV/AIDS; a Champion in the Campaign to End Pediatric HIV/AIDS (CEPA) in Uganda. She recently became the Patron of the Sonia Nabeta Foundation, whose mission is to raise awareness around Type 1 Diabetes (T1D).

HRH is also a Core Member of the African Philanthropy Forum and an Advisory Board Member of the Global Thinkers Forum.

Femi Oke

Senior Journalist, Al Jazeera English

Femi Oke is an international journalist, broadcaster and moderator. She is currently based in Washington, D.C., where she hosts the interactive current affairs show “The Stream” for Al Jazeera English.

Oke’s reporting has been recognised by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Communications Agency, InterAction and the Radio and Television Academy of Uganda.  Since the 1980s, she has worked for BBC television and radio, Sky TV, all the U.K. terrestrial television networks, CNN and U.S. public radio. You can connect with her anytime online via Twitter @FemiOke..

Akinwole Omoboriowo II (AOII)

Chairman & CEO, Genesis Energy Holdings

Akinwole Omoboriowo II (AOII) is a 1993 graduate of Economics from University of Jos, Alumni of the London Business School, from where he acquired specialist training in Electricity Pricing & Modelling course in 2006, and a 2011 Post-Graduate Diploma Alumni in Strategy & Innovation from the Prestigious Oxford University's SAID Business School, U.K.

AOII has over 20 years of experience in the Oil & Gas and Power Sectors in Africa, where he has consistently led other equally distinguished colleagues in pioneering several initiatives including but not limited to Independent Power Producing companies, well-Structured Oil Companies (Oil Trading and Exploration), thriving Utility Companies, amongst others.

AOII management work-profile includes being the Chairman and CEO of Genesis Energy Holdings,  Chairman Board of Directors GEL Utility (Co- Sponsored by General Electric and Engro Corp), Member-Advisory Board of The Global Thinkers Forum (GTF), Member – Advisory Board of the  African Utility and Clean Power Africa, Member – Board EnergyNet ‘’Off The Grid Club’’ West Africa, Founding Director of Walters Power Africa, CEO of Petroleum Projects International (a Foremost Oil & Gas Company in Africa, with several trail-blazing market initiatives to its credit) , Chairman of Bissau Electricidade de Agua (Guinea Bissau), Managing Director of Besse-Oil & Services.

AOII was listed among the most Influential Figures in African Power Sector for two years consecutively of 2014 and 2015- ESI, South Africa (Sponsored by ESKOM), nominated for a lifetime Achievement Award at the African Utility Industry Awards 2016 and  is also invested with Honoris Causa Fellowship of the Certified Board of Administrators of Nigeria (CBAN).

AOII is a fellow of the institutes of Management Consultants.

His Royal Highness Prince Pavlos

Crown Prince of Greece, Prince to Denmark (Chairman)

Heir apparent to the throne and Greece’s crown prince from his birth, remaining so during his father’s reign.

Crown Prince Pavlos is an investment consultant, being co-founder of numerous investment groups including Brigantine, Ortelius Capital Partners, Ivory Capital Group and Griphon Asset Management.

Other appointments:

• Crew member on the multi-record-breaking monohull Mari-Cha IV
• Christies European Advisory Board – member
• Anna-Maris Foundation – board member
• United World College, USA – board member

Crown Prince Pavlos is married to Marie-Chantal, Crown Princess of Greece, and has five children. Crown Prince Pavlos lives in New York and London, and is a Graduate of Georgetown University. Crown Prince Pavlos completed a three year commission with 42 Commando, British Marines.

David Rodin

Carnegie-Uehiro Senior Fellow, Global Ethics Fellow

David Rodin is a leading authority on the ethics of war and conflict. He is a Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs in New York and Senior Research Fellow at the University of Oxford.

 His publications include War and Self-Defense (OUP 2002), which was awarded the American Philosophical Association Sharp Prize, articles in leading philosophy and law journals and a number of edited books. A Rhodes Scholar from New Zealand, David has a B.Phil. and D.Phil in philosophy from Oxford University. He was previously Senior Research Fellow at the Australian National University.

He was the inaugural Director of Research at the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, and a founding member of the Oxford Leverhulme Programme on the Changing Character of War. David has a busy teaching and consulting schedule and is a regular lecturer at the UK Joint Services Command and Staff College where he provides ethics training for senior officers up to the rank of two-star General. He has also worked in the private sector as a Senior Associate with the Boston Consulting Group.

Saskia Sassen

Robert S. Lynd Professor of Sociology & Co-Chair, The Committee on Global Thought, Columbia University

Saskia Sassen is the Robert S. Lynd Professor of Sociology and Co-Chair, The Committee on Global Thought, Columbia University (www.saskiasassen.com).

Her recent books are Territory, Authority, Rights: From Medieval to Global Assemblages ( Princeton University Press 2008), A Sociology of Globalization (W.W.Norton 2007), and the 4th fully updated edition of Cities in a World Economy (Sage 2011). She is currently working on When Territory Exits Existing Frameworks (Under contract with Harvard University Press). Recent edited books are Deciphering the Global: Its Spaces, Scales and Subjects (Routledge 2007), and Digital Formations: New Architectures for Global Order (Princeton University Press 2005). The Global City came out in a new fully updated edition in 2001.For UNESCO she organized a five-year project on sustainable human settlement with a network of researchers and activists in over 30 countries; it is published as one of the volumes of the Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (Oxford, UK: EOLSS Publishers) [http://www.eolss.net ]. Her books are translated into over twenty languages. She has received several honors and awards, including multiple doctor honoris causa from universities in the US and other countries. She serves on several editorial boards and is an advisor to several international bodies. She is a Member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a member of the National Academy of Sciences Panel on Cities, and chaired the Information Technology and International Cooperation Committee of the Social Science Research Council (USA). She has written for The Guardian, The New York Times, Le Monde, Newsweek International, among others, and contributes regularly to www.OpenDemocracy.net and www.HuffingtonPost.com.

Sharon Schweitzer, J.D.

Cross-Cultural Consultant, International Protocol Expert, Access to Culture

Sharon Schweitzer is a cross-cultural trainer, international business etiquette expert, award-winning author, and the founder of Access to Culture. As a third culture kid, she has lived, studied, worked, and traveled to more than 70 countries on 7 continents. Along with tenures at renowned Austin and Dallas-based law firms, she served several years as an assistant attorney general. Sharon has a depth of experience assisting clientele from Fortune 500 companies to start-up firms.

Sharon is the award-winning author of the best-selling international business book, Access to Asia, a guide providing insider tips on culture, dining etiquette and business protocols across the globe, in the USA and 10 Asian countries. Her Amazon #1 international business best-seller was named to the Best Books of 2015 by Kirkus Reviews. Sharon writes the Ms. Modern Manners column for The Society Diaries USA & Mexico; is a Huffington Post contributor; and has been highlighted in Investor’s Business Daily, BBC Capital, Fortune, Business Journals, The Globe and Mail, Inc., and other media. She was a 2016 Winner of the British Airways International Trade, Investment and Expansion Award (small business category) at the Greater Austin Business Awards. Additionally, having served on numerous boards, she currently holds the following positions:

• Board Member, Global Thinkers Forum London
• Board Member, South Texas College of Law- Houston
• Board Member, Austin Chamber of Commerce
• Executive Committee Member, Austin International Business Coalition

Sharon graduated from the Ohio State University with a degree in Sociology, studied pre-law at the University of Oxford, and graduated from South Texas College of Law - Houston

Elif Shafak

Author, Columnist, Speaker & Academic

Elif Shafak is an award-winning novelist and the most widely read female writer in Turkey. She is also a political commentator and an inspirational public speaker.

She writes in both Turkish and English, and has published 15 books, 10 of which are novels, including the bestselling The Bastard of Istanbul, The Forty Rules of Love and her most recent, Three Daughters of Eve. Her books have been published in 48 languages. She is published by Penguin in the UK and represented by Curtis Brown globally.

Shafak is a TED Global speaker, a member of Weforum Global Agenda Council on Creative Economy in Davos and a founding member of ECFR (European Council on Foreign Relations). She has been awarded the title of Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in 2010 by the French government.

She has been featured in and contributes to major newspapers and periodicals around the world, including the Financial Times, the Guardian, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Der Spiegel and La Repubblica. 

Shafak has an academic background and has taught at various universities in Turkey, UK and USA. She holds a degree in International Relations, a Masters degree in Gender and Women’s Studies and a PhD in Political Science. She is known as a women’s rights, minority rights and LGBT rights advocate.

As a public speaker Shafak is represented by The London Speaker Bureau and Chartwell Speakers and Penguin Speakers Bureau.

Shafak has been long listed for the Orange Prize, MAN Asian Prize; the Baileys Prize and the IMPAC Dublin Award, and shortlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and RSL Ondaatje Prize

She sat on the judging panel for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize (2013); Sunday Times Short Story Award (2014, 2015), 10th Women of the Future Awards (2015); FT/Oppenheimer Funds Emerging Voices Awards (2015, 2016); Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction (2016) and Man Booker International Prize (2017).

She lives in London and can be found at www.elifshafak.com

Twitter @Elif_Safak

Geraldine Sharpe-Newton

Senior Communications Advisor

As a Public Relations Executive, Journalist and TV Producer, on both sides of the Atlantic, Geraldine Sharpe-Newton has worked at the heart of media relations and corporate communications for more than three decades.

She has been head of communications for three of the world's major news organisations, CBS News in the US, ITN in the UK and CNN International.

Early years in U.S broadcast journalism led her to Burson-Marsteller, Public Relations in New York.  She handled the U.S PR launch of The Economist News magazine and was a Vice President at publishers, ‘Simon & Shuster’.
Back in broadcasting, at CBS News, she led the ‘transition, communications-team’ during the handover from Walter Cronkite to Dan Rather.
In London she ran the ITN Communications and PR operation.  She was Communications Director at the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) and later at Turner Broadcasting was Senior Vice President in charge of international press relations outside the US, for all Turner products.

Geraldine was a longtime President of The Media Society, and now is a specialist business Mentor for The Prince's Trust, on the Advisory Board of The Global Thinkers Forum, an Associate for Editorial Intelligence and has been named as the Chairman of Ei’s Comment Awards.  She is deeply involved in ‘mentoring’ and conducted media training for the Clore Leadership programme.   She is a Board Member at Theatre 503, in Battersea, and was on the Development Committee of The Tricycle Theatre. She is also a Critical Eye Associate and was latterly UK chair of the International Women's Forum.

Since becoming a consultant in 1998, she has been committed to helping people tell their stories, has created and implemented media strategies, product publicity, launches and issue management, for a wide variety of clients, including film companies, a Government appointed agency and an independent industry watchdog.

Renowned for her networks and travels to uncommon places she is now working on her first book of short stories.

GERALDINE SHARPE-NEWTON IS A 'FOUNDING' MEMBER OF GLOBAL THINKERS FORUM​.

Muna Abu Sulayman

Partner, Directions Consutling

Muna AbuSulayman is continuously chosen as one of the Most Influential Arabs in the World in various publications due to a unique and diverse corss-sector 20 year work experience. 

Internationally recognized as an expert in Management, education, Sustainable Development, Female Empowerment, she has spoken at the World Economic Forum, UN, and The world Bank on   Development, using innovation to alleviate poverty, Gender, and building communities.

She is most notably known for creating five academic studies centers at Harvard, Georgetown, Edinburgh and Cambridge Universities.  She was also instrumental in creating and supporting various programs that looked at bridging the gap between the West and Islam in the legal , media, and philanthropy sectors. Other projects focused on providing health, educational, and work opportunities to women and families through partners such as Oxfam, Deworm the World, UNCHR, and the Carter Center.

Since 2011, AbuSulayman has successfully launched, managed, and scaled multiple businesses and is running a consultancy that focuses on finding “Big Ideas that Work” to solve problems in Education, Gender Issues, Media, and Entrepreneurship. The former Founding Secretary General of the Alwaleed Bin Talal Foundation was also, the first Saudi woman to become a regional TV personality. Her show  “Kalam Nawa’em”  has been ranked number one across the Arab World for fifteen years in a row. She was also chosen as the first Saudi UN Goodwill Ambassador for the UNDP as well as a Young Global Leader at the World Economic Forum.

Marc Ventresca

Fellow & University Lecturer, University of Oxford

Marc Ventresca is an organisational and economic sociologist who teaches strategy, leadership and organisation theory at Said Business School with a focus on innovation and on how new markets get built.

He is a Fellow of Wolfson College and affiliated Fellow of the Institute for Science, Innovation and Society (InSIS). He also works as Senior Scholar with Center for Innovation and Communication at Stanford University. Marc holds a lead faculty role in research and teaching initiatives focused on innovation and entrepreneurship, including service as faculty lead for Science Innovation Plus (a collaboration on enterprise skills with the Oxford Sciences Division). His research investigates governance innovation among global financial markets, entrepreneurial leadership in knowledge- and -information-intensive organisations, and value creation in emerging ecosystem services markets. Beyond Oxford, Marc serves on several journal editorial boards and is a regular reviewer for the U.S. National Science Foundation and the Oxford University Press. He contributes to scholarly and professional activities in the American Sociological Association, the Academy of Management and the European Group for Organisation Studies. He is Research Associate Professor of Global Public Policy at the Naval Postgraduate School and a research affiliate at University of California Irvine Center for Organizations Research and at the Center for International Security and Cooperation, Stanford University. Marc is a GTF Awards Excellence in Innovation judge.

MARC VENTRESCA IS A 'FOUNDING' MEMBER OF GLOBAL THINKERS FORUM​.

Derek Wyatt

Director, Code Investing

Derek is just stepping down as Chair of Royal Trinity Hospice, the oldest hospice in the world, after nearly seven years at the helm. He is chair of FISP, a think tank which examines how our digital world will look after 2020 and chair of the Major Stanley's Trust at Oxford University RFC.

He is a NED at Zone Investing and a trustee at BookTrust which delivers five million books to children for free every year. He is also an Associate Editor at Atlantic Books and in the middle of creating a Brain Trauma charity. In another life he was an MP, founded the Oxford Internet Institute and played rugby for Oxford University, the Barbarians and England. He has written seven books and is currently studying for an MA in International Relations at King's College.