Hafsat Abiola
President & CEO, Women in Africa Initiative, Nigeria
President & CEO, Women in Africa Initiative, Nigeria
Director of the Governance and State-Building Division for the MENA Region, United Nations, USA
Director of the Governance and State-Building Department for the Arab Region at the United Nations.
Former head of the political office of the UN Under-Secretary General for Conflict Prevention and Senior political advisor to the UN Secretary General Special Envoy to Burundi. He directed the political office of the UN Secretary General Special Envoy to Yemen and acted as his Senior special advisor. He also was the Senior political officer in charge of the regional affairs in the UN political mission to Libya (UNSMIL) and head of office of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in Libya. Contributing author the Oxford Encyclopedias of Modern History and of Islam, among others.
Editor, Quartz Africa, Nigeria
Journalist, Africa editor for Quartz.
He oversaw the launch of Quartz Africa in June 2015 and coordinates its news, ideas and events in partnership with an editorial team across the continent. Founding board member of Social Media Week Lagos and launched the Billboard Africa Music Day event. As a journalist, he reported from more than 10 countries across Europe, Africa and the Americas. He was deputy editor at Billboard, where he ran the business coverage for the world’s leading music magazine brand. Earlier, he was an editor at New Media Age in London and a regular writer for The Guardian and The Financial Times.
Managing Director, The Afrochampions Initiative, Ghana
Head of the Global Shapers Community, World Economic Forum, Morocco
Head of the Global Shapers Community at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland.
Former member of the Youth Consultative Committee of the League of Arab States, he has worked at the Rabat School of Governance and Economics, Toyota and the European Institute for the Mediterranean (IEMed) in Barcelona.
Former Minister of Women's Affair, Ministry of Women's Affair, Chile
Chair, Albright Stonebridge Group, USA
Former Secretary of State of the United States (1997-2001), U.S.
Permanent Representative to the UN (1993-97), and member of the President’s Cabinet. She is a Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and serves as Chair of Albright Stonebridge Group, a global strategy firm, and Albright Capital Management LLC, an investment advisory firm focused on emerging markets. She also chairs the National Democratic Institute (NDI), serves as the president of the Truman Scholarship Foundation and is a member of the U.S. Defense Department’s Defense Policy Board. Her latest book, Fascism: A Warning was published on April 10 and debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list.
Governor of São Paulo, State of São Paulo, Brazil
Current Governor of the State of São Paulo (since 2001), President of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (BSDP) since 2017, a party he co-founded in 1988.
Second candidate with most votes of the presidential elections of 2006, runner for the last election in 2018. Former Secretary of Development of the State São Paulo (2009), State Deputy (1982-86), Federal Deputy (1986-94), initiator of the Code of Consumer Defense. Former Mayor of Pindamonhangaba, State of São Paulo and youngest mayor of Brazil at 25.
President, Regional Government of the Azores, Portugal
President of the Regional Government of the Azores, an Autonomous Region of Portugal, since 2012.
He is also the President of the Conference of Peripheral and Maritime Regions of Europe (CRPM), an organization representing more than 150 European Regions and around 200 million citizens from 28 European States. Former Regional Secretary for the Economy (2008-10), the Presidency (2004-08) and Agriculture and Fisheries (2003-04). Member of the Assembly of European Regions or « R20- Regions of Climate Action ».
Presenter, Royal Media Services, Kenya
Journalist and consultant (BBC, Voice of America and Reuters), 2017 Boehm Media Fellow and Bloomberg Africa Leadership Initiative Media Fellow, 2015 Archbishop Desmond Tutu Fellow of the African Leadership Institute and 2014 Global Social Impact Fellow, a program offered by the University of Pennsylvania’s Centre for Social Impact Strategy.
Already having a M. A. in Communication and Public Affairs from the American University in Washington, she is pursuing a M. A. in Communication and Non-Profit Management from Johns Hopkins University.