Focus: Civil Society
Jan Jakub "Kuba" Wygnanski
Jan Jakub "Kuba" Wygnanski is sociologist serving as President of Board for Shipyard – Centre for Social Innovation and Research. Kuba starting his career as a Solidarity activist in Poland. He was participating in historical Round Table talks. After 1989, he became deeply involved in numerous initiatives aiming to support civil society in Poland and other countries. He has started several NGOs including the KLON/JAWOR Association and the Forum of Nongovernmental Initiatives, which plays a key role as representative of Polish Third Sector. Kuba was initiator and coordinator of a multi-year systemic project of Polish Model of Social Economy. For over 25 years Kuba has been deeply involved in the…
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Nizam Uddin
Nizam Uddin is Chief Strategy Officer of algbra, a technology-based financial ecosystem dedicated to global financial inclusion by focusing on the underserved and underbanked. Nizam was previously the Senior Head of Mosaic and Community Integration at The Prince’s Trust and Head of the Mosaic Initiative. Nizam has a strong interest and background in overcoming the societal and economic challenges that prevent disenfranchised and minority communities from fulfilling their potential. He is a 2019 US State Department International Visitor Leadership Programme (IVLP) participant and a Trustee of: SOAS, University of London, Robert. F. Kennedy Human Rights UK, and Belong – the UK's Cohesion and Integration Network (COIN). Nizam was awarded an…
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Adi Pundak-Mintz
Adi Pundak-Mintz is Founder of Canaan Partners Israel, a venture capital fund in Israel, which is one of the world’s largest venture capital markets. An expert in seed investment and entrepreneurship, he has overseen transactions totaling over $1 billion. Adi has also helped finance socially responsible start-up businesses including Galil Software, a Nazareth-based company with over 100 employees that creates career opportunities for Israeli Arabs who might otherwise encounter difficulties finding employment in their field. Adi is also an Advisory Board Member of Tzeva, a non-profit organization providing access to quality education to all children, attempting to eliminate social gaps. He is an entrepreneur, angel investor, and mentor to startups…
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Mara Redlich Revkin
Mara Redlich Revkin is a political scientist and legal scholar conducting empirical research on legal systems during and after conflict with a regional focus on the Middle East. Currently, she is the National Security Law Fellow at the Georgetown University Law Center. Her research and teaching interests are in the areas of criminal law and procedure, international law, human rights, and transitional justice. She has conducted fieldwork in Iraq, Egypt, Turkey, Lebanon, and Oman using qualitative and quantitative research methods including large-scale household surveys, interviews, and event data based on newspapers and social media posts. Her current research aims to contribute to the development of evidence-based strategies for strengthening rule…
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Verena Knaus
Verena Knaus is the Global Lead on Migration and Displacement at UNICEF in Switzerland. She previously held a position of senior policy advisor at UNICEF in Brussels. Before this, Verena co-founded the European Stability Initiative (ESI), a policy-oriented think tank active in the Balkans, Turkey, and the Caucasus. There, she spearheaded empirical research and policy campaigns on issues ranging from women’s rights to visa liberalization, political Islam and post-war recovery. She helped develop ESI's unique methodology, combining labor-intensive data collection with real-time, policy-oriented advocacy. From 2008-2009 Verena advised the former prime minister and mayor of the divided city of Mitrovica, and in summer 2010 she joined Kosovo's Ministry for European…
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Feng Gao
Feng Gao is the co-founder and managing director of Open Data China, the first civic group and social enterprise in China working on data transparency and digital rights. Under Feng’s leadership, Open Data China actively advises governments and other data holders on how to build an open and transparent data agenda. Open Data China also sets up a community for data users to make their voices heard. In 2015, Open Data China co-launched Shanghai Open Data Apps (SODA), a competition-based open data innovation model. Since then, Feng leads the daily operation of SODA and its sister programs in Chongqing, Shenyang, and other cities in China. The SODA model unlocks more…
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Sandra Breka
Sandra Breka is Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of the Foundation Group at Open Society Foundations. Previously she was a member of the Board of Management of the Robert Bosch Stiftung, one of the major charitable foundations in Europe. There, she spearheaded the foundation’s strategic realignment. Her portfolio included the foundation’s work on Global Issues with a focus on Climate Change, Democracy, Immigration Society, Inequality, Migration, and Peace as well as Strategic Partnerships and the Robert Bosch Academy. Before joining the foundation in 2001, Sandra served as Program Director at the Aspen Institute Berlin after an assignment with the American Council on Germany in New York. After studies in…
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Hakan Altinay
Hakan Altinay is a distinguished intellectual and promotor of global civics. In April 2022, he was sentenced to 18 years in prison by a Turkish court, accused of planning to overthrow the government, in Turkey’s crackdown on dissent and freedom of assembly. Amnesty International classified him as a prisoner of conscience. He was released from prison after 18 months by a decision of the Court of Appeals. Hakan is the founding Director of the European School of Politics and the President of the Global Civics Academy. His book, Global Civics: Responsibilities and Rights In an Interdependent World, reflects work done while at Yale and was published in 2011 by Brookings Institution, later…
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Fauziya Ali
Fauziya Ali is the Founder and President of Women in International Security (WIIS) Horn of Africa (HoA). She is an expert in governance, gender and human security. She is currently serving as the steering committee member for the inaugural Paris Peace forum under the leadership of President Emanuel Macron of France and an evaluating Judge for the Larsen Lam Iconiq impact awards under MacArthur Foundation. She also chairs a regional network of women peace builders in the Horn of Africa. She is currently working on a e-photo book dubbed “faces of resilience” as part of the 20th commemoration of women peace and security agenda. Prior to establishing WIIS-HoA, Fauziya served as…
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Udo Jude Ilo
Udo Jude Ilo is the Senior Director for Advocacy at the Centre for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC). In this role Udo sets and drives the global advocacy goal of the organization aimed at amplifying the voices of communities caught in conflict and promoting global norms and practices to ensure optimal protection of civilians. Udo Jude Ilo has close to two decades experience working in the democracy space, driving social innovation and influencing change. Udo’s focus has been about creativity and finding new tools for democracy promotion. As the Nigerian representative for the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), Udo provided strategic leadership in opening the frontier of governance and…
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