Focus: Economic Development
Gernot Laganda
Gernot Laganda is leading the Climate and Disaster Risk Reduction Programs at the United Nations' World Food Program (WFP). He supports WFP Country Offices and the governments they serve to understand the effects of climate change on food security, develop strategic measures to reduce climate risks in country programs, and make innovative climate finance instruments work for vulnerable communities. Gernot joined WFP from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), where he managed the world’s largest climate change adaptation program for smallholder farmers. A geoscientist by training, he spent the past 20 years working at the nexus between disasters and development – holding posts with NGOs supporting disaster relief and…
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Brian Kagoro
Brian Kagoro is the Programme Support Division Director of the Africa Regional Office (AfRO) of the Open Society Foundations (OSF). Prior to that he was Founder and Executive Director of UHAI Africa Group, a governance and development consulting firm with operations in Johannesburg, Harare, and Nairobi. Brian is a Pan Africanist and a constitutional and economic relations lawyer. Prior to establishing UHAI Africa Group, Brian was the Regional Programme Advisor for the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Africa Governance and Public Administration Program, where he also led the UNDP Africa Governance Team within the Regional Service Centre for Africa. Prior to joining the UNDP, Brian served as Pan African Head…
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Kyriacos Koupparis
Kyriacos Koupparis is Head of the Hunger Monitoring Unit at the United Nations World Food Programme (UNWFP) where he and his team utilize data and emerging technologies to track global food security. Previously he was Head of Frontier Innovations at the UNWFP's Innovation Accelerator. In this role, he led a team that explored how emerging technologies – such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, and robotics – can be harnessed to catalyze impact within the context of humanitarian assistance and food security. Previously, he worked for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as Senior Innovation Advisor where he designed and administered multi-million dollar programs to advance social and environmental prosperity…
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Chetna Gala Sinha
Chetna Gala Sinha is an activist, farmer, and banker. In the early 1980s, while still a student in Mumbai, she joined the Jayaprakash Narayan movement and travelled through the country championing land rights and other social issues. In 1996, Chetna 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. Today, the Mann Deshi Bank has over 100,000 account holders, has loaned over $50 million, and regularly creates new financial products to support the needs of female micro-entrepreneurs….
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Rita Sciarra
Rita Sciarra is an expert in international development and serves as Team Lead for inclusive Growth and Poverty Reduction for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Hub in Panama. She previously served as Strategic Advisor with the UNDP in Mexico supporting the country during its economic recovery process after the earthquake in 2018. Originally from Italy, she is fluent in four languages, with more than 14 years of experience in three different continents, in post-conflict and normal development conditions. Prior to this, Rita served as Head of Poverty Reduction with UNDP in Haiti. She has managed a portfolio of projects to ensure the transition from emergency to development, with a…
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'Dapo Oyewole
’Dapo Oyewole is Special Adviser on Development Planning & International Affairs to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He previously served as Special Adviser to the Minister of State for Finance in Nigeria, responsible for policy and international cooperation. Earlier, he served as Technical Adviser to two Ministers of National Planning (NPC) in the Presidency of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The NPC is the country’s central think tank on strategic development and policy planning and serves a central advisory role to the President. At the NPC, his responsibilities spanned international cooperation, donor coordination, national development strategy, policy formulation, performance monitoring, and…
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Felix Maradiaga
Felix Maradiaga is an academic, political activist, and former presidential candidate. In June 2021 he was arrested and held in solitary confinement in Nicaragua by Ortega’s regime, sentenced to 13 years imprisonment for the alleged crime of “conspiracy to undermine national integrity." In February 2023, Felix was released from captivity and flown to the U.S., along with 221 other political prisoners from Nicaragua, where he was reunited with his family. After serving as the youngest-ever Secretary General of the Ministry of Defense, Felix has dedicated himself to strengthening peace, democracy, and the rule of law in Nicaragua. A recognized international expert in civil society and leadership development, he seeks to…
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Martina Larkin
Martina Larkin is CEO of Project Liberty, a ground breaking new initiative to transform how the internet works. Martina is a recognised international executive well versed in innovation and the world of international economics and politics. Before joining Project Liberty she was Vice President for Global Issues at System, an AI and data science company. Prior to that she spent 16 years at the World Economic Forum where she was a member of the Executive Committee. Martina is a member of `several non-profit boards, including the European Institute of Innovation and Technology of the European Commission; the international advisory panel for the Future of Science and Technology of the European…
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Nicola Harrington-Buhay
Nicola Harrington-Buhay works as an advocate for the inclusion of persons with disabilities, notably to increase their possibilities for decent jobs in the workplace. She also represents the International Paralympic Committee at UNESCO. Prior to this, Nicola was Deputy Executive Coordinator for the United Nations Volunteers, promoting volunteerism in peace and development. She was instrumental in introducing the United Nations’ first volunteer program for people with disabilities. She was previously Deputy Director of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development which fosters peer exchange between emerging and developing economies on effective approaches to development. Earlier, Nicola spent several years working for the United Nations. She was the United Nations Resident…
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Paromita Goswami
Paromita Goswami seeks to empower some of India’s poorest and most marginalized citizens: the residents of the Chandrapur and Gadchiroli districts of the state of Maharashtra. To protect their rights and help them access justice, she has created several non-profit organizations including Elgar Pratishthan, which concentrates on the economic and educational development of rural communities, and Shramik Elgar, a 10,000-member union of rural workers. Trained as a lawyer, Paromita has brought legal challenges on behalf of these members to India’s Supreme Court. Regarded as one of the top labor organizers in the region, she built a training center for rural community organizers. She is also involved in strengthening elected representatives…
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