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Ana Paula Hernández
As Program Officer for Latin America at the Fund for Global Human Rights, Ana Paula worked on a portfolio that provides strategic support and funding to over 55 human rights organizations in Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras. She also promoted a broader initiative across Mesoamerica to defend land and resource rights and increase corporate accountability, particularly in the extractive industries. As a leading human rights advocate in Mexico, Ana Paula supported drug policy reform aimed at more balanced approach, emphasizing prevention, treatment, and human rights rather than enforcement and criminalization. She was the deputy director of the Tlachinollan Human Rights Center in the state of Guerrero, located in a mostly indigenous…
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John Hendra
John Hendra recently established his own consulting practice – JD Hendra Strategic Consulting – after retiring from a dynamic 32-year United Nations career as a development leader in both Headquarters and the field. He played a leading role in major UN change initiatives including: in the strategic design of the UN’s support for both the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and now the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); helping to establish UN Women, the UN’s newest entity dedicated to gender equality and women’s rights; and as UN Resident Coordinator pioneering the “Delivering as One” Initiative in Vietnam for greater UN system-wide coherence and country level impact. JD Hendra Strategic Consulting provides strategic advice…
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Darius Gudelis
Darius Gudelis served as Chairman of the Board at vip:communications, a Lithuanian public relations, lobbying, and advertisement firm specializing in integrated communications for the private and public sector. His focus was on investing in regional media and business development in Central and Eastern Europe. He also co-founded the Institute of Strategic Research, a policy research and analysis organization. He is also co-owner of the Lithuanian basketball team, BC RYTAS VILNIUS. Elected the youngest mayor in the history of Lithuania at age 26, Darius rose early to national prominence and established a track record for economic improvement and a reputation for ethical government. In 2004, Darius became manager of Valdas Adamkus’s…
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Biola Alabi
Biola Alabi is an African media expert with over 25 years of local and global media experience. She is currently CEO at Biola Alabi Media Consulting, a content creation based in Lagos, Nigeria working across the world in broadcast, telecommunications, and digital industries. Biola was listed as one of the 20 Youngest Power Women in Africa by Forbes in 2013. She previously worked with leading brands DSTV, Africa's biggest pay-tv operator, Sesame Street, Bigwords.com, and Daewoo Motors. She oversaw the launch of AfricaMagic Hausa and Yoruba in 2010 and AfricaMagic Swahili in 2011: channels that have made considerable contributions to the promotion of indigenous languages and cultures in Africa. She…
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Ahmad "Rafay" Alam
Ahmad “Rafay” Alam is a Pakistani environmental lawyer and activist. In 2013, after over a decade of practicing corporate and constitutional law, Rafay co-founded Saleem, Alam & Co., a firm that specializes in the energy, water, natural resources, and urban infrastructure sectors. As one of Pakistan's leading environment lawyers, Rafay regularly advises the federal and provincial governments, the World Bank, ADB, IFC and a number of INGOs on issues of policy and strategy in these sectors, and he provides corporate clients strategic sustainability insights.  Familiar with how government functions in Pakistan, Rafay has served as Chairman of the Board of two public sector utilities: the Lahore Electric Supply Company…
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Marwa Rashid Al-Khalifa
Marwa Rashid Al Khalifa is a Bahraini artist who has a passion for mixed media art and photography. In order to explore and push new artistic boundaries, Marwa incorporates the use of different materials in her pieces, her work broaching a "spiritual aura" that invites the viewer to meditate and embark on a personal journey. Marwa has exhibited locally and internationally. She received the Bronze Palm Award in the Fine Art Category at the 3rd Visual Arts Forum for GCC Artists held in Doha, 2015. She previously worked as Director of The Crown Prince Training Program for Youth where she equipped young Bahrainis with education and training for the workforce….
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May Akl
May Akl is a founding member of the Free Patriotic Movement and advises the President of Lebanon, Michel Aoun, on a wide range of political and media issues. Earlier in her career, May worked as a reporter at An-Nahar newspaper and as a press officer in the office of the late Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.She is a lecturer at the Université Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth, where she also earned her BA, MA, and PhD degrees. May is also a member of the Media and Communication Committee of the Free Patriotic Movement, where she served on the party's Central Committee in 2007.
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Mai Ichihara
Mai Ichihara graduated from Yale in 2020 with a joint degree, Master of Environmental Management and Master of Global Affairs from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and the Jackson Institute for Global Affairs. She is specializing in water resource management with a regional focus in the Asia Pacific. At Yale, she focused on understanding equitable approaches to sustainable development, and she is a strong advocate of integrating ecosystem services, local knowledge, and participatory engagement into urban and rural development interventions.
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Zeena Johar
Zeena Johar is Senior Vice President, Business Operations at Advantia Health. Previously, she was Founder and CEO of SughaVazhvu Healthcare (SVHC) and IKP Centre for Technologies in Public Health (ICTPH), which helped create a primary care delivery network through rural clinics in India. Zeena returned to India in 2007 after earning her PhD in molecular diagnostics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, and she spearheaded ICTPH’s academic alliance with University of Pennsylvania's School of Nursing. This partnership helped develop India’s first certificate program for Indian medical practitioners, empowering them to practice evidence-based protocol driven primary-care medicine. SVHC was awarded the NASSCOM Social Innovation Honor 2014, and is a part…
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Monika Halan
Monika Halan is Consulting Editor with Mint, India's second largest business daily and a well-known media personality. Monika is author of the best-selling book Let's Talk Money published by Harper Collins in 2018. She has worked across several media organizations in India and has run many successful TV series around personal finance advice in NDTV, Zee, and Bloomberg. She is a regular speaker on financial literacy, regulation, inclusion and consumer issues in retail finance. Monika has public policy experience working with the Government of India as an advisor to the Swarup Committee in 2009. She has served as a member of the Ministry of Finance Committee on Incentives (Bose Committee)…
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