Belief – 2015 SWF Opening Plenary Featuring Desmond Tutu, Ophelia Dahl, Zak Ebrahim, Mabel Van Oranje, JEff Skoll, Mpho Tutu and Jacqueline Novogratz
Speakers
-
Partnership, Ebrahim Mattson Speakers
Zak Ebrahim was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on March 24, 1983, the son of an Egyptian industrial engineer and an American school teacher. When Ebrahim was seven, his father shot and killed the founder of the Jewish Defense League, Rabbi Meir Kahane. His father, El-Sayed Nosair, would eventually be convicted for his role in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. Ebrahim spent the rest of his childhood moving from city to city, hiding his true identity from those who knew him. He now dedicates his life to speaking out against terrorism and spreading his message of peace and nonviolence.
In 2013, he participated in TED's talent search in New York City, and was selected to speak at the main conference, TED2014, in Vancouver, BC. His TED talk was released on Sept 9, 2014, in conjunction with his TED Book, The Terrorist's Son: A Story of Choice.
-
, Massukos
Massukos are considered national treasures in their native country, renowned both for their stunning music and the humanitarian work that they do. By day, the leader of Massukos, Feliciano dos Santos, is the director and founder of the NGO Estamos; by night he is the guitarist of one of Mozambique's most revered bands. Hailed as “the next Buena Vista Social Club”, they sold more than 80,000 copies of their debut album and their sensational new album Bumping is attracting rave reviews as “an irresistible charmer of a record ”.
Originating from Niassa in northern Mozambique, one of the poorest parts of Africa, Massukos use their high profile to speak out against the hardships that have affected their lives. Passionate about the development work they do, the band travels for miles to remote villages to deliver simple life-saving messages about hygiene, sanitation and HIV/AIDS.
The release of their remarkable new album Bumping, followed by their stellar performance at WOMAD 2007 has launched Massukos on to the world stage. With an invitation from Michael Eavis to play at Glastonbury 2008 and plans afoot for a European tour, the band's success story is set to continue.
-
Ophelia Dahl has been advocating for the health and rights of the poor for nearly 30 years. In 1983, she volunteered at the Eye Care Haiti clinic in Haiti’s impoverished Central Plateau. There, she met Paul Farmer, and they have been working ever since to deliver high-quality health care to the destitute sick. Dahl has served as Executive Director of PIH since 2001 and as Chair of the Board since 2000. She is a graduate of Wellesley College and the recipient of the Union Medal by Union Theological Seminary. Dahl is Chairman of Dahl & Dahl LLP, which manages the literary estate of her late father, the writer Roald Dahl. She also serves as Vice President on the Board of Roald Dahl’s Museum and Story Centre.
-
, Reverend Canon
The Reverend Mpho A. Tutu an ordained Episcopal Priest and founding Director of the Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation
For five years, Rev. Tutu was Director of the Bishop Desmond Tutu Southern African Refugee Scholarship Fund of the Phelps Stokes Fund. That program provided full four-year scholarships to refugees from South Africa and Namibia. Ms. Tutu has worked as a volunteer teaching in and English as a second language (ESL) ministry in Alexandria, VA.
Rev. Tutu holds a Master of Divinity Degree form Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, MA. She was awarded a Women Living Religion Fellowship by the MacMillan Center at Yale University in New Haven.
The Rev. Mpho Tutu is a trustee of Angola University. Rev. Mpho Tutu is the Executive Director of Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation, an organization founded by her father Desmond and mother Leah.
Rev. Tutu co-authored Made for Goodness with her father and Tutu: The authorized Portrait with Award winning journalist Allister Sparks. They also wrote the foreword to National Geographic’s book, Geography of Religion. She also authored the foreword of Footprints in the Sand: Caregivers of South Africa and. Recently she co-authored The Book of Forgiving together with her father.
-
Director, The Marshall Institute, London School of Economics
Stephan Chambers is the inaugural director of the Marshall Institute at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He is the co-founder of the Skoll World Forum and was chair of the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship, Director of International Strategy at Oxford’s Saїd Business School, and Senior Research Fellow at Lincoln College Oxford.
-
Mabel van Oranje is a global advocate for equality, justice and freedom and serial entrepreneur for social change. During the last decade, she played a catalytic role in the creation and growth of Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage, the Girls First Fund and VOW for Girls. Mabel is currently a board member of Fondation Chanel, the Lego Foundation, the Sigrid Rausing Trust and VOW for Girls (chair). She is also an advisor to Apolitical Academy Global, Co-Impact’s Gender Fund, Global Witness, the Graca Machel Trust and The Elders. Mabel is a champion of Girls Not Brides, and a co-founder and chair emeritus of the European Council on Foreign Relations.
You can follow her tweets @MabelvanOranje
-
Founder & Chairman, Jeff Skoll Group
Founder and Chairman Emeritus of the Skoll Foundation
Founder and Chairman Emeritus of Participant Media
Founder of Capricorn Investment Group
Co-founder and GP of the RISE Fund
First fulltime employee and President of eBay
-
Member, Elders, The
Archbishop Desmond Tutu is a South African Anglican cleric who became one of the central leaders of the global peace movement. An outspoken defender of human rights and campaigner for the oppressed, Tutu's eloquent advocacy and brave leadership lead to the end of South African apartheid in 1993 and the installation of Nelson Mandela as the nation's first black President. The Archbishop has dedicated his life to reshaping conversations about peace, equality and forgiveness. In his role as global peace maker, Tutu earned the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts and now devotes his time with the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation and the Desmond Tutu Peace Foundation USA teaching youth the powerful role and voice they play in creating a more compassionate and peaceful world. The Archbishop released a new book, The Book of Forgiving, in March 2014, with daughter Mpho Tutu.
-
Founder & CEO, Acumen
Jacqueline Novogratz is the Founder and CEO of Acumen. Acumen is changing the way the world tackles poverty by investing in companies and leaders with character, competence and moral leadership. Acumen invests pioneering philanthropic capital in sustainable businesses addressing the toughest problems of poverty. Under Jacqueline’s leadership, Acumen has invested $128 million in 128 companies providing critical goods and services to more than 260 million low-income people across Africa, Latin America, South Asia and the United States. Acumen also has launched KawiSafi, an impact fund focused on off-grid solar in East Africa and is in the process of building several other for-profit facilities.
Acumen also cultivates a new kind of leader through its Fellows Programs and +Acumen, its online school for social change. To date, the organization has built a corps of 500+ Fellows. More than 450,000 individuals from 192 countries have taken +Acumen’s online courses. Acumen is now reimagining a global university designed to integrate the transformational depth of its fellowships with the scale of +Acumen to equip thousands of young changemakers with the tools and ecosystem to lead in today’s world.
Jacqueline sits on the board of the Aspen Institute. Her best-selling memoir The Blue Sweater chronicles her quest to understand poverty and bring dignity to the poor. In 2017, Forbes listed Jacqueline as one of the World’s 100 Greatest Living Business Minds.
