Past Events

Bosede Afolabi

Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Lagos (CMUL), Lagos, Nigeria

Bill Gates

Co-Chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Bill Gates is a technologist, business leader, and philanthropist. Through the foundation he works to expand opportunity for the world’s most disadvantaged people.

Melinda French Gates

Co-Chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Melinda Gates is a philanthropist, investor, and global advocate for women and girls.

Karlie Kloss

Founder of Kode With Klossy & Entrepreneur

Sallie Krawcheck

CEO + Co-founder, Ellevest

Lilly Singh

Entertainer, storyteller and gender equality advocate

Elaine Welteroth

Journalist & NYT Bestselling Author

Nuseir Yassin

Founder and CEO, Nas Company and Nas Studios

Bill Gates

Co-Chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Bill Gates is a technologist, business leader, and philanthropist. Through the foundation he works to expand opportunity for the world’s most disadvantaged people.

Melinda French Gates

Co-Chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Melinda Gates is a philanthropist, investor, and global advocate for women and girls.

The Honourable Mia Mottley, QC, MP

Prime Minister, Barbados

The Honourable Mia Mottley is the 8th Prime Minister of Barbados. She became the first woman to occupy the high office, following General Elections on May 24th 2018, in which she led the Barbados Labour Party to an emphatic victory, winning all 30 seats in the House of Assembly by the largest margin ever seen in the electoral history of the country.

An Attorney-at-Law and Queen’s Counsel, Prime Minister Mottley has been active in the political life of Barbados for almost three decades. First elected in 1994 she is presently serving her sixth term as Member of Parliament for the constituency of St. Michael North East.

Between 1994 and 2008 Miss Mottley served in the Cabinet of three successive Administrations, first as Minister of Education and Culture; then as Attorney-General and Minister of Home Affairs; and then as Minister of Economic Affairs. In 2003 she was appointed Deputy Prime Minister.

Prime Minister Mottley currently also holds the portfolios of Minister of Finance, Economic Affairs and Investment.

Since becoming Prime Minister, Miss Mottley has served as the Chair of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) between January 1st and June 30th, 2020. Notwithstanding that, Miss Mottley, as Prime Minister of Barbados, serves as the Lead Head of Government within CARICOM, bearing responsibility for the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME).

Prime Minister Mottley also serves as Co-Chair of the Americas Cruise Tourism Task Force for the Caribbean, Mexico, Central and South America markets.

Pedro Sánchez

Prime Minister of Spain

Prajakta Koli

Content Creator & Actor

"Prajakta Koli is one of India’s biggest digital creators with millions of followers across her social media handles.

As an ambassador for YouTube’s global program, Creators For Change Prajakta was invited to the UN headquarters in New York on International Day of Tolerance to showcase her project ‘No Offence’ which speaks about hate speech, sexism and homophobia. She was also part of the Creators For Change YouTube Originals documentary on Girls Education along with Michelle Obama, Liza Koshy, Thembe Mahlaba. The documentary has won the Outstanding Daytime Non-Fiction Special at the 48th Daytime Emmy Awards.

Prajakta is part of Forbes India’s 30 under 30 list and Entrepreneur India’s 35 under 35 for 2019 along with Outlook Magazine’s Women of Worth and Economic Times’ Gamechanger in the Field of Entertainment.

In September, 2020 Prajakta was part of the United Nations General assembly wherein she was a panellist to discuss their Global goals. She was also part of Ted’s campaign ‘Countdown’ aimed at discussing climate change wherein she hosted the event along with personalities like Al Gore, Chris Hemsworth, Priyanka Chopra, Mark Ruffalo, Don Cheadle and more.

Prajakta was appointed as India’s first climate change champion by UNDP in 2022"

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Writer

Kal Penn

Actor, writer and producer

Kal Penn is an actor, writer, producer, and former Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement. He is known for his starring roles in Designated Survivor, House, Mira Nair’s The Namesake, the Harold & Kumar franchise, and the patriotic immigration sit-com Sunnyside which he co-created for NBC.

From 2009 to 2011, Kal took a sabbatical from acting to serve in the Obama/Biden administration, where he served as the President’s Liaison to Young Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and the Arts community. In these roles, he worked on a range of issues, including the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the Affordable Care Act, Pell Grants, arts and culture programs, the DREAM Act, and rapid response to the BP Oil Spill and earthquake in Haiti.

He was a national co-chair for the Obama/Biden re-election campaign in 2012 and served on the President’s Committee for the Arts and Humanities, focusing on arts education and cultural diplomacy, including the first-ever US Government arts delegation to Cuba. Penn has taught courses at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California, Los Angeles. Originally from New Jersey, he received his undergraduate degree in sociology, theater, film, and television at the University of California, Los Angeles, and received a graduate certificate in international security from Stanford University. He has been a term member at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Penn recently wrapped production on the CBS Drama, Clarice (based on Silence of the Lambs), and Freeform’s late night youth election format show Kal Penn Approves This Message. He currently stars in the animated Disney Junior series Mira, Royal Detective, is an Executive Producer on the Viacom/Paramount + comedy, Surina & Mel, and can be heard in Nickelodeon’s It’s Pony.

His culinary competition series Money Hungry airs on Food Network.

Kal’s first book You Can’t Be Serious was released on November 2, 2021 from Simon and Schuster/Gallery Books. He also narrates the audiobook.

Malala Yousafzai

Co-founder, Malala Fund

Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani activist., UN Messenger of Peace and the youngest person ever awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. As co-founder of Malala Fund, she is building a world where every girl can learn and lead without fear.

Bill Gates

Co-Chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Bill Gates is a technologist, business leader, and philanthropist. Through the foundation he works to expand opportunity for the world’s most disadvantaged people.

Melinda French Gates

Co-Chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Melinda Gates is a philanthropist, investor, and global advocate for women and girls.

Jacinda Ardern

Prime Minister of New Zealand

Pedro Sánchez

Prime Minister of Spain

Dr. Jennifer Eberhardt

Professor, Author

Aliko Dangote

Businessman, Philanthropist

Dr. Senjuti Saha

Microbiologist and Activist

Dr. Joia Crear-Perry

Founder and president, National Birth Equity Collaborative

Emmanuel Macron

President of France

Graça Machel

Founder of the Graça Machel Trust

King Kaka

Musician, entrepreneur

Trisha Shetty

Lawyer and founder of SheSays

Aranya Johar

Poet

Julius Maada Bio

President of Sierra Leone

Bill Gates

Co-Chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Bill Gates is a technologist, business leader, and philanthropist. Through the foundation he works to expand opportunity for the world’s most disadvantaged people.

Melinda French Gates

Co-Chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Melinda Gates is a philanthropist, investor, and global advocate for women and girls.

Barack Obama

Former President of the United States

Malala Yousafzai

Co-founder, Malala Fund

Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani activist., UN Messenger of Peace and the youngest person ever awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. As co-founder of Malala Fund, she is building a world where every girl can learn and lead without fear.

Justin Trudeau

Prime Minister of Canada

Leymah Gbowee

President of the Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa

Amina Mohammed

Deputy Secretary General of the UN

Queen Rania

Queen of Jordan

Bill Gates

Co-Chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Bill Gates is a technologist, business leader, and philanthropist. Through the foundation he works to expand opportunity for the world’s most disadvantaged people.

Melinda French Gates

Co-Chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Melinda Gates is a philanthropist, investor, and global advocate for women and girls.