Innovators In Action Masterclass — Social Entrepreneurs in Conflict Zones
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Session Description
Innovators In Action Masterclasses
Join Skoll social entrepreneurs for a series of lively masterclass discussions on real world innovations from the field. These practitioners generously share their approaches, insights, impact and examples of success. Pick your issue area and take advantage of this opportunity to learn and be inspired!
Time & Location
Time:
12:40 - 13:40, Wednesday, March 28, 2007
BST
Speakers
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Speaker
Born in 1949 , raised in a refugee settlement in Karachi, completed high school and married off. Had 3 children at 21 , completed Masters in social work, first community assignment construction of pit toilets in the homes of 5000 poor families living in squatter’s community. The sanitation project helped create national policy , Completed PhD “ Sanitation to development “ from university of technology LOUGHBOROUGH UK .
Created methodologies of creating partnerships with the communities in Balochistan, established 2200 rural girls primary schools, enrolling more than 200,000 girls. Establish INSTITUTE FOR DEVELOPMENT STUDIES AND PRACTICE 7000 graduates, created Leadership training for Community Midwives 400 women empowered as Community midwives,
Organic agriculture with 300 small and landless farmers. Environment friendly campus for University of Community Development.
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Speaker
Dr. Sakena Yacoobi is the President & Executive Director of the Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL), an organization she founded in 1995 in response to the lack of education and health care that the Afghan people faced after decades of war and strife. Dr. Yacoobi is also the President & Executive Director of Sakena Fund formerly known as Creating Hope International (CHI).
Dr. Yacoobi has established 352 Learning Centers, four schools, a hospital, and a radio/ TV station in Afghanistan and is the recipient of six honorary doctorates including from Princeton University. Each year, Dr. Yacoobi speaks at numerous events, conferences and at institutions such as the UN, Stanford University and Oxford University. Dr. Yacoobi particularly enjoys engaging with youth at schools, inspiring them to be globally minded citizens. Most recently in 2022 in response to the devastating fall of the nation, after the Taliban took over; Girls once again banned from schools, Dr. Yacoobi’s AIL staff with her
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Speaker
John Marks is the founder and Managing Director of Confluence International, an Amsterdam-based NGO that specializes in Track II diplomacy and TV production to promote social change. Until 2014, he was President of Search for Common Ground (SFCG), the world’s largest peacebuilding NGO, which he founded in 1982. SFCG was nominated for the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize. John also founded Common Ground Productions (CGP) and has produced or executive-produced TV series in more than 20 countries. He is a Visiting Scholar in Peacebuilding and Social Entrepreneurship at Leiden University in the Netherlands. With his wife, Susan Collin Marks, he is a Skoll Awardee in Social Entrepreneurship, and, additionally, he is an Ashoka Senior Fellow. A best-selling, award-winning author, he graduated from Cornell University and was a Fellow at Harvard's Institute of Politics and a Visiting Scholar at Harvard Law School. He has an honorary PhD from the UN’s University of Peace in Costa Rica.
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Speaker
Susan Collin Marks, Peace Ambassador for Search for Common Ground, an internationally renowned peacemaker and peacebuilder, has worked in some of the most conflictual places on the planet, mediating, facilitating dialogue, and establishing supporting peace initiatives. In recent years, she focused on counsellin and supporting high level political, institutional and civil society leaders worldwide, including cabinet ministers, military generals, and members of the US Congress. In September 2014, she stepped aside after 20 years as vice president of what grew into the largest peacebuilding NGO in the world, and moved from Washington DC to Europe.
Search for Common Ground was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018. Susan has numerous awards and honors.
Susan writes, speaks, counsels, teaches, and supports peace initiatives internationally. She holds a vision of a world of peace and dignity. She believes that our common humanity binds us together more than our differences divide us.
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Speaker
Heidi Kühn is the Founder and CEO of Roots of Peace. Since launching the organization in 1997, ROP has developed over 30 agricultural value chains impacting over a million farmers in Afghanistan, Angola, Cambodia, Croatia, Guatemala, Israel, Palestine and Vietnam.
In 2021, Heidi's visionary leadership was acknowledged with her inclusion in the inaugural Forbes 50 Over 50 “Women Who Are Leading the Way in Impact” List. Heidi has also received other prestigious awards including: the UC Berkeley Alumni of the Year Award for Excellence in Achievement (2002), the World Association of NGOs Peace & Security Award (2005), the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship (2006) and the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Award for Outstanding Public Service (2007).
Heidi is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley with a degree in Political Economics, and a former CNN reporter and producer. She lives in California, with her husband, Gary, with whom she has 4 children and 6 grandchildren.
