When Beliefs Collide: Religion, Geopolitics and Power
Speakers
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Gemma is an award-winning thinker and practitioner in transformative, systemic change. She is founder and co-creator of New Constellations, which exists to help people envision and create futures of human and planetary flourishing. New Constellations creates immersive experiences for diverse groups to explore transformation in specific places, specific systems and for their own personal leadership. She is a co-founder and chair of More In Common and sits on the advisory council of Yale University’s International Leadership Centre. She was previously Chief Global Officer at Change.org and CEO of Crisis Action – an organisation that won the MacArthur Award and Skoll Award for its innovative systems model.
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Director of Programmes, Tony Blair Faith Foundation
Matthew joined the Foundation in 2013 and is responsible for the delivery, assessment and funding of the Foundation’s programmes internationally. Additionally, Matthew is responsible for liaison and negotiation with governments, local partners and international bodies on replication and sustainability, as well as determining the Foundation’s strategy.
Most recently, Matthew’s particular focus has been on developing the Foundation’s work in several key areas including in Nigeria, Lebanon, Kenya, Indonesia and Palestine, and among Syrian refugee populations. He has also been involved with the establishing of the new Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund and launching the Foundation’s online resource on religion and conflict, Religion & Geopolitics.
Prior to joining the Foundation, Matthew spent 15 years in the Investment Banking industry - most recently as a Director at Deutsche Bank and J.P. Morgan Cazenove - advising UK and overseas companies on capital markets transactions and mergers and acquisitions, as well as on regulatory, stakeholder, communication and governance issues. He has had a long involvement with several education, health and faith based charities and initiatives.
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Carne Ross founded and now runs Independent Diplomat, an award-winning international advisory group that advises democratic governments and political groups (such as the Syrian democratic opposition) on diplomatic strategy. An author of two books (most recently, “The Leaderless Revolution”), he is a frequent commentator on world affairs for the BBC, CNN, New York Times, Financial Times and other publications. He is the subject of the recent BBC4 documentary film, “Accidental Anarchist”. Carne is a former senior British diplomat and WMD expert who resigned after giving then-secret evidence to the first official inquiry into the Iraq war.
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Gidon Bromberg is the founder and 3 decade Israeli co-director of EcoPeace Middle East. EcoPeace is a unique regional organization that brings together Jordanian, Palestinian, and Israeli environmentalists to promote sustainable development and advance peace efforts in the Middle East.
Mr. Bromberg has spearheaded the organization’s advocacy campaigns in the Middle East and internationally. He developed a cross-border community peace-building program known as “Good Water Neighbors.” The program has helped advance rehabilitation efforts in the Jordan River and defuse the sanitation crisis in Gaza, leading to the removal of most of the pollution from Gaza Strip and southern Israel beaches. The program is seen as a model for environmental peacebuilding in other conflict areas around the world.
Bromberg co-authored EcoPeace’s call for a Green Blue Deal for the Middle East, to advance climate resilience and peace. The report and later EcoPeace efforts led to the signing in November 2021
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An international human rights lawyer, ordained minister and former San Francisco public defender, Karen founded IBJ in 2000 after witnessing hundreds of prisoners of all ages being held without trials, usually after being tortured into making 'confessions’. She realised that systematic early access to a lawyer can create global conditions for a “new normal” in which democracy is strengthened, people have access to justice, and we end the use of torture as an investigative tool. IBJ now has a presence in 52 countries and over 22 years, IBJ has supported more than 40,000+ lawyers and defenders who have represented more than 500,000 detainees.
Karen is a recipient of awards from the Skoll Foundation, Echoing Green, Ashoka, and among others, the American Bar Association Human Rights Award, the Gleitsman International Award, Harvard Divinity School Gomes and Alumna awards. Karen is named as one of America’s best leaders by the US News and World Report.
