We’re thrilled to announce CNN’s Chief International Anchor Christiane Amanpour; domestic rights activist Ai-jen Poo; Amnesty International Secretary-General Kumi Naidoo; actor, writer and producer, Chiwetel Ejiofor; futurist and filmmaker Anab Jain; and Edgar Villanueva, author of “Decolonizing Wealth.” as the 2019 Skoll World Forum Plenary speakers! We’re also pleased to welcome Sarah McLachlan and Desi Hoppers as this year’s official performers.
“When we invite someone to speak on the plenary stage, we’re also inviting them to be a part of the Skoll World Forum community,” says Jessica Fleuti, Curator for the Forum. “Our plenary speakers this year are representative of our larger community–of social entrepreneurs, activists, creative thinkers, and storytellers. They are visionaries, doers, and culture-makers, and they unabashedly speak truth to power. Together, they will challenge us to think about our own roles in accelerating a better future and how we can use our time together in Oxford to make it happen.”
With #SkollWF just around the corner, the team has been working hard to curate and design a program that invites us to learn from each other, hear from new voices, and spark collaborations to accelerate a future that is fair, inclusive, and sustainable. Learn more about how the Forum was curated and watch all the talks and sessions from wherever you are by signing up for our free Digital Pass. The Skoll World Forum will take place at the University of Oxford this April 9-12.
Keep scrolling to learn more about this year’s speakers.
Ai-jen Poo
Ai-jen Poo is the Director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance and the Co-Director of Caring Across Generations. She is an award-winning organizer, author, and social innovator, and a leading voice in leading voice in future of work and family care solutions. Ai-jen is a 2014 MacArthur “genius” Fellow, TIME 100 alumna and recently featured speaker at TEDWomen. She has been an influential voice in the #MeToo movement and joined Times Up at the 2018 Golden Globes.
Christiane Amanpour
Christiane Amanpour is CNN’s chief international anchor and anchor of the network’s award-winning, flagship global affairs program “Amanpour”. Amanpour’s fearless and uncompromising approach made her popular with audiences, and a force to be reckoned with by global influencers. She has earned every major television journalism award including eleven News and Documentary Emmy Awards, four Peabody Awards, two George Polk Awards, three duPont-Columbia Awards, and the Courage in Journalism Award.
Chiwetel Ejiofor
English actor Chiwetel Ejiofor made his directorial debut in 2019 with The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, based on the true story of William Kamkwamba, who helped save his village from drought by building a power-generating windmill. Ejiofor is perhaps best known for his starring role in 12 Years a Slave, for which he received Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations, along with the BAFTA Award for Best Actor.
Kumi Naidoo
Kumi Naidoo is a life-long social justice and environmental campaigner hailing from South Africa. As a result of his anti-apartheid activism, Naidoo was forced to live in exile in the UK in 1986. He returned to South Africa in 1990 to work with the African National Congress and went on to hold multiple leadership roles in civil society and global organizations, including as the Executive Director of Greenpeace. Naidoo joined Amnesty International as the organization’s ninth Secretary General in August 2018.
Anab Jain
Anab Jain is a filmmaker, designer, and futurist. She creates worlds, stories, and tools that provoke and inspire us to engage with the precarity of our rapidly changing world. Following an extensive career in the design and foresight industry, working for some of the world’s biggest organizations such as Microsoft and Nokia, she co-founded Superflux, an experimental design, foresight, and technology studio in London.
Edgar Villanueva
Edgar Villanueva is a nationally-recognized expert on social justice philanthropy. He currently serves as Chair of the Board of Directors of Native Americans in Philanthropy and is Vice President of Programs and Advocacy at the Schott Foundation for Public Education, where he oversees grant investment and capacity building supports for education justice campaigns across the United States. Edgar is also the author of Decolonizing Wealth, which offers hopeful and compelling alternatives to the dynamics of colonization in the philanthropic and social finance sectors.
Sarah McLachlan
Sarah is the Founder and Chair of the Sarah McLachlan School of Music and holds an honorary Doctorate from Simon Fraser University. She is an advocate for the profound potential of music education to empower, motivate, and transform lives. In her celebrated career as a singer-songwriter, she has sold over forty million albums, received three Grammys, eight Junos, and founded a music school.
Desi Hoppers
Desi Hoppers is a hip-hop dance crew from Mumbai, India formed in 2015. In their debut year, Desi Hoppers won the World of Dance Championships in Los Angeles. The crew made history by being the first Indian dance team representing the country in World of Dance.
“The speakers we invited to join us at the Skoll World Forum are truly creating and shaping what is possible for tomorrow,” adds Program Manager Kathara Green. “They come from across sectors, issue areas, and around the globe. They’ll paint a picture of the kind of world they’re working to create and inspire the Skoll community to join, support, and partner with them along that journey to drive large-scale change.”
Here’s a glimpse of those speakers—part of a diverse range of panels and workshops dedicated to exploring entrepreneurial approaches and solutions to global issues:
Krista Tippett will interview activist Darnell Moore for a live taping of On Being—a celebrated podcast that digs into the big questions of meaning in the 21st century—in a deep exploration of the structural and intersectional forces that keep people on the margins.
Comedy Central’s Erika Soto Lamb will join Head of Screenz Originals Omri Marcus and Open Society Foundations’ Felipe Cala in a conversation about comedy as a powerful voice for change.
Goodwill Ambassador Muzoon Almellehan, Sesame Workshop’s Sherrie Westin, and Humanity Crew Co-founder Essam Daod are part of a session featuring leaders who are working across sectors to prevent further lost generations of refugee youth.
Our former CEO Sally Osberg will moderate a lively discussion between Skoll Awardees Ma Jun and Marc Freedman and Co-Impact Director Olivia Leland on accelerating systems change.
What is the role of men and boys in the gender equality movement? Hear from a diverse range of speakers on the issue, including UN Women’s Elizabeth Nyamayaro, Promundo’s Gary Barker, and President of Women Deliver, Katja Iversen.
Sign up for the Skoll World Forum Digital Pass to bring you the discussions, debates, and thought-provoking speakers featured at the Forum on the social issues that affect us all—no matter where we sit.
Meet the rest of the speakers here and stay tuned for more announcements! Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for the latest.
