Featured Speakers

IANYS was honored to have H.E. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, President of Liberia and Africa's first elected female head of state, address the 8th Global Conference via a pre-recorded message.

President Johnson-Sirleaf, a Harvard educated economist, led a distinguished career in local and international public life before becoming president. Among her accomplishments, she was the first female Minister of Finance in Liberia, the President of the Liberian Bank for Development and Investment, the Assistant Administrator and Director of the regional bureau of Africa for the United Nations Development Program and the Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations.

In the private sector, Mrs. Sirleaf served on the Advisory Board of the Modern Africa Growth and Investment Company (MAGIC), the Hong Kong Bank Group. She was also Vice President of CITICORP's Africa Regional Office and a Senior Loan Officer at the World Bank. Madam Sirleaf was an initial member of the World Bank Council of African Advisors.

Also known as the "Iron Lady," President Johnson-Sirleaf is currently working in Liberia to "transform adversity into opportunity."

IANYS was also honored to have Kumi Naidoo , the Honorary President of Civicus: World Alliance for Citizen Participation , as a keynote speaker at the 8th Global Conference.

CIVICUS is an international alliance of more than 500 organizations and individuals from 85 countries dedicated to strengthening citizen action and civil society throughout the world.

Born in South Africa, Kumi Naidoo was deeply involved in the anti-apartheid movement from the age of 15, and has initiated and led a wide range of education, development, and social justice initiatives. He holds a doctorate in political sociology from Magdalen College, Oxford and has published and spoken widely on issues relating to civil society, democracy, youth and development.

Since joining CIVICUS in 1998, Mr. Naidoo has served on the Panel of Eminent Persons on UN Civil Society Relations and the steering committee of the World Economic Forum's Global Governance Initiative. He also chairs the International Facilitation Group of the Global Call to Action against Poverty.