2011 Nobel Peace Laureate Leymah Gbowee is a Liberian peace activist, trained social worker and women’s rights advocate.
She currently serves as Executive Director of the Women, Peace and Security Program at the Earth Institute at Columbia University and is the founder and current President of the Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa, the founding head of the Liberia Reconciliation Initiative, as well as co-founder and former Executive Director of Women Peace and Security Network Africa (WIPSEN-A).
She is also a founding member and former Liberian Coordinator of Women in Peacebuilding Network/West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WIPNET/WANEP). She travels internationally to advocate for human rights and peace & security.
Ms Gbowee’s leadership of the Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace – which brought together Christian and Muslim women in a nonviolent movement that played a pivotal role in ending Liberia’s civil war in 2003 – is chronicled in her memoir, Mighty Be Our Powers, and in the award-winning documentary, Pray the Devil Back to Hell. Ms Gbowee holds an M.A. in Conflict Transformation from Eastern Mennonite University (Harrisonburg, VA), and a Doctor of Laws (LLD) honoris causa from Rhodes University in South Africa and the University of Alberta in Canada.
Ms Gbowee advises numerous organisations working for peace, women’s rights, youth, and sustainable development and has held distinguished fellowships at Barnard College and Union Theological Seminary. In 2016, Ms Gbowee was awarded the Lifetime Africa Achievement Prize (LAAP) for Peace in Africa by the Millennium Excellence Foundation. Ms Gbowee serves as a Sustainable Development Goals Advocate for the United Nations and as a Member of the World Refugee Council. In 2017, Ms Gbowee was selected by the United Nations Secretary-General to serve as a member of the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Advisory Board on Mediation. In 2018, she was appointed to the Gender Equality Advisory Council Secretariat for Canada’s G7 Presidency.
Leymah is the proud mother of eight children.
A performance scientist, speaker and author, with over 15 years of experience in human high performance.
Rasmus Hougaard is the founder and CEO of Potential Project, a thought leader in the area of human-centred leadership, an HBR and Forbes contributor, an author and a Thinkers50 business thinker.
Stefaan van Hooydonk consults global corporations, leadership teams, and individuals to help build stronger curiosity muscles. He is the founder of the Global Curiosity Institute and author of the bestselling book The Workplace Curiosity Manifesto.
Having co-founded Europe’s largest travel and leisure website, lastminute.com, with Brent Hoberman in 1998, they took it public in 2000 and sold it in 2005. Martha was appointed a crossbench peer in the House of Lords in March 2013. She is currently chair of Go On UK, a coalition of public and private sector partners that are helping millions more people and organisations online.
Professor Costas Markides, Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at London Business School, is a leading voice on strategic leadership, disruptive innovation and business model change. He was ranked #31 on the Thinkers50 list in 2011 and shortlisted for the Thinkers50 Strategy Award that year, a strategic management award. He holds the Robert P Bauman Chair in Strategic Leadership at London Business School.
A world-famous conductor, teacher, speaker and leading interpreter of Mahler and Beethoven known for his charisma and unyielding energy and for his brilliant pre-concert talks.
Book Sean Fitzpatrick as a keynote speaker at your next event. He played in 74 All Blacks Test wins and retired with a New Zealand-record 92 Tests and a world-record 63 consecutive Tests (records at the time). A renowned speaker, he brings effective leadership and high performance teams to life for the business world.
Douglas Ryder is the founder and team principal of Africa’s only UCI WorldTour cycling team, Team Qhubeka. He is an inspirational keynote speaker on how to build a successful business around a purpose.
When Mike Abrashoff took charge of the USS Benfold, he was the most junior officer in the Pacific Fleet, and the ship was one of the worst performers. Fast forward a year, and that very ship had risen to become the Navy’s best without swapping out the crew. What Michael Abrashoff achieved with the USS Benfold highlights issues that many organisations wrestle with. That’s why his story has been featured in publications like The Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, and Fast Company. As a highly sought-after keynote speaker, he inspires others with his approach to leadership and organisational change. Book Mike for an event or workshop today.
Pellegrino Riccardi is world-renowned for his ability to inspire corporate audiences with powerful insights on communication, connection, cultural diversity, and leadership. He shows leaders and teams how to build authentic relationships across distance, devices, and differences — so they strengthen communities, deepen collaboration, and unlock human potential through the power of real connection.
