Women, Equity, and Global Development Symposium 2017

PAST EVENT VIDEO

Conference

During the 2017 symposium, speakers discuss the theme "Innovation for Healthy Futures".

Four women talk on stage, with one talking into a microphone

Event Date

March 10, 2017

Innovation for Healthy Futures

The 2017 Women, Equity, and Global Development Symposium brought together leaders, the next generation, and stakeholders from across sectors to explore how innovation, storytelling, and immersive technologies are improving the lives of women and children globally.

Innovation takes many forms: biotechnology to treat rare diseases, financing for global education, and digital platforms and networks to combat stigma. Harnessing new ideas, solutions, and partnerships is critical for human development and sustainable healthy futures. We all have a part to play: governments, the private sector, civil society, and you. By sharing innovation through storytelling, we can find creative solutions to current and emerging challenges.

About the Event Series

The Women, Equity, and Global Development Symposium (previously known as the Global Health and Development Symposium) is the flagship event of the Council’s Women, Equity, and Global Development Forum since 2013. Each year, this event series engages and convenes diverse global perspectives and advocates for inclusive, sustainable, and equitable global development practices, in order to empower all people to contribute actively to a more equitable world.

About the Speakers

Alice Albright

CEO, Global Partnership for Education

The Global Partnership for Education—of which Alice Albright was the first CEO—comprises 60+ developing countries, 20+ donor countries, civil society organizations, teachers, and the private sector. Its mission is to mobilize global and national efforts to achieve equitable, quality education and learning for all, through inclusive partnership, a focus on education systems, and increased financing.

Amani Al-Khatahtbeh

Founder and Editor-in-chief, MuslimGirl.com

Amani Al-Khatahtbeh is the founder and editor-in-chief of MuslimGirl.com, the number one Muslim women’s blog in the US. She regularly provides commentary on social, cultural, and political issues through outlets such as CNN, Al Jazeera, and the BBC, and has been featured in the New York Times, The Guardian, and made Forbes’ “30 Under 30” list.

Gabo Arora

Creative Director and Senior Advisor, United Nations; Founder and President, LightShed

Gabo Arora is an award-winning filmmaker represented by Within. His current focus is on new technologies that promote social causes and increase the inclusivity of decision-making processes. Most recently, Arora was the cocreator, director, and producer of the UN's first-ever virtual reality film series focusing on vulnerable populations.

Gary Barker

CEO and Founder, Promundo

Gary Barker is a leading global voice in engaging men and boys in advancing gender equality. He is the CEO and founder of Promundo, which has worked for 20 years in more than 40 countries. In 2017 he was named by Apolitical as one of the 20 most influential people in gender policy around the world.

Catherine Bertini

Distinguished Fellow, Global Food and Agriculture

Catherine Bertini served as executive director of the UN World Food Program, the world’s largest international humanitarian agency, from 1992 to 2002 prior to joining the Council. She was named the World Food Prize laureate in 2003 for her groundbreaking leadership there.

Pam Bolton

Vice President, Innovation and Strategy, Concern Worldwide

Pam Bolton is a global health practitioner and advocate, and currenlty leads Concern Worldwide’s Center for Innovation and Health. Founded in 1968, Concern last year helped 22 million people in 29 of the world’s poorest countries. Bolton brings to her role a special focus on meeting the needs of women and children.

Ivo H. Daalder

CEO, Chicago Council on Global Affairs

Ivo H. Daalder served as the US ambassador to NATO from 2009 to 2013. He joined the Council as president in 2013 and took on the new role of CEO in 2023. Previously, he was a senior fellow in foreign policy studies at the Brookings Institution and served as director for European affairs on President Bill Clinton’s National Security Council. He is the author or editor of 10 books.

Mary Davis

CEO, Special Olympics International

Mary Davis is the CEO of Special Olympics International, a movement that currently serves nearly 5 million athletes with intellectual disabilities, holds more than 94,000 competitions annually and welcomes more than one million coaches and volunteers who help make grassroots operations possible.

Liz Dozier

Founder & CEO, Chicago Beyond

Liz Dozier has spent her career working to disrupt the culture of inequity that is often pervasive in urban neighborhoods. In 2016, Dozier launched Chicago Beyond, an impact investor fighting the inequities pervasive in Chicago’s communities. Chicago Beyond has invested more than $35 million in ideas, individuals, and organizations that fight for all youth to achieve their fullest human potential.

Anna Fälth

Manager, WE EMPOWER, UN Women

Anna Fälth manages the European Union-funded program WE EMPOWER. As such, she heads the Secretariat of the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs), EmpowerWomen.org, that promotes online collaboration, learning, and innovation to advance women’s economic empowerment as well as WeLearn, a virtual school that tackles the skills-gaps faced by women and girls for the jobs of the future.

Brian Hanson

Former Vice President, Studies

Brian Hanson served as the vice president of studies at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. He managed the Council's research operations and hosted the Council's weekly podcast, Deep Dish on Global Affairs.

George Hampton

Executive Vice President, Rheumatology and Primary Care Business Units, Horizon Pharma

George Hampton is the executive vice president of Rheumatology and Primary Care Business Units at Horizon Pharma, where he is tasked with leading the forward-looking strategy, as well as establishing operational goals for both business units. Hampton has more than 20 years of experience as a successful executive in the pharmaceutical and biotech field on both a national and international scale.

Niamh King

Nonresident Fellow, Global Cities and Women and Global Development

Niamh King is a nonresident fellow on global cities and women and global development at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. King previously served as the Council's Vice President for Programs and Strategic Content. Prior to joining the Council, she held positions with Intel, the European Commission, FÁS, and the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

Genevieve Liu

Founder, Surviving Life After A Parent Dies (SLAP'D); Student, University of Chicago Laboratory Schools

Genevieve Liu is the founder of SLAP'D (Surviving Life After A Parent Dies) as well as a high school senior at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools. When Liu was 13, her father drowned saving two boys in Lake Michigan. Shortly after, she set out to create SLAP'D: the first social media for teens who have lost a parent, like herself, to find one another.

Dorri McWhorter

Chief Executive Officer, YWCA Metropolitan Chicago

Through technical training programs such as TechGYRLS and 3D: Developing Digital Diversity, Dorri McWhorter has helped to transform the 140-year-old social service agency into a 21st-century social enterprise. YWCA has also recently launched two web-based services with its own e-commerce site, YShop.org, and womenshealthexchange.org to help women and their families.

Olufunmilayo (Funmi) Olopade

Walter L. Palmer Professor of Medicine and Human Genetics; Associate Dean, Global Health, University of Chicago

Dr. Olufunmilayo Olopade is the Walter L. Palmer Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine and Human Genetics, associate dean for Global Health, and director of the Center for Innovation in Global Health at the University of Chicago. She develops innovative strategies for comprehensive cancer risk assessment and prevention.

Sheila Roche

Co-Founder of WRTHY and Brand & Creative Consultant at (RED)

Sheila Roche is the co-founder of WRTHY, an award-winning social impact consultancy whose clients include The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, ONE, VOW, Women Moving Millions, and Nutrition International. She is also a brand and creative consultant for the (RED) organization.

Maryam Saleh

Vice President, Programs, MATTER

Maryam Saleh is passionate about moving research into the market, where it can have impact and improve lives. She was a founding member of Cyberkinetics Neurotechnology Systems Inc., a startup that commercialized a brain implant that aimed to restore movement in paralyzed individuals.

Lyric Thompson

Senior Director of Policy and Advocacy, International Center for Research on Women

In addition to her position at the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), Lyric Thompson is an adjunct professor at the George Washington University where she teaches a graduate level course on women’s rights advocacy. She previously worked at Amnesty International USA’s women’s human rights program, Women for Women International and DAI.

Rachel Vogelstein

Senior Fellow and Director, Women and Foreign Policy Program, Council on Foreign Relations

In addition to working at the Council on Foreign Relations, Rachel Vogelstein is a professor of Gender and US Foreign Policy at Georgetown Law School. From 2015 to 2016, Vogelstein served as senior advisor on women’s issues for the Hillary for America campaign, developing domestic and global policy and leading a coalition of over 200 women’s leaders and organizations.