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Opening Keynote Speaker - Ann Cotton OBE, Founder & Chair of CamFed International.
Ann is an Honorary Fellow at Homerton College, and Social Entrepreneur in Residence at the Cambridge University Judge Business School. She founded CamFed in 1993, with the laudable goal of replacing the existing cycle of poverty and inequality with a new cycle of empowerment and opportunity for women & girls in rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa. By supporting girls to go to school and succeed, CamFed aims to empower young women, and, through their network of graduating students, encourage women to become leaders at the forefront of social and economic change. Since 1993, CamFed has helped more than 3 million children, and their work has not gone unacknowledged; in 2003 Camfed won the International Aid and Development Charity of the Year award. Similarly, the amazing work done by Ann herself has been widely recognised; in 2004 she was named UK Social Entrepreneur of the Year, and has just been awarded the WISE Prize for Education. Ann is a respected and well known speaker across many international platforms, including the World Economic Forum. She recently addressed the U.S.-Africa Summit hosted by the White House, George W. Bush Institute and U.S. State Department. At IDC 2014 she will be speaking about her wide & varied experience of international development - with a focus upon the importance of diversity, and tailoring development to the diverse needs of those it aims to support. |
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Panel speaker - Eugenie Regan, United Nations Environment Programme, World Conservation Monitoring Centre.
Eugenie’s role in the Ecosystem Assessment Programme is to play a leading role in the expansion and delivery of UNEP-WCMC’s work to provide authoritative information about biodiversity and ecosystem services, in a manner that is useful to decision-makers who are driving change in environment and development policy. Working primarily in support of national governments and inter-governmental processes and with a wide network of international partners, Eugenie oversees a portfolio of projects at the science-policy interface on biodiversity indicators, monitoring, and assessment. Eugenie previously worked at the National Biodiversity Data Centre, Ireland where she was one of the key personnel in establishing the Centre. She developed, resourced and delivered a portfolio of over 20 projects including: the Irish Butterfly Monitoring Scheme; managed biodiversity databases; developed Irish red lists; and organized the Irish Freshwater Biologists Meetings. Previous to that Eugenie has worked as a lecturer; postdoctoral researcher; was a Fulbright Scholar in Louisiana; and has a PhD in wetland ecology. Eugenie is also lead of the GEO BON Working Group 9 (Biodiversity Indicators). Eugenie will be speaking as part of our main panel debate, 'The Development Agenda Post-2015'. |
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Panel speaker - Robin Greenwood, Christian Aid
Robin is the Head of Programme Delivery and Operations for Christian Aid. Previously, he held the role of their Asia and Middle East Division. Robin will be speaking as part of our main panel debate, 'The Development Agenda post-2015'. |
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Panel speaker - Mosharraf Hossain, Director of Policy & Influencing for ADD International.
ADD International is a charity which works across the globe to fight for independence, equality and opportunities for disabled people living in poverty. Previously the country director for ADD Bangladesh, Mosharraf will bring a novel, and vitally important, perspective to the debate about how to ensure that diversity is at the heart of the development agenda, and how to tail development programs to the diverse needs of those they are meant to help. ADD funds & supports local projects, listening to those voices that might otherwise go unheard, and making sure that development is led by people within the disabled community. Mosharraf will be speaking as part of our main panel debate, 'The Development Agenda Post-2015'. |
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Breakout session - Shannon Houde, founder of Walk of Life Consulting.
Shannon is the founder of Walk of Life Consulting, an international talent and career advisory business which focuses on helping people develop careers in the fields of sustainability, social impact, international development and corporate responsibility. Having worked in a variety of sustainability and development roles across the private sector, NGOs, and her own business ventures, Shannon is uniquely placed to give insight into the challenges of pursuing a career in development. Shannon will be leading a breakout session on the theme of 'Pathways into International Development' at the 2014 IDC. |
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Breakout session - Nikhil Nair, Solar Power Consultant
Nikhil is currently a Skoll scholar at the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at Oxford's Saïd Business School. Previously, his experience was in the field of solar power. Having worked with rural markets in India and East Africa, he is extremely passionate about delivering sustainable energy services to such markets. His work in solar energy has involved projects in the UAE, India, and Kenya. In India, working at the social enterprise SELCO Solar, Nikhil managed expansion into new geographies and lead projects such as solar powering rural milk testing centers, vaccine storage boxes for rural clinics, low cost computing solutions , community mobile charging centers and the Solar Education-Bus project. Most recently, Nikhil was a consultant to M-KOPA Solar, Kenya, where he works with the sales team on scaling the delivery of solar energy systems into rural Kenya. Nikhil will be leading a breakout session on the theme of 'Solar Power in Rural India'. |
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Breakout session - Jason Dudek, Director, Accountable Development Works
Jason has an MSc from the London School of Economics where he studied agricultural development in Sierra Leone. He has spent the last 10 years traveling to and working in Sierra Leone, dedicating his time to community-based, sustainable and locally sensitive development. Jason also has business experience in Canada, the UK and Iraq, co-founding the firm employed by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization to conduct Iraq’s Official Investment Map. Accountable Development Works is a Canadian international charity dedicated to assisting the poorest people and communities in the world, with a special focus on youth and children. Jason will be jointly leading a breakout session on the theme of 'Ebola - The challenge to West African development' |
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Breakout session - Thomas Ilube, Founder of the African Gifted Foundation
Tom Ilube is Founder and Chairman of the African Gifted Foundation which is currently building a science Academy in Ghana for gifted and talented young people from across the continent. AGF's programmes have been attended by students from Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, Cameroon, Botswana, Uganda, Kenya, Zanzibar and South Africa. Tom was educated in Nigeria, Uganda and the UK. He read Applied Physics at the University of Benin, Nigeria and obtained an MBA (Finance) at Cass Business School, London. He is a Fellow of the British Computer Society, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Technology for his contribution to the field of technology in the UK. Tom was founding Chairman of Hammersmith Academy, a secondary school in London, UK that opened in September 2011 and is one of the UK’s most innovative new technology schools. Thomas will be jointly leading a breakout session on the theme of 'Ebola - The challenge to West African development' |
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Breakout session - Theodore Menelik, Menelik Partnership
Theodore is the founder of the Menelik Partnership, a Cambridge-based charity operating in the DRC. Its primary goal is to improve access of all children to education and healthcare. The organisation has a special focus on the education of girls, gender equality and women’s empowerment 'not only as human rights, but also because they are a pathway to achieving ... sustainable development in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the United Kingdom.' Theodore will be jointly leading a breakout session on the theme of 'Non-Profits in Development' |
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Voluntourism Debate Panellist - Thomas Muirhead, Managing Director of the Kenyan Orphan Project.
Thomas is currently the Managing Director of the Kenyan Orphan Project (KOP), a charity mainly operating in Kisumu, Kenya, whose mission is to work in partnership with local organisations to deliver school based health and nutrition interventions and to inspire groups of young people to become advocates for change. KOP also organises the Charity Apprentice scheme, which aims to give students training that will equip them for careers in the charitable sector. Previously, Thomas used his digital expertise in charities aimed at fighting cancer, including Leukemia & Lymphoma Research, Breast Cancer Care, and Macmillan Cancer Support. He is also the Director of the Maybeor Group. Thomas will be taking part in our debate "This house believes there is no place for unskilled volunteering in international development". |