Opening Plenary of 2014 Skoll World Forum

Speakers

• 
  Arif Naqvi

  Founder & Group Chief Executive, The Abraaj Group

  Arif Naqvi is the Founder and Group Chief Executive of The Abraaj Group which he established in 2002. Under his leadership, The Abraaj Group has emerged as a leading investor in growth markets with US$ 7.5 billion in assets under management and returning c. US$ 4 billion to investors. With over 25 years’ experience of investing in public and private companies, Mr. Naqvi has led the Group’s involvement in some of the most notable private equity transactions in growth markets over the last decade. Mr. Naqvi has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Oslo Business for Peace Award, the highest form of recognition given to individual business leaders for fostering peace and stability through creating shared value between business and society, and the Sitara-i-Imtiaz, a prominent civilian honor awarded by the Government of Pakistan. Mr. Naqvi is a graduate of the London School of Economics and Political Science.

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• 
  Jeff Skoll

  Founder And Chairman Emeritus, Jeff Skoll Group

  Founder and Chairman Emeritus Jeff Skoll is an entrepreneur devoted to creating a sustainable world of peace and prosperity. Over the last 17 years, he has crafted an innovative portfolio of philanthropic and commercial enterprises, each a distinctive catalyst for changing the trajectory of issues that most affect the survival and thriving of humanity. This portfolio includes the Skoll Foundation, Skoll Global Threats Fund, Participant Media, and Capricorn Investment Group—all coordinated under the Jeff Skoll Group umbrella. The Skoll entrepreneurial approach is unique: driving large-scale, permanent social impact by investing in a range of efforts that integrate powerful stories, data, capital markets, technology, partnerships, and organized learning networks. Operating independently from one another yet deeply connected through a shared vision, Skoll organizations galvanize public will, influence policy, and mobilize resources to accelerate the pace and depth of change. Jeff was the first full-time employee and President of eBay, where he experienced firsthand the power of combining entrepreneurship, technology, and trust in people. His work today embodies those fundamental lessons. All of Jeff’s organizations rely on the premise that people are fundamentally good, and that given the opportunity to do the right thing, they will.

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• 
  Marcus Bleasdale

  Managing Director, Wilstar Social Impact

  Marcus is the Managing Director of Wilstar the non-profit social impact investing arm of Aweco AS a Norwegian asset management company owned by the Arne Wilhelmsen family. His work there has focused on financing social entrepreneurs and assisting them in a sustainable change to create a better world. With a proven ability to oversee major philanthropic and social impact investment operations, He has a passion for social and environmental impact, climate change advisory, and social advocacy tactics. Marcus has also worked, together with Cambridge Institute of Sustainability Leadership to engage understanding around climate challenges and innovative solutions for a better world. Marcus is also one of the worlds leading documentary photographers and a contributing photographer for National Geographic Magazine. He uses his work to influence decision-makers and policymakers around the world. His work on Human Rights and Conflict has been shown at the US Senate, The US House of Representatives, The United Nations and the Houses of Parliament in the UK and the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

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• 
  Mindy Lubber

  CEO / President, Ceres

  Mindy Lubber is the CEO and President of the sustainability nonprofit organization Ceres. She has been at the helm since 2003, and under her leadership, the organization and its powerful networks have grown significantly in size and influence. As a well-known global thought leader, Mindy has inspired coalitions of institutional investors, corporate boards, C-suite executives and capital market leaders to factor sustainability risks and opportunities into decision-making. She regularly speaks to high-level world and national political leaders on clean energy and water policies, and has helped to change the political conversation around tackling climate change to one focused on jobs and the economy. Prior to Ceres, Mindy served as a Regional Administrator at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under former President Bill Clinton. She also founded Green Century Capital Management and served as the director of the Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group (MASSPIRG).

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• 
  Miri Ben-Ari

  ,

  Miri Ben-Ari is a Grammy Award-winning violinist/producer, UN Goodwill Ambassador, humanitarian and the Global Brand Ambassador of Harman Kardon. Originally from Israel, she is a recognized musical pioneer, having created her own unique sound – a revolutionary fusion of classical, soul and dance music. She has worked with artists such as Kanye West, Jay Z and Armin Van Buuren and has been honored by First Lady, Michelle Obama at the White House as a “Remarkable Woman”. Ben-Ari is the CEO and co-founder of “Gedenk,” a nonprofit dedicated to promoting awareness of the Jewish Holocaust among young people. To learn more about Miri Ben-Ari visit www.miribenari.com, visit Facebook.com/MiriBenAri and follow her on Twitter (@MiriBenAri)

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• 
  Sir Richard Branson

  Founder, Virgin Unite

  Sir Richard Branson is Founder of the Virgin Group. Virgin is one of the world’s most irresistible brands, with more than 100 companies worldwide and approximately 60,000 employees in over 50 countries. Branson has found entrepreneurial ways to provoke positive change in the world. In 2004 he established Virgin Unite, the non-profit foundation of the Virgin Group, which strives to make business a force for good.

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• 
  Sir Ronald Cohen

  Chairman, Social Finance

  Sir Ronald Cohen is Chairman of the Social Impact Investment Taskforce established by the G8 and The Portland Trust. He is a co-founder of Social Finance UK; co-founder Director of Social Finance USA, Social Finance Israel, Big Society Capital; and was co-founder Chair of Bridges Ventures. He chaired the Social Investment Task Force (2000-2010) and the Commission on Unclaimed Assets (2005-2007). In 2012 he received the Rockefeller Innovation Award for innovation in social finance. He was co-founder and Executive Chairman of Apax Partners (1972-2005), and a founder director of the BVCA and EVCA. He is a graduate of Oxford University and Harvard Business School and an Honorary Fellow of Exeter College. He is a director of Harvard Management Company and Vice-Chairman of Ben Gurion University. He is a former member of Harvard University Board of Overseers and former Trustee of the British Museum. In 2007, Sir Ronald published: “The Second Bounce of the Ball–Turning Risk into Opportunity”

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• 
  Stephan Chambers

  Director, The Marshall Institute, London School of Economics

  Stephan Chambers is the inaugural director of the Marshall Institute at LSE. He is also Professor in Practice at the Department of Management at LSE and Course Director for the new Executive Masters in Social Business and Entrepreneurship. From 2000 to 2014 he directed the University of Oxford’s MBA and was the founding Director of Oxford University's Executive MBA programme. Before joining the Marshall Institute Stephan Chambers was the Co-Founder of the Skoll World Forum, Chair of the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship and Director of International Strategy at Saїd Business School, Oxford University. He is a Senior Research Fellow at Lincoln College, Oxford and a Director of the Documentary Society Foundation. Stephan Chambers wrote a regular entrepreneurship column for the Financial Times and, in 2014, was special advisor to the Skoll Global Threats Fund in California.

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