Panel Members

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The Right Honourable Gordon Brown MP Panel Co-convenor

• Gordon Brown served as Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He has been a Member of Parliament since 1983 and served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1997 to 2007. 
  
  During ten years at the Treasury, Gordon masterminded many of Labour’s proudest achievements including the winter fuel allowance, lifting half a million children out of poverty, introducing the Minimum Wage, the Child Trust Fund, the Child Tax Credit and paternity leave and creating Sure Start.
  
  His childhood passion for global justice was reflected in his negotiation of debt cancellation for the world’s poorest nations. He also delivered the tripling of the development budget to make this Labour Government the first in British history to be on track to keep the promise to spend 0.7% of national income on life-saving aid. 
  
  As Prime Minister, Gordon quickly set about introducing changes like neighbourhood policing in every area, the world’s first ever Climate Change Act and a legally-enforceable right to early cancer screening and treatment. He made major changes to help Britain tackle health, education, defence, crime, energy and foreign policy. Gordon is widely credited with preventing a second great depression through his negotiation of the global deal at the London Summit, a meeting of the G20, which he hosted in the middle of the financial crisis.
  
  In 2009 he was named in the Time 100 and was profiled by author JK Rowling.
  
  Gordon Brown resigned as Leader of the Labour Party on 10th May 2010.
  
  Gordon is a passionate advocate of many charity campaigns and hi current pro bono work includes serving as Co-Convenor of the High Level Panel on Education, board member for the World Wide Web Foundation and Patron of the Burma Campaign.

Graça Machel Panel Co-convenor

• Graça Machel was born on 17 October 1945 in Incadine (Mandlakaze), Gaza, Mozambique, two weeks after the death of her father. Raised by her mother and siblings, she received the invaluable gift of education, which she has passed on to other underprivileged children throughout the world. Trained as teacher, she holds a bachelor´s degree German philosophy from the University of Lisbon.
  
  Ms Machel fought for her country´s independence from the Portuguese as a member of the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (Frelimo). While in exile in Tanzania, she met Samora Machel. In September that same year, she married Samora Machel, the country´s first President. As Minister of Education until 1989, Graça Machel worked towards the goal of universal education. From 1975-85, the number of pupils enrolled in primary school rose from about 40 per cent of all school-aged children to over 90 per cent of boys and 75 per cent of girls. When her husband was killed in a plane crash in October 1986, Ms Machel threw even greater energies into her country´s development and intensified her work on behalf of children world-wide.
  
  In her role as educator, Ms Machel has been active at both the national and regional levels. She was president of UNESCO´s National Commission in Mozambique and delegate to UNICEF´s conference in Harare, Zimbabwe, in 1988. In 1990, Ms Machel served on the international steering committee of the World Conference on Education for All. In 1994, she was named Expert to Chair the Study on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Children. Ms Machel is also one of the few female board members of the African Leadership Forum (ALF) and as such helped to create its African Women´s Forum. She is also a member of FAS´s Advisory Board. Beyond these commitments, she remains an active member of many in Africa and throughout the world.
  
  Over her career, Graça Machel has been internationally recognized for her achievements. In 1992, she was awarded the Laureate of Africa Prize for Leadership for the Sustainable End of Hunger by the Hunger Project. In 1995, she received the Nansen Medal in recognition of her contribution to the welfare of refugee children. Ms Machel was also given the Inter Press Service´s (IPS) International Achievement Award for helping children throughout the world. Graça Machel wed former South African President Nelson Mandela in 1998. She is currently president of the Foundation for Community Development and Chairperson for the National Organization of Children of Mozambique.

Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah

• Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah is a mother, a wife, a boss, an advocate, and a humanitarian. She once said, “I just wake up and feel like a regular person. At the end of the day you are living your life for the people that you represent. It’s an honour and a privilege to have that chance to make a difference – a qualitative difference in people’s lives – and it’s my responsibility to make the most out of that opportunity.”
  
  For that reason, Queen Rania spends much of her time listening to and talking with the people of Jordan, to learn from them the best way to improve their livelihoods and Jordan’s prospects.
  
  Queen Rania spearheads efforts in Jordan to adopt a holistic approach to national education, encouraging agencies and organizations to work on classroom quality, teaching standards, computer access, family involvement, community investment, and health awareness. Through initiatives, like Madrasati and the Teachers Academy, Queen Rania is helping Jordan’s children get the best start in life by repairing and revamping local schools, while inspiring teachers to be their best.  She believes that the power of partnerships between the public, private, and non-profit sectors is a source of great potential for change in Jordan’s education system.
  
  The Jordan River Foundation (JRF) is Queen Rania’s NGO that gives a helping hand to the disadvantaged in Jordan.  For over ten years it has provided families with skills and knowledge to work themselves out of poverty. Today, it partners with the private sector and entire communities to bring resources, energy, and change to the lives of vulnerable citizens, empowering and inspiring them to believe they can make a difference for themselves and their loved ones.  JRF is also recognized as a leader in the region for its achievements in protecting children.  From rescuing abused children to healing whole families, JRF is now a centre of excellence, sharing its knowledge and know-how with others in and outside of the country.
  
  Abroad, Queen Rania works for greater global action on access to quality education, and in her capacity as Eminent Advocate for UNICEF and Honorary Chairperson for UNGEI, she campaigns on behalf of children in need. She also participates in international gatherings, such as the Clinton Global Initiative and the World Economic Forum, of which she is a Board Member. As an Arab, Muslim woman, Queen Rania is committed to reconciling people of different faiths and cultures by encouraging cross-cultural dialogue, particularly amongst young people.
  
  Her Majesty is author of the New York Times Best Seller, ‘The Sandwich Swap’, a children’s story about two young girls, Lily and Salma, who learn the value of diversity by exchanging food at school. Queen Rania is also the author of two other stories, ‘The King’s Gift’ and ‘Eternal Beauty’. A keen runner, and seeker of good jogging tunes, Queen Rania enjoys spending time with her family and friends in Aqaba, where she can relax and get into a great book. She also makes a mean chocolate chip cookie.
  
  Her Majesty is married to King Abdullah II ibn Al Hussein of Jordan, they have 4 children: Prince Hussein, Princess Iman, Princess Salma, and Prince Hashem.

Kofi Annan

• Kofi A. Annan was the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations, serving two terms from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2006 and was the first to emerge from the ranks of United Nations staff. In 2001 Kofi Annan and the United Nations were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace with the citation praising his leadership for “bringing new life to the organisation”.
  
  Mr. Annan joined the UN system in 1962 as an administrative and budget officer with the World Health Organization in Geneva. He later served with the Economic Commission for Africa in Addis Ababa, the UN Emergency Force (UNEF II) in Ismailia, the United nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva and in various senior posts in New York dealing with human resources, budget, finance and staff security. Immediately before becoming Secretary-General, he was Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping. Mr. Annan also served as Special Representative of the Secretary-General to the former Yugoslavia (1995-1996) and facilitated the repatriation from Iraq of more than 900 international staff and other non-Iraqi nationals (1990).
  
  One of Kofi Annan’s main priorities as Secretary-General was a comprehensive programme of reform aimed at revitalising the United Nations and making the international system more effective.  He was a constant advocate for human rights, the rule of law, the Millennium Development Goals and Africa and sought to bring the organisation closer to the global public by forging ties with civil society, the private sector and other partners.
  
  At Mr. Annan’s initiative, UN peacekeeping was strengthened in ways that enabled the United Nations to cope with a rapid rise in the number of operations and personnel. It was also at Mr. Annan’s urging that, in 2005, Member States established two new intergovernmental bodies: the Peacebuilding Commission and the Human Rights Council. Mr Annan likewise played a central role in the creation of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the adoption of the UN’s first-ever counter-terrorism strategy, and the acceptance by Member States of the “responsibility to protect” people from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.  His “Global Compact” initiative, launched in 1999, has become the world’s largest effort to promote corporate social responsibility.
  
  Mr. Annan undertook wide-ranging diplomatic initiatives. In 1998, he helped to ease the transition to civilian rule in Nigeria.  Also that year, he visited Iraq in an effort to resolve an impasse between that country and the Security Council over compliance with resolutions involving weapons inspections and other matters – an effort that helped to avoid an outbreak of hostilities, which was imminent at that time. In 1999, he was deeply involved in the process by which Timor-Leste gained independence from Indonesia.  He was responsible for certifying Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000, and in 2006 his efforts contributed to securing a cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hizbollah. Also in 2006, he mediated a settlement of the dispute between Cameroon and Nigeria over the Bakassi peninsula through implementation of the judgement of the International Court of Justice. His efforts to strengthen the Organisation’s management, coherence and accountability involved major investments in training and technology, the introduction of a new whistleblower policy and financial disclosure requirements and steps aimed at improving co-ordination at the country level.
  
  Since leaving the United Nations, Kofi Annan has continued to press for better policies to meet the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable, particularly in Africa. He has also continued to use his experience to mediate and resolve conflict. In Kenya in early 2008, Mr. Annan led the African Union’s Panel of Eminent African Personalities to help find a peaceful resolution to the post-election violence.
  
  In addition to his work with the Kofi Annan Foundation, Mr. Annan serves as the Chairman of the Africa Progress Panel (APP), the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), and as an active member of the Elders.  He is also a Board member, Patron or Honorary member of a number of organisations. Mr. Annan currently serves as the Chancellor of the University of Ghana, a Global Fellow at Columbia University in the United States, and Li Ka Shing Professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore.
  
  Kofi Annan was born in Kumasi, Ghana, on 8 April 1938. He is married to Nane and between them they have three children.

Professor Jan Peter Balkenende

• Jan Peter Balkenende is Professor of Governance, Institutions and Internationalisation at Erasmus University, Rotterdam and a Partner at Ernst & Young. He is the former Prime Minister and Minister of General Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
  
  Jan Pieter (known as Jan Peter) Balkenende was born in Kapelle on 7 May 1956.
  
  After completing his secondary education he went on to the Free University of Amsterdam (VU) where he studied history (graduating with an M.A. in 1980, with economic and social history as his main subject and economics and political science as subsidiary subjects) and Dutch law (graduating with an LL.M. in 1982, with public law as his main subject). He obtained his Ph.D. in law in 1992 with a thesis on government regulation and civil society organisations.
  
  From 1982 to 1984 he was a legal affairs policy officer at the Netherlands Universities Council, the umbrella organisation for Dutch universities. He then served on the staff of the policy institute of the Christian Democratic Alliance (CDA) until 1998. As senior staff member he was responsible for social, economic and financial affairs, including development cooperation, technological innovation and European integration
  
  Professor Balkenende was a member of Amstelveen municipal council from 1982 to 1998, and leader of its CDA group from 1994.
  
  From 1993 to 2002 he was professor (part-time) of Christian social thought on society and economics at the Faculty of Economics of the Free University of Amsterdam.
  
  From 1998 to 2002 he was a member of the House of Representatives of the States General for the CDA and financial spokesperson for the CDA parliamentary party. He was leader of the parliamentary party from 1 October 2001.
  
  He has also been a member and vice-chair of the board of the broadcasting organisation NCRV, a member of the Amsterdam Regional Forum, chair of the Association of Christian Lawyers, member of the group on socially responsible business practice in the Royal Association MKB-Nederland, which represents employers in small and medium-size businesses, and a member of the board of the Parliamentary History Group.
  
  On 22 July 2002, Professor Balkenende was appointed Prime Minister and Minister of General Affairs in the first of four administrations to bear his name. His fourth term of office as Prime Minister and Minister of General Affairs ran from 22 February 2007 to 14 October 2010. During this period he also served as chair of the Innovation Platform. He paid many official visits to other countries, often accompanied by trade missions representing Dutch companies.
  
  Under his leadership, many reforms in the fields of social security, pre-pension facilities, public health, deregulation etc. were achieved. The raising of the retirement age was placed successfully on the agenda. Fiscal policy was put on a much sounder footing. The financial and economic crisis that arose in 2008 was tackled effectively: the unemployment rate in the Netherlands is among the lowest in the world and the structure of the Dutch economy is strong. Professor Balkenende played a very active international role, in Europe (presidency of the European Council in the second half of 2004), in the G20 (although the Netherlands is not a formal member) and in the UN (with a special emphasis on issues like sustainable development, Millennium Development Goals and the WTO).
  
  Since 1 December 2010 he has been Professor of Governance, Institutions and Internationalisation at the Erasmus School of Economics and the Erasmus School of Law of the Erasmus University Rotterdam. Since 1 April 2011 he has been partner at Ernst & Young (BeNe Head Office, Rotterdam). In this capacity he is responsible for international affairs, corporate responsibility and advisory activities on public-private issues.
  
  Professor Balkenende has received four honorary doctorates – in theology (Karoly Gazpar Reformed University, Budapest 2005), systems design and management (Keio University, Tokyo 2009), sociology (Yonsei University, Seoul 2010) and humane letters (Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York 2011) – and other honours including eight Grand Crosses (including Knight Grand Cross in the Dutch Order of Orange-Nassau) and several international prizes.
  
  He has written many books and articles, including: Government Regulation and Civil Society Organisations (1992), On Responsibility and Economics: What Next? (inaugural lecture, 1993), Responsibility and Law (1995), Trust and the Economy (1997), Different and Better (2002), Private Enterprise and Society (2003), Shaping Europe’s Future (2004), and Prime Minister, The Floor Is Yours (2010). He is the author of many policy documents on economic growth, social security, fiscal policy, poverty, development cooperation and innovation.
  
  Professor Balkenende is married to Dr Bianca Hoogendijk, a specialist in labour law. They have one daughter, Amelie (born in 1999).

Kjell Magne Bondevik

• Kjell Magne Bondevik played a leading role in Norwegian politics over the course of several decades. He served as Prime Minister of Norway from 1997 – 2000 and from 2001 – 2005, and also previously served as Minister of Foreign Affairs (1989-1990), Minister of Church and Education (1983-1986), and State Secretary of the Office of the Prime Minister (1972-1973). Mr. Bondevik was also a member of the Stortinget, the Norwegian parliament, from 1973 – 2005 representing the Christian Democratic Party. He was a deputy member from 1969-1973 and the party’s Parliamentary Leader from 1981-1983, 1986-1989, 1993-1997, and 2000-2001. He was also the leader of the Christian Democratic Party 1983-1995.
  
  Mr. Bondevik has been deeply involved in promoting international human rights action for many years now. A highlight of Mr. Bondevik’s career with regards to human rights is his founding of the Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights, of which he is currently the president. Mr. Bondevik’s activism in the human rights arena also expands to the United Nations, with his service as the UN Secretary General’s Special Humanitarian Envoy for the Horn of Africa from February 2006 to June 2007. The need for this envoy arose in light of recurring drought and food instability in the region that threatened humanitarian crisis and a threat to international peace and security. Mr. Bondevik also has unique theological experience, providing him with a unique perspective regarding human rights and government work. He is currently a Theological Candidate from Norway’s Free Faculty of Theology and was ordained as a priest in the Lutheran Church of Norway in 1979.
  
  Mr. Bondevik holds many distinguished honors and degrees. He is currently the bearer of the Grand Cross of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav, the Grand Cross of Latvia’s Terra Mariana Order, the Grand Cross of Italia’s Order of Merit, the Grand Cross of Portugal’s Order of Merit, and the Grand Cross of Guatemala’s Order of the Quetzal. Mr. Bondevik also has a number of honorary degrees, including an Honorary Doctor of Law from Suffolk University in Boston, USA, an Honorary Doctor of Politics from Wonkwang University in Seoul, Republic of Korea, an Honorary Doctor of Philosophy from Kyung Hee University in Seoul, Republic of Korea, and is an Honorary Professor at the Gumiljov University in Astana, Kazakhstan.

Sarah Brown

• Sarah Brown is the Founder and President of PiggyBankKids, Global Patron of the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood. 
  
  She spent part of her early life in Tanzania in East Africa, leading to a life-long commitment to international development. When the family came back to England, Sarah attended Acland Burghley School and Camden School for Girls in London, before studying at Bristol University where she gained an honours degree in Psychology. After graduating from University, Sarah worked for many years in communications – helping organisations in Britain’s arts and voluntary sector explain their work and their passions.
  
  Sarah is committed to a range of charities and campaigns focused primarily on the health and wellbeing of women and children. In 2002, Sarah founded the charity PiggyBankKids which supports charitable projects to create opportunities for children and young people in the UK.  PiggyBankKids administers the Jennifer Brown Research Fund, which seeks solutions to pregnancy difficulties and works to save new-born lives. The Fund was established in memory of Sarah and Gordon’s first child born in 2001.
  
  In 2008, Sarah became the Patron of the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood, an international coalition in 153 countries of some 3,500 organisations and individuals, all working to save the lives of mothers across the world. During the last few years, Sarah has been an international voice in the campaign to meet the Millennium Development Goal to reduce maternal mortality by two thirds by 2015.
  
  In March 2009, Sarah was asked to take on a formal role in establishing a network of national and international champions for the issue of maternal health, working in close collaboration with the Global Leaders Network under the chairmanship of Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg. Working with co-chair Bience Gawanas, social affairs commissioner of the African Union, the Leadership Group for Maternal and Newborn Health has focused on supporting the establishment of taskforces in developing countries. and in pushing for international support for the fight to reduce the number of maternal and infant deaths. The Leadership Group now forms part of the Every Woman Every Child initiative at the United Nations to support Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon's Global Strategy for Women's and Children's Health. 
  
  Sarah also sits on the Advisory Group to the International Board of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG), who are exploring ways to use their network of qualified doctors to improve healthcare for Mums in the developing world.
  
  In the UK, Sarah is an active Patron of a number of charities including domestic violence charity Women’s Aid, of education charity SHINE Trust, and of the Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres. She is Vice-President of the RCOG's official charity that funds new research into women's health, Wellbeing of Women. She is also a Patron of Hala, the Rachel Nash Jerusalem Comprehensive Breast Clinic serving both Arab and Jewish women.

Kevin Cahill

• Kevin joined Comic Relief as Director of Education and Information in February 1991 to set up a new department. In June 1992 he became Director of Communications adding fundraising to his responsibilities and, in October the following year, he became Deputy Director (Creative) taking on the creative brief across the whole organisation, including education work, TV, publicity/PR and press and media. In July 1997 he was appointed Chief Executive. He had the idea to do Sport Relief and has seen it grow in strength since 2002. He played a key role in the Make Poverty History and Live 8 campaigns and is President of the Charity Projects Entertainment Fund (CPEF), a US Charity set up by Comic Relief in 2007. In 2007 Kevin was awarded a CBE for services to charity.
  
  From 1982-1991 Kevin was Head of Education at the Royal National Theatre. He set up a new department under Peter Hall to work on programmes that explained the process of theatre, and particularly the repertoire of the National, to its audience, schools and the general public. Work included the production of eight mobile tours, the Lloyds Bank Theatre Challenge, W H Smith Interact Scheme, and the National Theatre Summer Acting Programme. Between 1989 and 1992 he was a Member of the Council of the Drama Centre. He was chair of the Gate Theatre for many years and has been a Board member at the Young Vic. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Nottingham Trent University in 2008.

Angélique Kidjo

• Grammy Award winner Angélique Kidjo is one of the most electrifying performers in the pop world today; a creative artist whose mission has been to explore the relationships of diverse musical cultures. While she has steeped her music in the tribal and pop rhythms of her West African heritage, the Benin-born, Brooklyn-based Kidjo has crossed musical boundaries by blending a variety of styles, including funk, salsa, jazz, rumba, souk, & makossa.
  
  Angélique travels the world as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. She has helped to raise awareness of gender disparity in primary and secondary education to promote girls’ education in Tanzania, Benin, Ethiopia, Brazil and many other places. Angélique is the co-founder of the Batonga Foundation which gives scholarship to girls in five countries in Africa.
  

The Right Honourable Paul Martin

• The Right Honourable Paul Martin was the twenty-first Prime Minister of Canada from 2003 to 2006 and Minister of Finance from 1993 to 2002.
  
  During his tenure as Prime Minister, Mr. Martin’s many achievements included setting in place a ten year, forty-one billion dollar plan to improve health care and reduce wait times; signing agreements with the provinces and territories to establish a national early learning and child care program and creating a new financial deal for Canada’s municipalities. Under Mr. Martin’s leadership in November 2005, the Canadian Government reached an historic consensus with Canada's provinces, territories, First Nations, Métis and Inuit leaders that would eliminate the gaps between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Canadians in the areas of health, education, housing and economic opportunity. This agreement became known as the Kelowna Accord. Further, he introduced the Civil Marriage Act, which redefined the traditional definition of marriage to include same-sex couples.
  
  Currently, he leads the Martin Aboriginal Education Initiative which aims at reducing the Aboriginal youth dropout rate and at increasing the number of Aboriginal students attending post-secondary institutions. He also founded, along with his son David, the Capital for Aboriginal Prosperity and Entrepreneurship Fund, whose investments seek to further a culture of economic independence, ownership and entrepreneurship amongst both on and off reserve Aboriginal peoples, through the creation and growth of successful businesses.
  
  Internationally, Mr. Martin is the co-chair of a two hundred million dollar British-Norwegian poverty and sustainable development fund for the ten nation Congo Basin Rainforest. He also sits on the advisory council of the Coalition for Dialogue on Africa, an initiative sponsored by the African Union, the UN Economic Commission for Africa and the African Development Bank that deals with critical Pan African issues. He is also a member of the International Monetary Fund’s Western Hemisphere Regional Advisory Group.
  
  Before entering politics, he had a distinguished career in the private sector as a business executive at Power Corporation of Canada and as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The CSL Group Inc.
  
  Mr. Martin studied philosophy and history at St. Michael's College at the University of Toronto and is a graduate of the University of Toronto Law School. He was called to the Ontario Bar in 1966.
  
  He is married to Sheila Ann Cowan. They have three sons: Paul, Jamie and David and three grandchildren Ethan, Liam and Finn.

Hiu Ng

• Hiu NG is Chairwoman and co-founder of Fairklima Capital. She is a Chinese Social Entrepreneur (Neo Confucian Entrepreneur) based in Beijing. Prior to founding her own organizations, Hiu worked for high profile interactive Chinese media organizations and companies under the Chinese Ministry of Culture and State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT), and served VP for Media for China's 3rd largest 3G manufacturer, New Postcom. In December 2008, she was recognized as one of the "World Economy Top 10 Outstanding Chinese People for her Contribution to Culture and Arts" at the 2008 Asia Pacific Annual Chinese Council for Investment Financing for her work in sustainable microfinance and youth related cultural activities. During 2009, Hiu launched 2 projects in China valued as the main projects by the Global Clinton Initiative commitments in China and worked with the British Council, the Ministry of Science, and CCTV for the youth programs under the Joint Declaration for Climate Change signed by Chinese Premier Wen JiaBao and UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Hiu is an important voice for change in sustainability and social responsibility dialogues in China, having successfully used Social Entrepreneurship (Neo Confucian Entrepreneurship) , sustainable innovative thinking and rural development projects as tools to create a smooth transition to a low carbon world. She was invited to take part in the 2010 World Economic Forum.

Dr. Ida Odinga

• Known by many Kenyans today as a great mentor in her own right. A much known face that is also celebrated for her grace, talent in leadership as well as intellect, Ida is a teacher by profession having taught for a period of over 20 years since she graduated from University of Nairobi with a Bachelor of Arts in 1974. She can be proud to have influenced the lives of very many girls who today hold high offices in Kenya and attribute their success to the motherly love and patience she showed to them. Ida is also celebrated as one the first women to head major corporate when she took over as the Managing Director of East Africa Spectre in 2003. Ida has great compassion for children and especially those that have no one to take care of them. She is a constant visitor to many children's homes where she is the patron. The wife of Kenya's Prime Minster, Ida has been a great influence in that journey and career that has made it possible for The Prime Minister. For more than two decades, Ida came to be known as the face of defiance to injustices and the intolerance that was witnessed during the one party state regime and came to be known as the longest political widow. Her untold suffering during that time influenced her to found a leading National Institution known as The League of Kenya Women Voters in 1991 where she served as National Chairperson until early this year. She wanted to see women end decades of poverty, humiliation, human rights abuses, violence and economic blackmail through participating in the ballot. She still is very influential in pushing women to plunge into political activism in order to make that change and the struggle for women continues. In May 2009, she was nominated and accepted to serve as the Ambassador for Freedom from Fistula and has recently launched a programme that mentors girls to stay and complete their education in schools. She also supports various initiatives including Breast cancer, children with cancer, end the jiggers campaign as well as heading the advisory board of the Kenya paraplegic Association among others. Ida is a mother of four children and a proud grandmother of baby Safi.

Kailash Satyarthi

• Kailash Satyarthi is a human rights activist from India who has been at the forefront of the global movement to end child slavery and exploitative child labor since 1980 when he gave up a lucrative career as an Electrical Engineer for initiating crusade against Child Servitude. As a grassroots activist, he has led the rescue of over 78,500 child slaves and developed a successful model for their education and rehabilitation. As a worldwide campaigner, he has been the architect of the single largest civil society network for the most exploited children, the Global March Against Child Labor, which is a worldwide coalition of NGOs, Teachers' Union and Trade Unions.
  
  As an analytical thinker, he made the issue of child labor a human rights issue, not a welfare matter or a charitable cause. He has established that child labor is responsible for the perpetuation of poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, population explosion and many other social evils. He has also played an important role in linking the fight against child labor with the efforts for achieving 'Education for All'.
  
  Mr. Satyarthi is a member of a High Level Group formed by UNESCO on Education for All comprising of select Presidents, Prime Ministers and UN Agency Heads. As one of the rare civil society leaders he has addressed the United Nations General Assembly, International Labour Conference, UN Human Rights Commission, UNESCO, etc and has been invited to several Parliamentary Hearings and Committees in USA, Germany and UK in the recent past. He is on the Board and Committee of several international organizations including the Center for Victims of Torture (USA) and the International Labor Rights Fund (USA). Mr. Satyarthi is also an executive Board Member of International Cocoa Foundation based in Geneva representing the global civil society.
  
  He has survived numerous attacks on his life during his crusade to end child labour, the most recent being the attack on him and his colleagues while rescuing child slaves from garment sweatshops in Delhi on 17 March 2011. Earlier in 2004 while rescuing children from the clutches of a local circus mafia and the owner of Great Roman Circus, Mr. Satyarthi and his colleagues were brutally attacked. Despite these attacks and his office being ransacked by anti social elements a number of times in the past his commitment to stand tall for the cause of child slaves has been unwavering.
  
  He has been honoured by the Former US President Bill Clinton in Washington for featuring in Kerry Kennedy's Book ‘Speak Truth to Power', where his life and work featured among the top 50 human rights defenders in the world including Nobel Laureates Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Elie Wessel and His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
  
  He has edited magazines like ‘Sangarsh Jari Rahega', ‘Kranti Dharmi', and ‘ Asian Workers Solidarity Link'. He has set up three rehabilitation-cum-educational centres for freed bonded children that resulted in the transformation of victims of child servitude into leaders and liberators.
  
  In addition, to the Global March Against Child Labor, other organizations he has founded and/or led include Bachpan Bachao Andolan, the Global Campaign for Education, and the Rugmark Foundation now known as Goodweave. He is the Chair of another world body International Center on Child Labor and Education (ICCLE) in Washington, D.C. ICCLE is one of the foremost policy institution to bring authentic and abiding southern grassroots perspective in the US policy domain.
  
  Satyarthi lives in New Delhi, India. His family includes children, his wife, a son, daughter-in-law, a daughter, colleagues and friends.

Dr. Susan Smalley

• Dr. Smalley is Professor of Psychiatry and Founding Director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center at the Jane and Terry Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA.She received her bachelor’s degree at the University of Michigan and her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Anthropology at UCLA. She completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in Medical Genetics and Childhood Psychopathology at UCLA, as well, and is a founding member of the College of Medical Genetics.
  
  As a behavior geneticist, Dr. Smalley spent 20 years researching the genetic influences of human behavior, conducting gene-mapping studies in autism spectrum disorders and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Supported through NIMH grants, her lab is a leading research unit in the genetics of ADHD, having conducted some of the first genome-wide studies in this condition. She has more than 80 scholarly publications covering topics of behavioral genetics including statistical methodology, refinement of behavioral phenotypes, genetic research in autism and ADHD, and, more recently, mind-body medicine and its role in education and health.
  
  With the shifting emphasis on prevention and health enhancement afforded, in part, by the genomic era of the 21st century, Dr. Smalley founded the Mindful Awareness Research Center (www.marc.ucla.edu). It is dedicated to increasing self-awareness through mind-body practices (such as meditation) as a means of enhancing health and well-being and promoting a more compassionate society. She is a weekly contributor to the Huffington Post and is co-writing a book, “Fully Present: The Practical Art and Science of Mindfulness” (DaCapo Publishers).

Belinda Stronach

• Belinda Stronach is a community, business and public leader who cares deeply about Canada and the broader issues of quality of life both at home and abroad.
  
  She sees the challenges of the future as needs of the immediate – how to keep Canada prosperous in a competitive global economy that is changing rapidly, how to safeguard our quality of life and the social support systems that make Canada unique, how to provide young Canadians the means to meet their potential through education, learning and skills training, and how to make the world a more secure place by dealing with crushing poverty and lack of opportunity.
  
  Long recognized as an emerging young leader with vision, the National Post newspaper had already identified Belinda in 2001 as the most powerful businesswoman in Canada. In the same year, the World Economic Forum named her a "Global Leader of Tomorrow. In 2002, she was ranked #2 by Fortune Magazine in its list of the world's most powerful women in business, and named one of Canada's "Top 40 under 40, an annual awards competition that honours the country's top business innovators less than 40 years of age.
  
  In 2004, TIME Magazine ranked Belinda as one of the world's 100 most influential people and in 2005 the World Economic Forum named her a member of its network of global young leaders. Also in 2005, the sustained recognition continued: the Women's Executive acclaimed Belinda a "trailblazer and one of Canada's top 100 most powerful women.
  
  Moving from business success and community involvement, Belinda entered public life to represent the community where she has lived most of her life. First elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the 2004 general election and then re-elected in the 2006 general election, she served as Member of Parliament for Newmarket-Aurora (Ontario) until October 2008. While in office, she joined the Cabinet in 2005 at the invitation of the Prime Minister and assumed responsibility for three separate and senior portfolios as Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, Minister responsible for Democratic Renewal, and Minister responsible for Service Canada.
  
  Belinda is the former Vice-Chairman of Magna International Inc., one of the largest global suppliers of automotive systems and components in the world with approximately 71,000 employees in 25 countries. Under her corporate leadership as the former President and CEO of Magna, the company had record sales and profits in each year and its stock price nearly doubled in value. While at Magna, she experienced first hand the tough lessons of the global competitive challenge to Canada, and served on the Ontario Task Force on Productivity, Competitiveness and Economic Progress.
  
  Belinda is an Honourary Member of the Board of Directors of Southlake Regional Health Centre in Newmarket, Ontario, and the past Honourary Chair of Southlake's Nurture the Future Fundraising Campaign.
  
  In 2005, she received the "In Celebration of Women: Achievements and Initiatives award for assisting youth in her community. Belinda is an Honorary Director of the Judy LaMarsh Fund of the Liberal Party of Canada, in support of work to encourage more women to enter public life. The fund is named for an earlier trailblazer.
  
  In 2006, Belinda co-founded Spread the Net, a national grassroots fundraising campaign together with Canadian television personality Rick Mercer. Inspired by the devastating effects of malaria observed on a trip to Africa in 2005, Belinda and Rick launched Spread the Net in partnership with UNICEF Canada to raise awareness and funds to combat death from malaria. She is also a board member of Malaria No More and Chair of Malaria No More Canada.
  
  Belinda is a Director of the Center for Global Development in Washington, D.C. and a Director of Millennium Promise Canada, where she is involved in supporting the work of Professor Jeffrey Sachs with Millennium Villages as a model of integrated international development. Based on her personal experience with breast cancer in spring 2007, she is also patron of the Belinda Stronach Chair in Breast Cancer Reconstructive Surgery at the Toronto General and Western Hospital Foundation. The Chair provides guaranteed funding for a program to ensure that the important option of reconstructive surgery for women who have undergone mastectomies is more widely available. In 2008, Belinda received the Paul Harris Award, one of the highest honours that Rotary can bestow on an individual in recognition of outstanding contributions to the ideals of the Rotary service club organization. And in 2009, was awarded along with Spread the Net co-founder Rick Mercer, with an Honourary Doctorate of Laws from Brock University recognizing her efforts in the fight against malaria.
  
  Belinda assumed the role of Honourary Chair of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure in York Region in October 2009.
  
  She recently established The Belinda Stronach Foundation to provide educational opportunities for young women and aboriginal youth, and to improve the lives of young people in developing nations. In 2010, Belinda became a member of the High Level Panel on Education for All.

Kevin Wall

• Kevin Wall is an Emmy Award-winning producer, activist and new media entrepreneur.
  
  As founder and CEO of Control Room, which produces and distributes live music concerts across internet, radio, television, and mobile phones, platforms, Wall pioneered the platform-agnostic digital media model making entertainment content available on all mediums and devices. Control Room has delivered more than 100 shows since 2005, featuring international superstars such as Madonna, Jay-Z, Rihanna, and more, across a variety of networks and platforms around the world. Wall expanded Control Room’s producer credits to include specialized iconic events – 2009 Green Inaugural Ball hosted by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, Live Earth 2007: Concerts for a Climate in Crisis, and Live Earth 2008: India – featuring multi-artist performances, integrated messaging, and massive global media architecture. He has added brand integration to Control Room’s arsenal of entertainment expertise through creation of events such as Nokia New Year’s Eve and Macy’s Passport which associates and integrates well-known brands with music events and artists that better reach their consumers.
  
  In 2007, Kevin Wall founded his passion project – Live Earth. Inspired by the former U.S. Vice President, Al Gore, and his Oscar-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth, Wall conceived and executed a groundbreaking musical event that sought to deliver an urgent yet hopeful call to action on climate change. The 2007 Live Earth concerts were held on seven continents, over the course of 24-hours, featuring over 150 headlining artists, and through his signature massive media architecture reached nearly two billion people on the planet with a message for change. Wall has grown Live Earth into a dynamic organization dedicated to the creation of engaging entertainment events and media content aimed at raising awareness for the challenges and solutions associated with climate change.