Women, Equity, and Global Development Symposium 2019
The 2019 symposium theme was "the future is now." Speakers discussed how we can continue to foster progress and promote equity across sectors, in addition to how we ensure the brightest future for all people.
About this Event
The global community is changing faster than ever with political, social, and technological advancements bolstering more attention and action to overcoming global inequities. These trends toward more equitable representation in leadership, business, and media are empowering historically marginalized communities, advancing progress toward a more sustainable, collective future.
The Future is Now
With women, LGBTQIA+ persons, people of color, people of different abilities, and youth as the world’s changemakers, this collective future is closer than we think—it’s here. The future is now. How do we continue to foster progress and promote equity across sectors? How do we ensure the brightest future for all people?
About the Event Series
The Women, Equity, and Global 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
Matthew Abbott
Former Director, Government and Diplomatic Programs
Matt Abbott joined the Chicago Council on Global Affairs in 2015 as the director of government and diplomatic programs.
Stephan Bognar
Executive Director, New York Dermatological Group Foundation
Stephan Bognar is the executive director of the New York Dermatological Group Foundation (NYDGF), one of the leading health organizations delivering humanitarian medical assistance to vulnerable and marginalized groups with skin conditions across the globe. Prior to joining NYDGF, Bognar served as the chief executive officer for the Maddox Jolie Pitt Foundation.
Ellen "Chmba" Chilemba
DJ, Producer, Activist, and Founder, Tiwale
Chmba (Ellen Chilemba) is the founder of Tiwale, a women’s center in Malawi supporting women and girls through economic and educational opportunities. Tiwale has since supported over 250 women in educational and vocation skills training opportunities.
Distinguished Fellow, Global Food and Agriculture
Prior to joining the Council, Ertharin Cousin served as executive director of the UN World Food Programme where she led the world’s largest humanitarian organization from 2012 to 2017. She also previously served as US ambassador to the UN Agencies for Food and Agriculture in Rome. Cousin is founder and CEO of Food Systems for the Future.
April Donnellan
Executive Director, Global Philanthropy Partnership
April Donnellan joined Global Philanthropy Partnership as executive director in 2005. She previously served as program director of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. Prior to that, Donnellan was a Foreign Service officer with the US Department of State, completing assignments in Port Louis, Mauritius and Washington, DC.
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.
Diandra Forrest
Model, Actress, and Activist
Diandra Forrest has graced the covers of Ebony, Traffic, and many others. As the first model with albinism to be the face of a nationwide beauty brand for Wet & Wild’s BREAKING BEAUTY campaign, Forrest has been given multiple opportunities to advance her mission for an industry where there is representation for all.
Helene Gayle
President and Chief Executive Officer, The Chicago Community Trust
Helene Gayle, MD is president and chief executive officer of The Chicago Community Trust, one of the nation’s leading community foundations. The Trust works with donors, nonprofits, community leaders, and residents to lead philanthropic efforts that improve the quality of life in Chicago. Previously, Gayle was CEO of McKinsey Social Initiative, a nonprofit that builds partnerships for social impact.
Lisa Hinton
Metropolitan Chicago Executive Director, American Heart Association
In her current role, Lisa Hinton oversees the fundraising and community engagement initiatives that create longer, healthier lives for all Chicagoans. Hinton has 14+ years of nonprofit fundraising and management experience. She most recently served as market vice president for the Heart Association’s Chicago office, supervising a team of 20 fundraising staff.
Alison Holder
Director, Equal Measures 2030
Alison Holder is the director of Equal Measures 2030, a civil society and private sector-led partnership that connects data and evidence with advocacy and action, helping to fuel progress towards gender equality. She has 20 years’ experience in international development, leading advocacy work on inequality, tax justice, accountability, and corporate responsibility.
Katelyn Jones
Nonresident Fellow, Global Food and Agriculture
Katelyn Jones is a nonresident fellow at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and her research concerns gender politics in international organizations, and is especially focused on gender mainstreaming in policy formation and implementation.
Stephanie Kimou
Founder and Lead Consultant, PopWorks Africa
Stephanie Kimou is the founder and lead consultant for PopWorks Africa, a consulting firm that supports the development, implementation, and monitoring of development interventions in Africa. She is an international development professional responsible for successful communications and advocacy programs related to sexual and reproductive health rights.
Elsa Mengistu
Director, Operations and Logistics, Zero Hour
Elsa Mengistu is the director of operations and logistics at Zero Hour, a grassroots climate organization intent on gaining support for the Youth Climate Movement. She is a freshman at Howard University and native of North Carolina by passage of Ethiopia. Mengistu is an avid organizer and activist who started her work in middle school and high school.
Bethany C. Meyers
Founder and CEO, the be.come project
Bethany C. Meyers is the founder of the be.come project, champion of the LGBTQ+ community, and a leader in body-neutrality. The be.come project is a zero-judgment fitness app that focuses on the idea that we work out because we love our body and it makes us feel good, not because we hate it and want to change it.
Azadeh Moaveni
Journalist, Writer, and Academic
Azadeh Moaveni is a journalist, writer, and academic who has been covering the Middle East for nearly two decades. She started reporting in Cairo in 1999, while on a Fulbright fellowship to the American University in Cairo. For the next several years, she reported from throughout the region as Middle East correspondent for Time magazine, based in Tehran, but covering Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, and Iraq.
Alaa Murabit
High-Level Commissioner on Health Employment and Economic Growth, United Nations
Alaa Murabit is a medical doctor, Canadian Meritorious Service Cross recipient, one of 17 Global Sustainable Development Goal Advocates appointed by the UN Secretary General, and a United Nations High-Level Commissioner on Health Employment and Economic Growth.
Rami Nashashibi
Executive Director, Inner-City Muslim Action Network (IMAN)
Rami Nashashibi is a MacArthur Genius Grant fellow and a 2018 Opus Prize laureate. He received a PhD in sociology from the University of Chicago and has taught courses at multiple universities since, including a teaching appointment at the Chicago Theological Seminary. He was appointed by President Barack Obama to the President’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
Blessing Omakwu-Soremekun
Special Advisor to the Executive Director of Global Policy, ONE; Founder, The She Tank
Blessing Omakwu-Soremekun, Esq. is the special advisor to the executive director of global policy at ONE, a global movement campaigning to end extreme poverty and preventable disease by 2030. In this role, she provides policy and strategic support to the executive director, including overseeing initiatives to increase the visibility of ONE’s global policy work and forge new partnerships.
Clarita Santos
Executive Director of Community Health Initiatives, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois
At BCBSIL, Clarita Santos oversees statewide community engagement, including the launch of the Blue Door Neighborhood Center, the company’s first community-based health and wellness center. For more than 10 years, she has led the allocation of grant funding to BCBSIL’s community partners to increase access to care, improve population health, and improve health equity among the uninsured in Illinois.
Lead Sponsors
Patron Sponsors
The Frankel Family Foundation
Holthues Trust
Ashley F.T. McCall & Avery McCall
Susan and Bob Morrison
Partners
Americares
Concern Worldwide
Care
Heartland Alliance International
ONE
Opportunity International
Promundo
RefuSHE
Unicef
UIC School of Public Health
Women Employed
Women's Global Education Project
YWCA
World Bicycle Relief