Mobilising Business for a Better World: Accelerating Business Action on the SDGs

Ban Ki-moon is a South Korean diplomat who was the eighth Secretary-General of the United Nations (UNSG) from January 2007 to December 2016. Before becoming UNSG, Mr. Ban was a career diplomat in South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the United Nations. As the eighth UNSG, Ban Ki-moon's priorities were to mobilize world leaders around a set of new global challenges, from climate change and economic upheaval to pandemics and increasing pressures involving food, energy, and water. He led the efforts for the landmark Paris Climate Agreement and, under his leadership, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the 2030 Agenda were created.

Ban Ki-moon currently serves as the Co-Chair of the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens which seeks to empower youth and women to become active global citizens in creating a sustainable future for all. In addition, he currently holds over 20 positions, including the Presidency and the Chairmanship of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), and Chairmanships of the Global Commission on Adaptation, the Ethics Commission of the International Olympic Committee, and the BOAO Forum in Asia.

Manuj Aggarwal is the founder and Chief Innovation Officer of TetraNoodle Technologies. He has 25 years of experience in the fields of software and technology and some of his notable roles include Principal Software Architect at Microsoft, Director of Software Engineering at Pearson Education and Chief Technology Architect at the University of British Columbia and Ministry Of Health, British Columbia, Canada. Manuj's path to success is one of a determined and inspiring youth. Now an entrepreneur, investor, author and podcast host, he has 4 patents in the field of AI and Machine Learning and his company is teaching 180,000 students across the world.

Márcia is founding director of corporate responsibility (CR) at RELX, a FTSE 15 information, analytics and events company with 33,000+ people and operations in 40 countries. Engaging colleagues throughout the business, Márcia works to ensure RELX’s extra-financial performance furthers competitive advantage and stakeholder confidence. She drives practice that ensures recognition for RELX as a CR leader: over the last year, RELX ranked 2nd in the S&P 1200 for environment, social and governance (ESG) as reported in the Financial Times; 1st for ESG in the media and publishing sectors (and 17th overall) among 12,000+ companies assessed by Sustainalytics; held a AAA ESG rating with MSCI; and was one of 36 LEAD companies of the United Nations Global Compact among approximately 10,000 corporate signatories.

She is Chair of the UN Global Compact Network UK; Chair of the Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Council of the Conference Board; and a founding member of the Board of the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens. She is founding director of London museum and educational facility Benjamin Franklin House and previously was special advisor to the American Chamber of Commerce (UK). A Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, she holds an MA in International Relations from the University of Chicago, and a PHD in Economic History from the London School of Economics. She is a Member of the British Empire (MBE), an honour awarded by the Queen, and lives in London with her husband and two boys.

Irina Bokova, born in Sofia, Bulgaria, was the Director-General of UNESCO from 2009 to 2017. Having graduated from Moscow State Institute of International Relations, she was a Fellow at the University of Maryland, Washington, and followed an executive program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. As Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova was actively engaged in UN efforts to adopt Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development, particularly Goal 4 on “Achieving Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education and Promoting Life-Long Learning for All”, as well as science and new technologies for sustainable development, protection of cultural and natural heritage and biodiversity, and gender equality. 

From 2010 - 2017, Irina was vice-chair of the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development, a platform established by UNESCO and ITU (International Telecommunications Union) for governments, private sector and academia to support and promote connectivity and sustainable development. During this time, Irina chaired the Working Groups on Education and ICTs and Gender and ICTs. From 2014 - 2017, she also chaired the UN Secretary General’s Scientific Advisory Board on Sustainable Development, with a focus on science-policy interface.

In 2016, Irina was included on the Forbes list of the world's most influential women and she has received academic distinctions from leading universities across the world, including, amongst others, King's College, London, the University of Massachusetts, Boston, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Paris Sud Saclay, France, Tongji University, Shanghai, and the Russian Academy of Sciences, St Petersburg. In 2020 she was elected International Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in the category of Educational, Cultural and Non-profit Leadership.

Currently, Irina is a Board Member for the Ban Ki Moon Centre for Global Citizens, a Member of the Senate of FIA and of the High Panel on Road Safety, a Member of the Concordia Leadership Council, New York, and a visiting lecturer at the Paris School of International Affairs /PSIA/, SciencesPo, and at the University of Geneva, among others.

Youngsuk ‘YS’ Chi is an international businessman and a global thought leader in the publishing, education and information solutions industries. As Chairman of Elsevier, he works directly with key stakeholders in government, academia and industry to support over 30 million scientists, students and health information professionals. In his role as Director of Corporate Affairs for RELX, Elsevier’s parent company, he is responsible for government affairs, corporate communications and corporate responsibility across all four of the group’s market segments.

Based in London and New York, Chi travels extensively to engage with scientific research communities, deliver thought leadership on key trends and advise stakeholders, boards and groups across industries. Chi serves as Distinguished Visiting Professor at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). Chi is also an independent director of Ingram Industries Inc. (Nashville, USA), CFI Education (Vancouver, Canada) and Educational Testing Service ETS (Princeton, NJ), and is involved in numerous educational, artistic and charitable organizations including Princeton University, the Ban Ki-Moon Foundation and the Korea Society.

Antony specialises in public international law and complex cross-border dispute resolution. He leads our global Business and Human Rights practice and is a member of the firm's ESG leadership group.

Antony has extensive experience advising governments, international organisations and private sector clients in the area of public international law, including in relation to investment treaty arbitration, State and diplomatic immunity, sanctions and embargoes, recognition of States and governments, treaty law, human rights and international economic law.

Antony is tri-qualified, in Australia (Victoria), England & Wales and Hong Kong SAR. He acts as advocate in international arbitration proceedings and in arbitration-related court proceedings.

Antony is ranked in Chambers Global for Business and Human Rights Law where he is described as a "leading expert on human rights and business, well versed across the full spectrum of issues including legal, political, international and commercial perspectives."

Andy has been working in the field of sustainability for 15 years and in that time has contributed to a number of cross industry initiatives to help advance the role the business plays to address sustainability challenges. Andy joined Schneider Electric in 2010 and is currently leading the EMEA Sales Teams at Schneider Energy & Sustainability Services, a Schneider division aiming at providing consultancy, solution development and integration services to international corporations in the field of clean energy, efficiency, resilience and sustainability.

Today, with his team, Andy supports pan-European corporations to define and drive sustainability programs and supports Climate Transition.

Sarah El Battouty is a global award winning architect with 18 years’ experience in the field of Green and Environmental Buildings and Sustainable Development. Sarah is the founder of one of Egypt’s unique Environmental Design, training and strategy company ECOnsult who have achieved the highest number of energy saving certified projects in Egypt by an Egyptian consultant. Her design work spans from Egypt to Italy and China focusing on partnering with the private sector and government on implementing green projects with social impact. She is also an entrepreneur that founded another unique start-up in Egypt that specializes in transforming scrap waste into luxury high-end sustainable furniture. MuBun Sustainable Furniture is currently exporting.

In 2014 Sarah was appointed as a senior Advisor to the Egyptian President focusing on sustainable community development. Sarah is among the most decorated and influential women in the field of climate change, environmental design and green economy by international institutions. She is among the first Arab and first Egyptian to be a finalist and awarded Ashden Partner and to receive the EarthShot Prestigious Global Nomination.

She has worked on several projects with the presidency adopted by government including introducing energy and water saving awareness programs into the media and education system as well the creation of a youth leadership program to empower youths to participate in the political process. Her focus has been Egypt’s environmental policy which culminated in the successful ratification of Egypt signing the Paris Climate Agreement and embarking on a nationwide program for energy saving as well as water scarcity awareness. Sarah represents Egypt as an official in a variety of lectures and summits focusing on climate, housing and national security. She is now working to make environmental awareness and resource and natural heritage preservation entre the Egyptian curriculum with the Ministry of Education which she sees as a cause and passion.

Monika Froehler is CEO of the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens and is a passionate change maker, advocate, founder and speaker. She was entrusted to create the BKMC after working at the UN in Geneva, NY and Vienna, the EU, the Austrian Foreign Ministry and in field missions around the globe. She is passionate about the implementation of the SDGs and the Paris Climate Agreement. Throughout her career she managed to support hundreds of women, young people and communities all over the globe e.g. working in Africa and Latin America to ban landmines; working to improve hospital care in rural Central Asia and Africa; assisting in eco-friendly city planning in Asia and bettering the living conditions of women in the Middle East and West-Africa.

Ted Gies leads the Digital Accessibility Team at Elsevier and chairs the RELX/Elsevier Accessibility Guild. Ted has worked across RELX companies as a UX designer, researcher, and global accessibility authority. He chaired the company accessibility policies, developing several tools and coalitions across divisions. Fascinated by easy to use and barrier free information in the STEM field, his current projects include a company maturity model, EPUB3 books, accessible web charts, and a belting training system. Ted has led design and user studies in Oil & Gas Geoscience, Academic Research, and Corporate Innovation. He has a patent award on an intelligent file naming system and has published in several scholarly journals.

James Harding was the Director of News and Current Affairs at the BBC, the world’s largest news organisation, until January 2018. Prior to that he was Editor of The Times of London from 2007-2012, winning the Newspaper of the Year in two of the five years he edited the paper.  He was previously The Times’ Business Editor, having joined from The Financial Times, where he worked as Washington Bureau Chief, Media Editor and China correspondent opening the paper’s bureau in Shanghai in 1996. He is the author of Alpha Dogs – How political spin became a global business and he presented On Background on the BBC World Service with Zanny Minton-Beddoes, editor of The Economist.

Dan Jolley is the Senior Accessibility Auditor for the Digital Accessibility Centre (DAC), based in Swansea, Wales. He has been involved in digital inclusion and digital accessibility for the last ten years, previously working to increase digital awareness and with socially excluded groups in South Wales. Dan has been with the DAC for 6 ½ years predominantly auditing digital products including websites and apps along with other technologies such as ATM’s (Cash machines) and digital TV products.

Steve has managed the Secretariat of the UN Global Compact Network UK since 2008, connecting UK companies and other organisations in a global movement dedicated to driving corporate sustainability and the Sustainable Development Goals. He also Chairs the UN Global Compact’s Global Network Council and sits on the UN Global Compact Board.

He was previously a Programme Director at the International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF) leading projects across a wide range of responsible business issue areas. Prior to joining IBLF, Steve was the founder and Managing Director of a successful retail sports equipment business in Canada.

Kenneth is the Asia-based Youth Council Member of the World Humanitarian Forum and a SDG Ambition Leader of UN Global Compact. His focus is on the intersectionality of #impact, #innovation and #inclusion. Through a hybrid for-profit and non-profit circular model, he wishes to advance multi-stakeholder ownership towards climate action. He is the Founder and CEO of Global Citizen Capital, an inter-disciplinary impact venture focused on education, climate change and healthcare, through a multi-faceted ESG lens. His passion in SDG Education is evident in KIDsforSDGs, a leading community of young changemakers in Hong Kong, which he co-founded to enlighten and empower youth on education and action for sustainable development. His work has been recognized by the World Economic Forum with a speaking engagement at Davos 2021 and two Innovators memberships: i) UpLink Innovator (crowdsourcing innovation to deliver on the SDGs) and ii) Global Innovator (accelerating frontier technologies to further digital transformation).

Usama is the CEO and a board member of Fore Biotherapeutics. In this role, Usama is responsible for working with the board and key stakeholders to build and scale the preeminent precision oncology company that is committed to treating and curing hard-to-treat cancers using its patent-protected functional genomics platform that identifies high unmet need populations with few existing treatment alternatives. Usama recently joined Fore from Immunomedics Inc. As CFO and CBO at Immunomedics, Usama led the day-to-day transformation of the company over four years and concluded a precedent-setting $21 billion transaction to Gilead in 2020.

Usama has over 25 years of experience in the technology, telecoms, and healthcare industries in key leadership roles ranging from corporate strategy, mergers and acquisitions, venture investing, product development, and general management. He has worked on large-scale transformations across Fortune 500 companies, while helping to scale and grow numerous venture-backed and mid-sized organizations. He has led key strategic efforts to bolster company balance sheets, take out costs, generate new revenue streams, raise capital, and lead multibillion-dollar M&A transactions.

Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu is a political & women’s rights activist, taught intersectional feminism to female refugees and asylum seekers; scrutinizes government policies from a gender and diversity inclusion perspective; and co-organises women's marches and social campaigns. She is also a New York Attorney and Solicitor of England & Wales with broad expertise in the financial services industry, writer, public speaker and political commentator featured in mainstream and online media. She founded the Women in Leadership publication as a platform to drive positive change on topical issues that impact women globally through inspiring personal leadership journeys; and established She@LawTalks to promote women & BAME leadership in the legal profession through universities and secondary schools. An academic enthusiast, she has an Executive MBA (Cambridge); PhD (Birkbeck); LLM (London School of Economics & Political Science); MA (Westminster) and LLB Hons (Buckingham University).

Website: www.drshola.com
witter/Facebook/Instagram: @SholaMos1

Akosua is a Consultant at Deloitte Canada in the Energy Resources and Industrials sector. Prior to joining Deloitte, Akosua worked as a Regional Manager in a Nationwide Waste Management Project in Ghana, as an analyst in urban sector group in Green Climate Fund in Korea, and as a Business Incubation Manager for a circular economy accelerator. She has over 6 years of experience working in energy, water, circular economy, and climate change. She is actively involved on climate change, sustainability, and social innovation initiatives, as well as in advocacy programs focused on women and youth.

Akosua holds a Master of Engineering and Public Policy degree from McMaster University in Canada and a Bachelor of Science in Petroleum Engineering from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana.

Outside of consulting, Akosua supports several non-profits and youth development programs around the world. Notable among them is her work with widows and orphans in Ghana. She is also passionate about providing career advice and mentorship to young people looking to enter the job market.

Gaythri Raman is the Managing Director of LexisNexis Southeast Asia, a leading legal technology company that provides information analytics together with premium legal content to law firms, corporations, government and academic institutions. Gaythri is responsible for leading the Southeast Asia business in the development and execution of strategies to deliver innovative information analytics solutions to customers in helping them increase productivity and improve decision-making outcomes. She is also driving growth in the ASEAN region, working with partners across the multiple jurisdictions to enable access to laws and analytical tools. She speaks frequently on the topics of rule of law, legal technologies, artificial intelligence, digital transformations, and technological innovation at various events and platforms across the region

Gaythri is extremely passionate about the rule of law. She is a believer in combining technology and the law to empower individuals for the betterment of society. Together with her team based in Malaysia and Singapore, LexisNexis’ work in the Southeast Asia region drives SDG 16, supporting institutions such as the courts, legislators, academia and the legal profession, thus ensuring rule of law. 

Throughout her career, Gaythri initiated and executed on projects to advance the rule of law in various jurisdictions. Noteworthy projects include the Consolidation of Laws and Judgments in the Maldives, the Constitutional Reform Workshop for lawyers in partnership with the  Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law and various forms of training and capacity building in legal education across Southeast Asia.

Michael Sheldrick is a Co-Founder and Chief Policy, Impact and Government Relations Officer at Global Citizen. Over the past decade, Global Citizen’s campaigns have led to over $35 billion distributed to anti-poverty efforts around the world.

Michael leads Global Citizen’s campaigns to rally support from governments, businesses and foundations to get the world on track to end extreme poverty. Michael has worked on campaigns globally with artists including Beyoncé, Coldplay, Idris and Sabrina Elba, Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus, Priyanka Chopra, Rihanna, Usher, and world leaders including Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and former Australian Prime Ministers Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd.

Michael was one of the four Co-Founders who spearheaded the first major Global Citizen advocacy campaign - The End the Polio - in 2011 which raised $118 million with the support of John Legend and then Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard. Most recently, Michael served as an Executive Producer of Vax Live, co-chaired by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan. The campaign focused on vaccine equity and acceptance, which resulted in 26 million vaccines committed for developing countries.

Michael has written on development issues in Forbes, the Guardian, Huffington Post, The Diplomatic Courier, The Diplomat Magazine, The South China Morning Post, The West Australian, and Fairfax Media. He has been interviewed by ABC, BBC, The New Yorker, Forbes Magazine, VICE Impact and Sky News among others. Michael’s efforts, and those of the team he leads, was profiled in National Geographic’s Activate series aired in 2019. He was named by the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth as a finalist for 2017 Young Commonwealth Person of the Year. He is also a board member for the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens and the Advisory Board of Parliamentarians for the Global Goals. Michael holds degrees in law and political science from the University of Western Australia, and was 2013 Young Western Australian of the Year.

As Global Lead for Information Ecosystems at LexisNexis Risk Solutions, Wesley Smith identifies and develops contributory data platforms in the U.S. and internationally that gather and analyze data from consortium members using innovations in Machine Learning/AI, and in linking digital and physical identity assets.

His current work is focused on supporting the financial inclusion initiatives of traditional banks and fintechs by applying the digital identity services of LexisNexis Risk Solutions to help those organizations manage risk.

Wesley has over 30 years of experience in the commercialization of emerging technologies for startup and Fortune 500 companies. His activities have included strategic business development and planning for energy, transportation, and information companies and government agencies.

Wesley received a law degree from George Washington University in 1989, and lives in Park City, Utah.

Patrick is a renowned leader in rule of law development and justice delivery. He was a member of the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service for 24 years where, after leading some of the UK’s most sensitive and serious terrorism cases in the unprecedented period immediately post 9/11, he set up and led the CPS’ International Division for over a decade.

As the CPS’s first International Director, Patrick developed a global network of justice advisors and international engagement that delivered strategic and operational Rule of Law improvement at the heart of the UK’s national security effort worldwide. He recruited and deployed the CPS’ first strategic justice advisor into West Africa in 2010 and by 2014 he led a network of 35 lawyers in 28 countries. Patrick has a unique mix of operational and policy making experience in the field of international justice. Representing the UK Government, worked across all major crime threats in over fifty jurisdictions working with politicians and justice leaders to agree and implement reforms.

Patrick joined the Optima Group as their Rule of Law Director in 2018 and set up their Rule of Law team, replicating the approach and leadership he brought to his work with the UK Government. Three years and a pandemic later, Optima Rule of Law now works across the globe addressing challenging justice issues with partners such as UNDP, IOM, UNICEF, GIZ and the UK FCDO. Patrick also works with Space for Giants, a wildlife charity in Africa, to assist their work to strategically improve the response to the illegal wildlife trade

Mark has 27 years experience working in the humanitarian and international development sectors, of which sixteen years he has been as a CEO - eight years running War Child and eight years running Hope and Homes for Children. He has also served as a Board Chair for ten years, and was recently appointed to the Board of the UK's largest children's charity, Barnardo's. He received the CBE for services to global child protection in the 2019 UK Honours.

Since Mark joined Hope and Homes for Children in 2012, they have doubled their income, trebled beneficiary reach, taken a leading role in negotiating a cross-government policy statement on the UK’s position on promoting the deinstitutionalisation of child care internationally, and most recently helped to secure the new UN Resolution on Children Without Parental Care.

Mark was appointed to the Board of Barnardo's at the end of 2019, and then also as the Chair of the Barnardo’s Foundation Advisory Board in January 2021.