2014 summer youth assembly at the un_bios

8/12/2019 2014 Summer Youth Assembly at the UN_BIOs

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Where You At?Uniting Youth Through Arts, Culture, Sports, and Travel forthe Development of the Post-2015 Agenda

Speakers Bios

August 6-8, 2014 UN Headquarters, NYC


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DAY 1: SPEAKERSPatrick Sciarrattahas been executive director of FRIENDSHIP AMBASSADORSFOUNDATION in Greenwich, CT since 1993. He has spoken at conferences anduniversities throughout the world on topics related to the role of the arts andcultural exchange as a driver for development and global peace building.

At the United Nations, Patrick is an Adviser to the Permanent Mission of SoTom and Prncipe, through December 2016. Since 2003, he co-created anddirects the Annual Youth Assembly at the United Nations. He edits the NGOReporter, disseminated to 5,000+ U.N.-affiliated NGOs worldwide, and wasre-appointed Treasurer, a second time, for the UN DPI 65th Annual Conferenceat UNHQ. In January 2012, Patrick co-sponsored the first-ever TEDx conferenceat the U.N. In June 2012, he produced the UN-Inspired Rhythms of One WorldChoral Festival in NYC. In 2014, the international choir festival took place atUNHQ Geneva, Switzerland in support of the Kofi Annan Foundation.

Ambassador Simona-Mirela Miculescuhas been serving as PermanentRepresentative of Romania to the United Nations since 2008. During her 23years of diplomatic career, she served as Spokesperson for the Romanian

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Senior Media Advisor to the Minister (1993 and1999), Director of the Press Department within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs(1994 and 2008), as Press Secretary of the Romanian Embassy in WashingtonD.C. (1994-1998), and as Senior Public Information Officer at the Mission of theOrganization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Kosovo (1999-2000).

Ambassador Miculescu also has an academic background, as well as an exten-sive experience in public communication. Starting with her PhD in Literature,her academic career as a professor of International Public Relations at twoRomanian universities and as publisher of several books and tens of articlesgoes in parallel with her evolution in diplomacy. In Romania, she is known asone of the best experts in the area of the management of international publicrelations, and developed the first curricula on this topic, which is now used in

several Romanian universities.

Since her appointment in New York, Amb. Miculescu held the positions ofVice-President of the UNICEF Executive Board, Vice-President of the Assemblyof States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court,Member of the Bureau of the Francophonie, and Chair of the Special Politicaland Decolonization Committee of the General Assembly, during its 66th Ses-sion. She currently serves as Vice-President of the UN General Assembly for its68th session.

Gabriela Szabo is a Romanian former track and field athlete winner of thegold medal in the 2000 Summer Olympics in 5000m. She was titled RomaniasBest Woman Athlete for five consecutive years from 1997-2001.Shes currently the Coordinator of the athletes Social Reconversion in part-nership with COSR and ADECCO as well as the Founder and President of theSports of Life campaign. Prior to being appointed the Minister of Youth andSports in March 2014, Gabriela Szabo was the Vice President of the RomanianAthletism Federation (FRA) from 2005-2013. Since 2005, she has been thePresident of the Marketing and Public Relations Committee of the RomanianAthletism Federation (FRA). Gabriela Szabo received her Masters Degree inMotor Anthropology and her Ph.D in Sports and Physical Education at the Na-tional Academy of Physical Education and Sports (ANEFS).


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Ahmad Alhendawi,UN Secretary Generals Envoy on Youth, is a strongyouth advocate at the national, regional and international levels. He was aco-founder for Youth for Democracy Network at the Jordanian Commission forDemocratic Culture, which he headed. Internationally, he is a co-founder ofthe International Youth Council, based in New York. He previously worked asa Team Leader for the World Bank funded programme to the League of ArabStates on Institutional Development to Strengthen Arab Policy and Participa-tion. Prior to this, he served as the Youth Policy Advisor in the League of Arab

States in Cairo and as an officer in the Technical Secretariat of the Arab Youthand Sports Ministers Council.

Yvonne Thomasis a senior manager of global programs within the Citizen-ship and Public Affairs team at Microsoft. In this role, she leads MicrosoftYouthSpark, a global initiative that aims to help 300 million youth gain em-ployment, continue their education and training or start their own business ornonprofit organization by 2015. Previously, Ms. Thomas led Microsoft ElevateAmerica, a set of national programs and partnerships, focused on providingindividuals with the technology skills and resources needed to successfullyprepare for employment in todays economy.Throughout her tenure at Micro-soft, Ms. Thomas has held a variety of roles, all focused on developing andimplementing impactful programs and partnerships for the company. Prior to

joining Microsoft , she worked in the nonprofit sector, with a focus on youth

development.

Panel 1 - Youth Driving Change on Gender InequalityModerator: Beatrice Cord is the current Co-Chair and Program Manager ofthe Annual Youth Assembly at the United Nations, previously serving as anadviser on youth issues for the Permanent Mission of Romania to the UN.With a double degree in international law and public relations, and a MA inDiplomacy and Foreign Affairs, Beatrice has a strong professional backgroundin working both for the private sector in high profile corporations, such asLOreal and Petrom OMV, and for international organizations and foundations.

She is passionate about youth empowerment and social entrepreneurshipas valid solutions for tackling the biggest challenges faced by her genera-

tion- youth unemployment. She served as a facilitator on the theme of fullemployment and entrepreneurship during the World Conference on Youth inColombo, Sri Lanka in May and spoke for the Social Entrepreneurship Confer-ence organized by the European Commission in Crete in June of 2014.

Ravi Karkarais a trained Social Worker with commitment to advancing hu-man rights, gender equality, inclusion and social justice. Ravi has served asthe Global Advisor on Youth + Partnership with United Nations MillenniumCampaign and UN- HABITAT, based in New York. He is the lead author of thegroundbreaking report Youth 21: Building the Architecture of Youth Engage-ment in the UN System, by UN-Habitat, which contributed to the creation ofUnited Nations Secretary Generals Envoy on Youth. Ravi represented UN-HAB-ITAT as the Co-chair of the UN Interagency Network on Youth Development..Ravi has been co-chairing the Policy Strategy Group for World We Want 2015

- a UN & CSO post-2015 data-curation- visualization platform.

Gerardo Porteny Backalis a youth leader and social innovator. He is thefounder and president of the global movement Young Men for Gender Equality,partnering with youth across the world, and inspiring them to join his life jour-ney: Reaching universal gender equality.He is a Serial Non Profiteer having founded 5 NPOs based in Mexico City, thefirst one being Pink Life Against Breast Cancer which he founded when hewas 16 years old. Raising up to date more than $1,150,000 MXN for the fightagainst breast cancer, rallying up more than 3500 youth and kids to raiseawareness about the cause using the Pink Life sweatshirt he created, andorganized multiple social, cultural, academic and sport events highlightingthe two pink marathons. Gerardo in now working as a consultant on globalyouth engagement for UN Women in i ts executive office in NY, designing and

implementing the HeForShe global campaign.


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Speakers- Continued

Oliver Libby,Chair of The Resolution Project, is the Co-Founder and ManagingDirector of Hatzimemos Partners LLC, a strategic advisory firm based in NewYork, focusing on the energy, infrastructure, and life sciences sectors. Oliverwas previously a Vice President at a global management- consulting firm,where he helped manage on the firms private equity and energy practices.In addition to his private sector work, Mr. Libby served as volunteer DeputyDirector of Energy Policy for the Giuliani for President Campaign in 2007-2008.He also chairs the Growth Strategy Group of The Harvard Club of New YorkCity. Mr. Libby graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College, completingsignificant coursework at the graduate and undergraduate levels in govern-ment, with a focus on national security, defense, foreign relations, and publicpolicy.

Jean Paul Laurent,founder of the Unspoken Smiles Foundation after the dev-astating Haitis earthquake. The purpose of the Unspoken Smiles Foundation isto conduct non-partisan research, education, and informational activities thatwill increase public awareness and promote fundamental improvements in theoverall oral health status of at-risk children in underserved countries aroundthe world.

Melissa Michaels, Ed.D. leads movement-based educational experiencesthat help young people cultivate their inner resources and their outer visionsto create sustainable and peaceful communities. Melissa is the founder anddirector of The Surfing The Creative International Youth Leadership Initiative.Melissas work utilizes the expressive arts to establish body and heart as re-sources for living. Golden Bridge, Melissas non-profit organization, has beenengaged in the healing, initiating, educating, and mentoring of hundreds ofdiverse young people and the adults who serve them for three decades. Thestory of this work and the youth moving into positive action around the worldwill soon be released in Melissas forthcoming book, Youth On Fire.

As a Fielding University Fellow, she is currently bringing SomaSource, thisbody of work she has developed, to numerous diverse communities in Africa,Asia, North America, and the Middle East.

Afternoon Session

Eliane Sussmanis the Director of Operations for the Global Sustainable De-velopment Foundation. She is also the Director of Operations of the NY GlobalLeaders Dialogue a non-profit that brings together leaders from around theworld to meet as equals, exchange ideas in an environment of mutual respectto foster international dialogue.

Eliane is an alumnus of the Youth Assembly herself. She is the Global UNrepresentative of AIESEC International. Her work for AIESEC includes thedevelopment of the consultative status of the NGO at the UN Economic andSocial Council (ECOSOC). For the past 6 years, she has been the Director ofOperations at JAS Productions; a New York based video production company.She has a Bachelor in International Communication from the Hanze UniversityGroningen and a Masters in International Relations from the Freie UniversityBerlin. Eliane lives in New York.


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Sergio Fernndez de Crdova is an internationally recognized entrepreneur,investor & philanthropist working at the intersection of media + policy,leveraging public private partnerships for social impact. He is Chairman &Co-Founder of PVBLIC Foundation; an organization focused on using media todrive impact & change in the world. Sergio is also the Co-Founder of P3 GlobalManagement; a smart infrastructure + public private partnership managementcompany sparking positive social, environmental, and economic vitality in theurban landscape. He was recently named by Dell as one of its #Inspired 100leading global influencers in entrepreneurship; using technology to empower

and inspire others. He also sits on the board of or advisor to: UN-ECE, UN-Foundation, Dell, SBA, NYGLD, GSDF, WireLawyer, Availor & NGEL.

Panel 2- GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS FORUM: INNOVATIONAND PARTNERSHIPSModerator: Amir Dossal is Chairman of Global Partnerships Forum, an inter-national platform working to address economic and social challenges, whichhe established in October 2010. He is also the co-founder of the Pearl Initi-ative, a CEO-led program, promoting transparency and accountability in theMiddle East. In 2013, he was appointed Co-Chair of the Sustainable OceansAlliance, a global initiative to include healthy oceans in the UN SustainableDevelopment Goals.

Amir is also Commissioner of the Broadband Commission for Digital Develop-

ment and Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the InternationalTelecommunication Union for Global Partnerships. In October 2010, Amirreceived the Humanitarian Award from the UN Association of New York, forhis accomplishments in Partnerships to End Poverty and World Hunger. In De-cember 2010, His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco appointed himAmbassador for Peace and Sport.

Dragos Preda, Trans-disciplinary spirit, initiator and co-organizer of manysocial, cultural and educational projects, pro-actively involved in the civilsociety and public-private environment in ROMANIA, Drago PREDA builds andsupports initiatives of impact, looking to develop inter-generational transferof knowledge, encouraging the talents of the new generation.Among hisbest known projects include the Romanian Forum of Education, the Classic

is Fantastic Gala, Romanian book library in Turin, Scandinavian symphony ofRomanian inspiration, Bucharest vs Paris painting exhibition, etc.

Concurrently, he co-organized numerous conferences focused on Romaniasrole both at regional and international level as founder of Romanian Club ofForeign Relations, Diplomacy and European Affairs (CRREDAE), as well as ofthe Club for Romania. DP stays very much attached to the project / the or-ganization close to his hearth (with which all began): the League of RomanianStudents Abroad (LSRS).

Closing Keynote AddressAllison Wu is a nineteen-year-old social innovation leader. She has led andadvised numerous initiatives, including Minga, a nonprofit harnessing thepower of teens to fight the U.S. child sex trade, and the Campaign for a Presi-

dential Youth Council, where she successfully secured bipartisan sponsorshipof a congressional resolution to increase youth engagement in government.She was also involved in starting the student voice movement that has spreadglobally, bringing students into education reform policy discussions throughplatforms like Student Voice and Dell-organized social think tanks. Her workand leadership have been recognized by organizations and outlets includingForbes, the Harvard Institute of Politics, and the United Nations. Most recent-ly, she worked at Ashoka, the worlds leading social entrepreneurship organi-zation, and at the Center for Talent Innovation & Hewlett Consulting Partners,a think tank and advisory practice focused on diversity and talent strategy.


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Day 2: SPEAKERS

Sam Sussmanis the co-founder of Extend, a non-profit organization whichbrings together American Jews, Palestinians and Israelis for constructive con-versation. Previously, he worked at the U.S. Senate, New York State Senate,and as Social Media Director for Students for Obama PA. He is an M.Phil candi-date in International Relations at Oxford.

Shani Perezis the director of Kids Creating Peace (KCP), an NGO devoted toworking with Palestinian and Israeli youth on a unique program of joint studiesand work. Inspired by founder Karen Bergs mission, Shani is leading KCPsCross Boarder Peace Youth Program with an holistic approach combined withcontemporary educational and conflict mitigation methods all orientedtowards accepting and respecting the other out of a sense of self-worth andself-respect. She is also founder of the Nitzan Women Theater; dedicated toempowering women evacuated in 2005 from the Gush Katif settlements in theGaza Strip.

PANEL 1: UN FOUNDATION AND +SOCIALGODModerator: Asif Khan works on and co-manages several partnerships andprojects with both companies and NGOs he concentrates on cross-cutting

partnerships and also big data, women, girls & reproductive health and popu-lation. Asif is also an active member of the UN Foundations Youth Task Forceworking on involving boys in female empowerment, and does various youthrelated outreach in New York and Washington. Prior to joining the New Yorkoffice Asif was the Global Coordinator for the Mobile Alliance for Maternal Ac-tion (MAMA) at the UN Foundation offices in Washington D.C. from 2012-13. Heworked in operations and partnerships at Earth Day Network where he helpedplan and organize the Climate Action Gala, Earth Day 2012 and Rio+20.

Melissa Hillebrenneris Director of Girl Up - an innovative campaign of theUnited Nations Foundation that works to build a youth constituency dedicatedto improving the lives of the worlds hardest-to-reach girls. The campaignmobilizes teen girls to raise funds and awareness for United Nations programsthat serve adolescent girls in developing countries. Before joining the UNFoundation, Melissa was a National Director for OP3, where she helped tomanage the nine-city multi-day Avon Walk for Breast Cancer series, whichraised $45 million each season. She oversaw national staff and remote fieldteams, and introduced a program called the Youth Crew, which targets youthages 10-16 to participate in the walk and raise money for the Avon Foundation.

Liz Wing is currently the Senior Grassroots Director at the United NationsFoundation, where she leads her team on grassroots organizing strategies.She works for Nothing But Nets, a global grassroots campaign to raise aware-ness and funding to fight malaria, a leading cause of death among childrenin Africa. Liz builds programs that will inspire more American families to getinvolved with Nothing But Nets. In her year and a half at the campaign, shehas helped launch engagement programs like Donate Your Birthday, Sports

for Nets, and Create for Nets. Prior to that, she was the Executive Director ofNo Limits Foundation, a non-partisan, issues-based organization that enabledmembers to stay informed and active on a range of domestic and internationalpolicy issues through information, education, and advocacy.

Tillmann Heidelk is the co-founder and President of Young European Lead-ership, an international nonprofit and nonpartisan organization dedicatedto empowering young leaders and future decision makers from Europe andbeyond. Mr. Heidelk currently serves as a consultant at the World Bank wherehe focuses on quantitative analyses of the education sectors and educationalattainment in non-OECD countries. Mr. Heidelk is the co-founder and DeputyChairman of The International Diplomatic Engagement Association (The IDEA),leading 20 international nonprofits/NGOs that recruit and train delegations


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Wayne Barrett is a New York Native originally from Jamaica. The 62, 187pound athlete is the #3 Ranked Middleweight in the Glory World Series offighting. Wayne was introduced to the Martial Arts world at the age of 10 andnever looked back. Wayne has fought on CBS Sports and Spike TV againstsome of the best fighters in the world. Barrett says, I fight because I want totest who I am on the inside and how much I can endure and still move forwardin the ring and in life. Fighting helps me to inspire myself and those aroundme by showing others you can be great at anything that you do despite whatothers may say.

Patrick Jacobsen is a 20-year-old professional motorcycle racer from Mont-gomery, in the northern part of Americas New York State. PJ is ranked asthe 7th best motorcycle racer in the world. With his current team, the CzechRepublics Intermoto Ponyexpres, he has had the great fortune to travel toIndonesia, Italy, Ireland, England, Portugal, Dubai, and Holland to spread hiscommitment to self-improvement and the love of his sport. These achieve-ments paved the way for PJ to have two successful years racing in the BritishSuperBike championship with the UKs Tyco Suzuki, before coming to theCzech Republic with Intermoto Ponyexpres. PJ Jacobsen is truly an impressiveyoung man who already has a proud history of hard work and achievementunder his belt, and who has a very bright future as a professional motorcycleracer and business person in the years ahead.

Sarah Cahill has been a Strength and Conditioning Coach for the U.S. Wom-ens National Team since August of 2012 and currently trains the team on adaily basis in Woburn, Mass. Additionally, Cahill has served as a strength andconditioning coach at Northeastern University, after having spent two years asthe head performance specialist at Core Performance Center. The Core Perfor-mance Center is a branch of Athletes Performance in Santa Monica, Calif.

Prior to her post at Core Performance, Cahill was the strength and condition-ing coach for the womens softball, volleyball, soccer and mens and womenstennis teams at the University of Oklahoma. During her first year at OU, thevolleyball team flipped its record from 3-18 to 20-3, resulting in the biggestturnaround in Big 12 history. Cahill also guided the top-ranked softball team toa Big 12 championship in 2006.

AFTERNOON SESSIONApril Cuenca,founder of FlipTrip, was recently awarded as one of the tenwinners of the tech-based start-up competition, Ideaspace 2014 Competition,Filipina start-up. FlipTrip is an all-in-one online travel booking platform forunique and less travelled destinations in the Philippines. FlipTrip provides us-ers access to comprehensive information and booking capabilities for all theirtravel needs. Having worked in the tourism industry for the past three yearsafter taking up BS Tourism at the Asian Institute of Tourism at the Universityof the Philippines, April has worked a variety of positions including tour oper-ations consultancy, tour guiding, travel planning consultancy, marketing andsales, and travel show logistics management.

PANEL 3 - TRAVEL AND +SOCIALGOOD PRESENTS: WHEN TRAVELMAKES GOOD - A CONVERSATION WITH AGENTS OF CHANGE

Moderator: Gilad Goren -Born to a family of travel professionals, Gilad hadearned his wings in the tourism industry by early teenage years, fomenting apassion for travel and entrepreneurship that remains strong to this day. WithOnly Six Degrees, the aim is to transform any vacation or adventure abroadinto an act of social good. Gilad is also the founder and executive director ofTravel+SocialGood, the first conference and community to explore the nexusof travel, tech and social good. Through business and thought leadership, hehopes to push Travel, the worlds largest industry to meet its immense poten-tial as a dominant force for positive social impact. Hes spoken on the subjectof travel and impact in several conferences, and currently sits on the board ofthe African Travel Association.


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Andrew Horn is a social entrepreneur based in Brooklyn, NY. He started achildrens non-profit called Dreams for Kids DC, in 2009 that helped youngpeople with disabilities unite with their peers and play sports. Dreams for KidsDC is now one of the premiere adaptive athletic providers in Washington, D.C.In 2011, he stepped down to start another non-profit venture called AbilityList,which is known as Craigslist for People with Disabilit ies. In 2012, he workedwith best-selling author, Sam Horn, to start The Intrigue Agency, a full servicebranding/communications firm with offices in NYC and Washington, D.C. andalso launched the NYC office of Birmingham based Telegraph Branding. In

2014, he launched a for-profit technology company called TRIBUTE. The com-pany helps people create meaningful video montages for the people they careabout on special occasions.

Kate Ottois a global health consultant who has worked in Indonesia, Ethi-opia, Ghana, Tanzania, South Africa, Mozambique and Haiti leading healthinnovation initiatives for The World Bank, USAID, and various grassroots or-ganizations. She has designed, deployed, and researched mobile phone-basedtechnologies to improve health service delivery in areas of HIV/AIDS care, sub-stance use disorder, maternal and child health and nutrition. Kate is also theauthor of Everyday Ambassador: Creating Connections that Last in a DigitallyDistracted World, a 21st-century guide to positive, thoughtful social change,recently acquired by a division of Simon & Schuster. Shes a frequent publicspeaker and media writer, including a TEDx talk in 2012 and writing for The

Huffington Post, Christian Science Monitor and on the website she founded in2012, www.EverydayAmbassador.org.

Steve Larosiliere is the Founder and President of STOKED, a youth develop-ment agency with offices in New York and Los Angeles that uses a combinationof action sports (snowboarding, skateboarding, and surfing), mentoring, andafter- school programs to empower teens to be successful leaders in theircommunity. STOKED has worked with over 3500 youth since 2005. ThroughSTOKED, Steves work has appeared in the New Yorker Magazine, ESPN, Huff-ington Post, Oprah Magazine, NY Times, Nylon Magazine, Bloomberg, WallStreet Journal, and Transworld Business. STOKED was voted to the charity ofthe Week by Time Out NY and was voted to the NY 100 (100 most innovativebusinesses in NY). In 2010 Steve was honored as a Hometown Hero in NewYork and given the Mentoring Award for his work with New York City youth.

Taylor Conroyis the founder of Change Heroes - a social enterprise that has fund-

ed over 60 schoolhouses and libraries in 9 countries all over the world. He gave a

keynote address at Harvards Social Enterprise Conference, has a well known TEDx

talk called How to build a school in 3 hours, and recently addressed delegates

from around the globe at the United Nations in New York. He will be telling Do

Gooders about how his obsession with human behaviour has resulted in Change

Heroes impacting 60,000 children in developing countries, and how he plans to

impact 1 million more by the end of 2014.

SPEAKERS - CONTINUEDRob Petty is the Founder and CEO of SPORTS195, The Global Sports Network,

which provides fans, athletes, and organizations around the world with asingle destination for all sports content. The SPORTS195 platform aggregatesall pictures, videos and news articles from leagues, teams, clubs, schools,venues, and athletes, both professional and amateur, and provides sportsfans one destination for all their sports needs. The platform also empowersathletes at all levels with the ability to connect, share, and showcase theirathletic achievements. Organizations partnered with SPORTS195 are given thetools to connect directly with their community, allowing users to interact on asocial level.


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Jessica Matthews,as the Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer of UnchartedPlay, Inc., drives the creative vision of an award-winning social enterprise witha mission to foster wellbeing by inspiring people to lead playful lives. Jessicais a recipient of the Millennium Challenge Corporation Next Generation Award(2013), was named as one of Black Enterprises 40 Under 40 Next Generationof Women in Power (2012), Scientist of the Year by the Harvard Foundation(2012), one of the 10 Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs by Fortune(2011), and Next Generation Breakthrough Innovator by Popular Mechanics(2010). Working with governments in the U.S. and internationally, Jessica was

invited by President Barack Obama to the White House to represent smallcompanies for the signing of the America Invents Act in 2012, and currentlyserves as an Ambassador of Entrepreneurship for Nigeria. Jessicas researchand career centers around disruptive technology, consumer behavior, andsocial psychology. A dual citizen of Nigeria & the U.S., Jessica has a degree inPsychology and Economics from Harvard University, and an MBA from HarvardBusiness School.

Day 3: SpeakersJake Schwartzis CEO of General Assembly, which is pioneering a new kind of

education for a global community of entrepreneurs and professionals. Under his

leadership, General Assembly has scaled to nine cities in three years, and has

helped more than 100,000 students create opportunities and pursue work they

love through educational programming in technology, business and design. Priorto founding General Assembly, Jake worked for Associated Partners, a multi-

stage private equity firm focused on telecommunications, media and technology

co-funded by Liberty Media and Goldman Sachs. Jake has been named as one

of Fast Companys Most Creative People in Business and listed on Vanity Fairs

The Next Establishment and Business Insiders Silicon Alley 100. Jake holds a

bachelors degree in American studies from Yale University and earned an M.B.A.

with Honors from The Wharton School.

Ashley Alenick attends Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. She graduated from

New York University College of Arts and Science in May 2013 (Honors Scholar),

having completed her Bachelors degree in three years. At NYU, Ashley was select-

ed to be a Liberal Studies Ambassador and Welcome Week Leader.Over the past

two years, Ashley has been working with her family to grow Donate-A- Toothbrush.The distribution of nearly 107,000 toothbrushes to individuals in underprivileged

nations has had the direct effect of decreasing each recipients risk for serious

dental disease. Ashley hopes to pursue a career as an entertainment lawyer and

to continue her work with Donate-A-Toothbrush.

Paige Alenickis a sophomore at New York University where she was selectedas a Liberal Studies Ambassador and a Welcome Week Leader. Paige foundedDonate A Toothbrush in February 2011. She is proud to have been able tocollect and distribute nearly 107,000 toothbrushes to needy children andadults worldwide. She is a 2014 Diller Teen Award Recipient, a 2013 PrudentialCommunity Service Award Distinguished Finalist and a recipient of a 2013 Jef-ferson Award for Public Service. At New York University, Paige enjoys singing

in the Womens Choir. She plans on continuing and expanding her work withDonate-A-Toothbrush in college and beyond.

Panel - Continuing the Youth Conversation from Past,Present, and Future Conferences

Moderator: Prateek Awasthi works at the United Nations Population Fund(UNFPA) as a Technical Analyst promoting the priorities and participation ofyoung people in policy making and programming. He was the co-chair of theInter-Agency Network on Youth Development, led the development of the UNSystem Wide Action Plan on Youth and recently has been working closely withthe Secretary-Generals Envoy on Youth to build consensus on incorporatingyouth-focused targets in the post-2015 agenda. He studied law from the Uni-versity of Pune, India, and lives in Harlem.


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Jeffery Huffinesjoined CIVICUS in April 2009 to serve as Main Representativeat United Nations Headquarters in New York. Based in Johannesburg, SouthAfrica, CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, is an internationalalliance working with organizations and individuals in over 100 countries tostrengthen citizen action and civil society throughout the world.In January 2014 Mr. Huffines was appointed as Chair of the 65th Annual UNDPI/NGO Conference on the theme 2015 and Beyond: Our Action Agenda, totake place at UN HQ (NY), 27-29 August 2014. Mr. Huffines has served as UNDESA NGO Major Group Organizing Partner since 2011 responsible for guiding

multi-stakeholder engagement of NGOs in sustainable development activitiesat the UN. He also serves on the UN Post 2015 Strategic Outreach PlanningGroup and Beyond 2015/GCAP UN Working Group in New York and representsCIVICUS on the CSO Partnership for Development Effectiveness (CPDE) Work-ing Group on Post-2015.

Natalia Saavedrajoined Fundacion Amistad, a not-for-profit organization thataims to improve the relations between Cuba and the United States throughcultural initiatives, after graduating with a BA in International Studies from theCity College of New York (CCNY). With her special interest in International Re-lations and Development, Natalia became a youth representative to the Unit-ed Nations for Peace Action International, a non-governmental organizationwhose mission is to abolish war as a method of solving conflicts. While in thisposition, Natalia co-chaired the Intergenerational Committee for the planning

of the United Nations Department of Public Information Non-GovernmentalOrganization (UN DPI NGO) conference that took place in Bonn, Germany andfocused on sustainable development. This year, Natalia is co-chairing theYouth Subcommittee for the planning of the 65th UN DPI NGO conference thatwill focus on the post 2015 agenda.

Christopher Dekki is a full time activist concentrating on political advocacyat the United Nations. He is the Coordinator of the UN Advocacy Team for theInternational Movement of Catholic Students, as well as the UN Liaison forthe International Coordination Meeting of Youth Organizations (ICMYO), a net-work of the worlds oldest and largest youth led movements. He is currentlyinvolved, with other members of the youth constituency, in advocacy effortssurrounding the post-2015 sustainable development agenda. With a graduatedegree in international relations as well as a law degree, Chris is involved in

grassroots outreach dedicated to human rights and education advocacy foryoung people in New York City and throughout the world. Recently he helpedplan the 2014 World Conference on Youth in Sri Lanka both as an electedmember of the International Youth Task Force and a full time consultant basedin Sri Lanka.

Pablo Angulo-Troconisis a youth advocate from Venezuela. He is the YouthProgram Associate at the World Federation of United Nations Associations(WFUNA) in New York. In his current capacity, he is in charge of coordinatingthe WFUNA Youth Network, a global network of United Nations Youth Associa-tions, United Nations Associations Youth Sections and United Nations Associ-ations Youth Programs. He is also in charge of developing youth projects thatprovide training to youth around the world based on the values on which theUN was founded. He was Assistant Coordinator of RtoP at the United NationsAssociation of Venezuela. Prior to that, he was the Activities Coordinator ofthe Youth Program of the United Nations Association of Venezuela, which heco-founded.

Chernor Bah, a youth advocate and former refugee. He is the youth represent-ative on the High Level Steering Committee for GEFI and Chair of the YouthAdvocacy Group. Chernor founded and led the Childrens Forum Network, Si-erra Leones children parliament. He holds a Masters degree in Peace Studiesfrom the University of Notre Dame and a Bachelors degree from the Universityof Sierra Leone.

2014 summer youth assembly at the un_bios

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