The International Youth to Youth Summit’s Team is delighted to announce that we have secured a number of prominent speakers coming from different industries to make sure that our event explores as many angles of the topic as possible.
Keynote Speakers
Markus Kressler
Markus Kressler is the Co-Founder of Kiron Open Higher Education, a blended-learning education institute for refugees. Prior to this, he built the first digital German volunteer platform Alltagsheld.org. During his studies in psychology at the university of Mannheim, he concentrated on social-entrepreneurial issues, as well as digital approaches in the field of migration. Markus Kressler worked in strategic consultancy and created a project for under-aged homeless people. The psychosocial counseling for refugees brought him to found Kiron in 2015 together with Vincent Zimmer. At Kiron he is mainly leading the departments of social innovations and communications.
Alexandra Pascalidou
Alexandra Pascalidou emigrated from Greece to Sweden when she was six years old. She grew up in Rinkeby, one of the poorest and most segregated suburbs in Sweden, the first ever area in Sweden media named as a ghetto.
An award winning writer, journalist, TV-and radio hostess, producer and a human rights activist Alexandra Pascalidou has been working in both her home countries Greece and Sweden with documentaries, political debates, morning- and Christmas shows but also as a hostess for the Eurovision, the Olympic Games and different weekly TV-shows. She gives lectures and speeches on democracy and diversity, pluralism and equality. In November 2016 she was the key note speaker on Free Speech and Hate Speech at the EU-Commission.
She is also a good will ambassador for among other organizations – Mentor and Femdefenders- fighting for women’s rights on an international level.
She has received numerous awards for her work. Among others European of the Year 2015 Award.
Alexandra is currently producing and hosting political debates and talk shows in Swedish National Radio. Her political expertise makes her a returning face on Swedish National TV as an expert and commentator. Alexandra has published six books as well as edited and contributed to several anthologies, some of which have been critically acclaimed as bestsellers and have received numerous awards in Scandinavia. Her last book, soon to be launched internationally, “Chaos- a Greek dictionary of the Crisis,” has been praised among critics and described as “truly genius – a must read for all Europeans”.
An award winning writer, journalist, TV-and radio hostess, producer and a human rights activist Alexandra Pascalidou has been working in both her home countries Greece and Sweden with documentaries, political debates, morning- and Christmas shows but also as a hostess for the Eurovision, the Olympic Games and different weekly TV-shows. She gives lectures and speeches on democracy and diversity, pluralism and equality. In November 2016 she was the key note speaker on Free Speech and Hate Speech at the EU-Commission.
She is also a good will ambassador for among other organizations – Mentor and Femdefenders- fighting for women’s rights on an international level.
She has received numerous awards for her work. Among others European of the Year 2015 Award.
Alexandra is currently producing and hosting political debates and talk shows in Swedish National Radio. Her political expertise makes her a returning face on Swedish National TV as an expert and commentator. Alexandra has published six books as well as edited and contributed to several anthologies, some of which have been critically acclaimed as bestsellers and have received numerous awards in Scandinavia. Her last book, soon to be launched internationally, “Chaos- a Greek dictionary of the Crisis,” has been praised among critics and described as “truly genius – a must read for all Europeans”.
Jeremy Lamri
Jeremy is a French entrepreneur born in 1983. He holds a BSc from Oxford University and a MSc from HEC Paris School of Management. After 3 years spent as an industrial performance engineer for a european leading construction company, he worked as a consultant in social and environmental issues, and as a financial analyst for a cleantech private equity fund in Luxembourg, helping companies with their strategic and operational issues. Besides his professional path, Jeremy is a confirmed rugby player, and he has been a reserve officer in the French Navy for several years. From 2010 to 2013 he led a French NGO focusing on sustainability awareness and international relations. In 2011 he represented the French Minister of Environment during the G20 Youth Summit in Paris. In 2012 he participated in the Rio+20 Earth Summit as a negotiator for France, and as a member of the UN Major Group for Youth and Children. In 2013 he cofounded Monkey tie, the first online recruitment website based on personality and corporate culture assessment to match candidates and recruiters. In October 2013, during the One Young World Summit in Johannesburg, he was a speaker about youth unemployment.
Hai Ho
Hai Ho is the Founder of Triip.me, a global travel platform that has expanded to 98 countries, 615 cities, and helped over 20,000 people, featured on The Wall Street Journal, CNN, Forbes, TheNextWeb. He has also Co-Founded SHIELD Academy – Vietnam first and only pre-incubator startup education program.
Hai is a world-class public speaker with abundant experiences at global travel conferences, including JATA Tourism EXPO 2015 and PATA Adventure Travel & Responsible Tourism Conference & Mart 2015. He is also a winner of the best speech prizes for World Travel Forum Lucerne 2015, APEC O2O Competition 2016, Vietnam Mobile Day 2015
Hai is a world-class public speaker with abundant experiences at global travel conferences, including JATA Tourism EXPO 2015 and PATA Adventure Travel & Responsible Tourism Conference & Mart 2015. He is also a winner of the best speech prizes for World Travel Forum Lucerne 2015, APEC O2O Competition 2016, Vietnam Mobile Day 2015
Saad Hamid
Saad Hamid is a technology entrepreneur and digital ecosystem builder. He is the founder of School of Skills which is a future school that aims to teach skills of the future to youth in emerging economies such as technology, storytelling, creativity, innovation, design thinking, emotional intelligence, soft skills, social consciousness, entrepreneurship etc. Until recently, Saad was associated with Invest2Innovate as their Country Lead in Innovation which helped young entrepreneurs accelerate through success and connect with opportunities and investment.
Saad has worked with TED, WEF, IDEO, UNICEF, UNDP, Upwork, Google, World Bank, UKAid, Telenor and Mobilink on various projects related to digital empowerment and community building and is currently playing a key role in running the Chief Minister’s e-rozgaar program in Punjab and Youth Employment program in KP.
Saad is a TED-Ed Innovator and an Acumen Fellow. He also runs the Google Developers Community in Islamabad as Pakistan’s first and only Google Developer Expert and serves as as an active mentor to the startups at Plan9 Tech Incubator, WeCreate, Nest I/O, Invest2Innovate and Startup Weekend Islamabad. Saad is an alumni of Telenor Youth Forum and is active member of the TEDx community where he serves as Senior TEDx Ambassador to the region as licensee and curator of TEDxIslamabad and has also been awarded the Bill & Melinda Gates Fellowship for TEDxChange. He is a part of the Advisory Council for Global Shapers Community by World Economic Forum and serves as an advisor to Pakistan’s top startup in telehealth – DoctHers.
Saad has worked with TED, WEF, IDEO, UNICEF, UNDP, Upwork, Google, World Bank, UKAid, Telenor and Mobilink on various projects related to digital empowerment and community building and is currently playing a key role in running the Chief Minister’s e-rozgaar program in Punjab and Youth Employment program in KP.
Saad is a TED-Ed Innovator and an Acumen Fellow. He also runs the Google Developers Community in Islamabad as Pakistan’s first and only Google Developer Expert and serves as as an active mentor to the startups at Plan9 Tech Incubator, WeCreate, Nest I/O, Invest2Innovate and Startup Weekend Islamabad. Saad is an alumni of Telenor Youth Forum and is active member of the TEDx community where he serves as Senior TEDx Ambassador to the region as licensee and curator of TEDxIslamabad and has also been awarded the Bill & Melinda Gates Fellowship for TEDxChange. He is a part of the Advisory Council for Global Shapers Community by World Economic Forum and serves as an advisor to Pakistan’s top startup in telehealth – DoctHers.
Dr. Neva
Dr. Neva Helena Alexander prefers to be called Dr. Neva. It is a name that she adopted in Saudi Arabia where it is customary in their culture to be called by one’s first name Beyond academia, she has a global entrepreneurial spirit. Dr. Neva is the Founder of the NEVA Alliance Training Co., a company based in New York, which offers training, development and business consultancy globally. She is also the Owner of National Educational Venture Alliance (NEVA) which helps to support international students to study in the USA through sponsorship.
Dr Neva’s is known as a Global Business Development Consultant. She connects the business world with entrepreneurs, corporates, business persons. She builds bridges between the two. This mainly involves assisting in the whole process of setting up businesses and educational institutions in Africa and the Middle East. Passionate about Entrepreneurship, she goes the mile to assist entrepreneurs in developing and diversifying
Dr Neva’s is known as a Global Business Development Consultant. She connects the business world with entrepreneurs, corporates, business persons. She builds bridges between the two. This mainly involves assisting in the whole process of setting up businesses and educational institutions in Africa and the Middle East. Passionate about Entrepreneurship, she goes the mile to assist entrepreneurs in developing and diversifying
Linzi J Kemp
Linzi J Kemp PhD., Manchester Metropolitan University; M.B.A., Brunel University; BEd. (Business), University of Huddersfield; Higher Diploma in Marketing, Chartered Institute of Marketing; Higher National Certificate (Business), British Technical Education Council. Member of the British Academy of Management.Linzi is an Associate Professor with the American University of Sharjah, teaching Women in Leadership, Leadership and Organizational Behavior to graduate and undergraduate students. Her research focuses on women in employment and leadership in the United Arab Emirates, and wider Middle East region. Previous experience has been in management, training, and lecturing Prior to the AUS, she spent five years with the State University of New York as Chair of a marketing and organizational behavior program, and was responsible for the professional development of part time employees. In the UAE, Linzi taught business; was a Professional Development Coordinator; and was a trainer for the Institute of Leadership & Management (UK), training college faculty and administrators, and managers of an international hotel chain.
Speakers
Siddharth Hande
Siddharth Hande is a spatial data analyst by training. He is
interested in social entrepreneurship, technology, the environment and
urban planning in the developing world. He is the founder of
Kabadiwalla Connect, an award winning social enterprise that uses IT
to leverage the circuits of the informal waste ecosystem in Chennai
(India), to ensure less recyclable waste is sent to the landfill.
interested in social entrepreneurship, technology, the environment and
urban planning in the developing world. He is the founder of
Kabadiwalla Connect, an award winning social enterprise that uses IT
to leverage the circuits of the informal waste ecosystem in Chennai
(India), to ensure less recyclable waste is sent to the landfill.
Deepak Ramola
Deepak Ramola is the Founder & Artistic Director of Project FUEL. An organisation that collects life lessons from people of all ages and backgrounds around the world and designs them into interactive activities and workshops.
Deepak started Project FUEL at the age of 17 and has been teaching age groups 4-96 for past 7 years. From victims of human trafficking in Nepal to middle school children in Afghanistan to refugees in Europe, Deepak has been able to benefit more than 60,000 people all over the world. Project FUEL has also been featured as an educational innovation in the database of “Center for Education Innovations”.
Deepak, is a United Nations speaker, two times TEDx speaker, an educator, a writer, actor, lyricist and a gold medalist in Mass Media studies from the University of Mumbai. As a lyricist, Deepak has written songs for films like ‘Manjhi, The Mountain Man’, ‘Time Out’, ‘Dear Dad’ and ‘Wazir’. He recently featured in the fifth season of the hit show “The Dewarists”.
Deepak started Project FUEL at the age of 17 and has been teaching age groups 4-96 for past 7 years. From victims of human trafficking in Nepal to middle school children in Afghanistan to refugees in Europe, Deepak has been able to benefit more than 60,000 people all over the world. Project FUEL has also been featured as an educational innovation in the database of “Center for Education Innovations”.
Deepak, is a United Nations speaker, two times TEDx speaker, an educator, a writer, actor, lyricist and a gold medalist in Mass Media studies from the University of Mumbai. As a lyricist, Deepak has written songs for films like ‘Manjhi, The Mountain Man’, ‘Time Out’, ‘Dear Dad’ and ‘Wazir’. He recently featured in the fifth season of the hit show “The Dewarists”.
Sofana Dahlan
Sofana Dahlan is an accomplished lawyer and social entrepreneur who holds the prized distinction of being among the initial ten females lawyers to have been granted the permit to practice law in the Saudi Arabia.
She is the founder of Tashkeil – a Saudi-based social enterprise that incubates, accelerates and promotes creative entrepreneurs and Kayan Space and Studios – a membership based environment for creative professionals, entrepreneurs and freelancers.
Most recently, she has been appointed as the Vice Governor for Entrepreneurship Advancement at the Small and Medium Enterprises Authority of Saudi Arabia, making her the first Saudi female senior economic policy-maker.
She is the founder of Tashkeil – a Saudi-based social enterprise that incubates, accelerates and promotes creative entrepreneurs and Kayan Space and Studios – a membership based environment for creative professionals, entrepreneurs and freelancers.
Most recently, she has been appointed as the Vice Governor for Entrepreneurship Advancement at the Small and Medium Enterprises Authority of Saudi Arabia, making her the first Saudi female senior economic policy-maker.
Simona Andrijauskaite
Simona Andrijauskaite is a Co-Founder of www.interactio.io – disruptive mobile system that replaces simultaneous translation equipment in live events. Interactio was recently nominated by the World Summit Awards, initiated by the United Nations, in the category of business and commerce. Interactio was also selected among top 10 technology at IBTM World, initiated by Reed Exhibitions and currently operates in Europe and USA.
Simona is a frequent speaker in start-up scene and women empowering events.
Simona is a frequent speaker in start-up scene and women empowering events.
Asad U. Khan
Asad Khan is a commercial finance specialist by training. Starting as an entrepreneur, he has worked for world leading banks, Bank of America and Standard Chartered Bank, and institutions of higher education, Carleton University and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, gaining experience that spans over 17 years. He has an MBA complimented by professional training at Wharton and Harvard Business School focusing on strategic finance, investment management and commercial ventures.
Asad has been involved in diverse projects ranging from venture capital funds to financial and commercial planning of a research and technology park. He regularly advises startups and technology transfer offices on financial matters.
Asad is passionate about democracy and social equality and has been actively involved in parliamentary politics in Canada since 1999. He has worked on three provincial and two federal electoral campaigns with focus on increasing the voter awareness and participation of immigrants and minorities in the democratic process.
Asad has been involved in diverse projects ranging from venture capital funds to financial and commercial planning of a research and technology park. He regularly advises startups and technology transfer offices on financial matters.
Asad is passionate about democracy and social equality and has been actively involved in parliamentary politics in Canada since 1999. He has worked on three provincial and two federal electoral campaigns with focus on increasing the voter awareness and participation of immigrants and minorities in the democratic process.
Mahmood Adel
Mahmood’s a young Bahraini, who’s an ambitious, self-driven change agent. He engages with real-world issue’s, develops youth & empowers them towards becoming the next generation of leaders. Having worked with various NGOs, mainly in the area’s of leadership & community development, youth empowerment & CSR projects, he headed various programs that helped mobilize & engage over 500 young students and graduates in various social and professional internships globally. He constantly tries to find innovative ways to improve & build his society to a better. Currently, he leads a youth movement as the President/CEO of the UAE’s chapter of the world’s largest youth-run organization, AIESEC, with a mission of igniting the youth leadership movement in the UAE.
Workshop Moderators
Karolina Mazetyte
Karolina is a meditation and mindfulness teacher, the Co-founder of oInternational Youth to Youth Initiative which empowers youth to develop their ideas. She founded Malmo Meditation where she is looking at the well-being at work. Together with the knowledge from the Master in Leadership for Sustainability which she is finishing in 2017, she wants to consult business and public sector in creating a well-being strategy at work which would incorporate mindfulness, happiness, sustainability elements.
Manu Sharma
Engineer by training, technology entrepreneur by choice, and community activist at heart. Manu has spent the last 15 years of his life building unique technology solutions, encouraging young entrepreneurs, supporting community betterment initiatives, facilitating innovation relationships, championing social causes and developing niche talent advancement programs. He is committed to catalyzing talent relationships that can help create a common purpose and sense of belonging while creating a shared understanding and excitement for social change. He has a strong strategic interest in creating opportunities to empower individuals, organizations and communities to connect, communicate, collaborate and co-create.
Maria Habanikova
Maria is a global governance enthusiast, dedicated community organizer, and passionate storyteller. She holds a Bachelor of Social Sciences in International Studies and a Master of Arts in Public and International Affairs from the University of Ottawa. She is an avid traveler and speaks five languages (English, French, Spanish, Slovak, Czech) fluently. Maria has worked in a diversity of positions in the government, non-profit and private sector in Canada and Europe. At the previous Y2Y Summit in Krakow, Maria delivered a series of workshops about meaningful ways of engaging youth in civic life. Good governance and anti-corruption are her primary areas of interest and expertise. At this year’s Y2Y Summit in Dubai, Maria will be delivering an interactive session focused on leveraging ICTs in good governance practices and on improving governance frameworks in different contexts (public, private, corporate, community, etc).
Eglė Vinauskaitė
Egle is a learning designer who creates digital learning products for Fortune 250 companies. She has a degree in Human Development and Psychology from Harvard University where she focused on informal education, adolescent and adult development, and behavioural science. Her academic and professional interests also span inclusive education, development of transferable skills, and using digital tools to increase learning uptake and engagement.
Naseem Khan Achakzai
Naseem is a social development specialist and activist fromBalochistan. He holds a Masters degree in Public administration & isAlso Commonwealth scholar for MSc Poverty Reduction at SOAS,University of London. He is also the founder of a Youth led Non Profit Organization. Naseem has represented Pakistan in the 6th World Youth Congress in Rio & has served as the Director of the 2nd South Asian Youth Conference held in Islamabad, Pakistan. Through the Conference he brought 120 future leaders of South Asia under one Roof to discuss the role of youth and take action for the development Of the region. He has served as the Director operations of CDRS a 501c (3) Nonprofit working in Pakistan since 2005 and also with the Government of Punjab as Individual Consultant.. Naseem has been the Chairperson of International Youth Council’s PakistanChapter which was founded at the United Nations Youth Assembly in 2007. Currently providing his Services to University of Management and Technology as Social Development Specialist and lead of Sustainable Development Initiative and also as Adviser to CDRS (US 501c (3) Non Profit)
Ivan Kayima
I did not have the best upbringing growing up but was one of the fortunate ones. Realising this, I created my company Spiela. Spiela is a collaborative online network, with a mission to help the young people of today to learn and engage with influential people, in their fields of interest.The concept behind Spiela is powerfully simple, with a motto of ‘Connect, Collaborate and Shine’. Spiela connects talented people from diverse and challenging backgrounds with a platform to break free from social labels and reach their full potential. Spiela does this by highlighting all of the amazing, incredibly talented people, initiatives and groups available in less fortunate areas, and connects them to the right people through events and the social networking website they are creating which is designed to help users develop and grow, both personally and professionally. The initiative has already gained support from industry experts enthusiastic about helping nurture London’s talented youth. These include Capital Xtra Presenter Toni Phillips, Dr Ali Razzak and Labour Party senior policy advisor, Andrew Fisher. My aim is to create the most powerful collaborative hub of knowledge and opportunities for those less fortunate.
Hovhannes Aghajanyan
Hovhannes is an energetic Digital Strategist and Social Entrepreneur, enthusiastic to work on wide-impact, international projects. He is passionate about contributing to positive change in society and is eager to work towards the world where each innovation can easily find the resources to bloom.
Holding Master’s degree in IT Management, He has 7 years of experience in Social Startups, IT, Banking and Telco sectors.
Since 2016 he’s working as a Head of Digital Projects and Mobile Financial Services, at the Armenian largest broadband and telecommunications company which is part of «VimpelCom» group, one of the world’s largest integrated telecom services operators.
At the same time, he is a Co-Founder of 360Imapct VR Storytelling Platform and Co-Founder at CityBugs Social Startup.
Hovhannes has recognised experience in bringing Digital Creativity for improving Society. He is a winner and Ambassador in Europen Youth Awards and World Summit Youth Awards.Also, he is Ashoka Changemakers and involved in Responsible Leaders Network of the BMW Foundation.
Holding Master’s degree in IT Management, He has 7 years of experience in Social Startups, IT, Banking and Telco sectors.
Since 2016 he’s working as a Head of Digital Projects and Mobile Financial Services, at the Armenian largest broadband and telecommunications company which is part of «VimpelCom» group, one of the world’s largest integrated telecom services operators.
At the same time, he is a Co-Founder of 360Imapct VR Storytelling Platform and Co-Founder at CityBugs Social Startup.
Hovhannes has recognised experience in bringing Digital Creativity for improving Society. He is a winner and Ambassador in Europen Youth Awards and World Summit Youth Awards.Also, he is Ashoka Changemakers and involved in Responsible Leaders Network of the BMW Foundation.