The Geneva Forum on Social Change 2011 is delighted to welcome the following guest speakers so far. They’ll be sharing their knowledge and experience in using social media to bring about positive social impact, and look at its future potential and also its challenges.
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Claudia Gonzales – Head of Marketing, The Global Fund
“Having social media presence is one thing, but having social media success is another. It is about engaging, really taking into account what people are saying, listening, making changes. It requires a lot of flexibility from the organization. It requires a level of engagement from the organization to make sure there is no going back.”
Claudia is Head of Marketing of The Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, where she manages branding, marketing and social media. Claudia was the Head of Public Relations and Special Projects for two years in UNHCR and almost eight years for the World Economic Forum. She is a strategist with 15 year experience in integrated communications specialized in social media, celebrities and branding. Claudia was previously a Diplomat for her home country Mexico and was a press correspondent for a number of years in different countries. Claudia’s academic background includes a Masters from LSE on Media and Communications. She has two kids and enjoys sports, travel and social change.
Follow The Global Fund on twitter
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Steve Bridger – Builder of Bridges. Redesigning Charity for the Digital Age
Steve helps some of the UK’s biggest charities trust more of their own people to build relationships online that support collaboration, transparency, advocacy & philanthropy. He is an experienced online community builder and mentor, and encourages organisations to release authentic voices in their organisations, particularly through storytelling. Steve is also an award-winning blogger and a contributor to several reports on online fundraising.
You can read more about Steve on his blog here or follow him on twitter
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Matthias Lüfkens, Associate Director-Media, World Economic Forum
Matthias Lüfkens aspires to inspire. After bringing Davos to the world for five years, he now brings the world to Davos through his innovative use of social media, Flickr, YouTube, Facebook, Wikipedia, Qik and Mogulus included.
Previously a journalist, Matthias was Baltic States correspondent for Agence France Presse, Libération and the Daily Telegraph (1991-96); and later Deputy Editor-in-chief of EuroNews television (1996-2004). In 1991 he founded the In Your Pocket city guide series in Lithuania, now Eastern Europe’s premier publisher and provider of city information.
In his free time, when not slavishly tracking tech trends, Matthias films and edits videos for his multiple YouTube channels.
Follow Matthias on twitter
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Edward Happ – Chief Information Officer, International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC)
Edward Happ is an engaging speaker and a genuine expert on new technologies and humanitarian action. He is currently the Global CIO of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) as well as Founder and Chairman of NetHope (www.nethope.org), a U.S. based consortium of 32 leading international relief, development and conservation nonprofits focused on information and communications technology (ICT) and collaboration.
He was also CIO at Save the Children for the past decade. During his first year there in 2001 he presented a paper to Cisco on “Wiring the Virtual Village” which became the basis for NetHope.
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Sree Sreenivasan - Professor of Digital Media at University of Columbia School of Journalism
Sree Sreenivasan is one of the 22 professors named to the “Top Twitterers in Academia” by onlineschools.org. He is co-founder of SAJA – South Asian Journalist Association and a highly regarded commentator and expert on technology and media issues. In 2004, was named by Newsweek magazine as one of 20 most influential South Asians in the US.
Follow Sree on twitter
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Marshall Sitten – Communications Strategist and President of the Geneva Forum on Social Change
Marshall is the President and co-founder of the Geneva Forum on Social Change and serves as the Communications Advisor to the International Organizations MBA Program at the University of Geneva. He is also General Partner of Flashing12 Communications, where he provides communications strategy, media training, and crisis communications services to United Nations agencies, non-governmental organizations, and influential individuals.
Marshall is also currently a PhD candidate at the University of Geneva, where he is studying the effectiveness of using ethnomethodology to design and improve public sector services. When not obsessively researching some new nerdly pursuit, he is conducting kitchen-destroying culinary experiments or playing Ultimate Frisbee.
Follow Marshall on Twitter
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Mark Horvath – Activist and Ambassador for Homeless People and Founder – InvisiblePeople.tv
Mark Horvath launched InvisiblePeople.tv in 2008 which uses the the power of video and the massive reach of social media to share the compelling, gritty, and unfiltered stories of America’s homeless. Each week their stories are profiled through high traffic sites such as YouTube, Twitter and Facebook, InvisiblePeople.tv goes beyond the rhetoric, statistics, political debates, and limitations of social services to examine poverty in
America via a medium that audiences of all ages can understand, and
can’t ignore. InvisiblePeople.tv shatters the stereotypes of America’s homeless, shifts perceptions and deliver calls to action that are being answered by national brands, nonprofit organizations and everyday citizens now committed to opening their eyes and their hearts to those too often forgotten.
Mark Horvath has taken social media a step further giving homeless people the tools they need to get online and have a voice at Visible.WeAreVisible.com The site teaches them how to sign up for email, open a Twitter account, join Facebook, create a blog and take advantage of the benefits of online social media. It has the potential to become a model for virtual case management as it helps build a community among homeless people and support service providers.
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Geoff Livingston – Social Media Expert and Co-founder of Zoetica
Geoff Livingston co-founded Zoetica, a social enterprise that provides superior communication consulting, training, and strategy to help mindful organizations affect social change. He has worked as a public relations strategist in the Washington, D.C. region for more than 16 years. Dubbed a “local blogging guru” by the Washington Post, Geoff’s award-winning book on new media “Now is Gone” was released in 2007
Follow Geoff on twitter
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Anahi Ayala Iacucci - New Media Consultant & Crisis Mapper
Anahi has consulted for NGOs and international organizations on the use of the ICT4D, new technologies and crisis mapping: she adviced the UN OCHA Iraq Inter-Agency Information and Analysis Unit, the NGO Alliance Guinea, Internews Network in Kenya, Freedom House in Egypt and the World Bank in Zambia. Anahi will be relocating soon in Kenya where she will be a New Media Consultant for Internews Network covering Kenya, Chad, Sudan and DRC and also a Crowdsourcing and Information Specialists for the World Bank covering West Africa.
In her spare time Anahi is the co-founder and volunteer Coordinator of the Standby Task Force, an Online Volunteer Community for Live Mapping; worked on the Jan30Sudan Crowdmap platform, monitoring the uprising in Sudan; set up Sidibundiz, a Ushahidi platform to monitor the uprising in Tunisia; was the technical advisor of the U-Shahid project to monitor elections in Egypt; and was the On Line Volunteers Coordinator for PakReport, a Ushahidi platform to gather humanitarian information from Pakistan during the floods in the summer 2010. Follow Anahi on Twitter
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Marcia Stepanek – Author and Publisher | New Media Faculty NYU
Marcia Stepanek is Adjunct Instructor New Media at New York University and New Media Advisor NYU’s George Heyman Center for Philanthropy and Social Innovation. She is also founder and publisher of Cause Global, an acclaimed new group blog about the use of social media in social advocacy and innovation. She serves as social enterprise editor for Justmeans.com, and blogs regularly for the Stanford Social Innovation Review, msnbc.com and Pop!Tech.
She is a frequent speaker on the subject of social media and new trends in philanthropy; most recently, she was the founding Editor-in-Chief of Contribute magazine, a New York-based publication that covered the new people and ideas of philanthropy and social innovation.
Her latest book, Swarms – about the rapid rise and evolution of self-organized groups on the Web and their impact on established business, culture, philanthropy and society – is due out later this year. She has worked as a social media and digital storytelling consultant and lectures on digital storytelling and the use of social media in advocacy at conferences worldwide. She is a lead organizer of MobileFest2012, a national arts conference on the use of short video shot entirely on mobile devices.
Follow Marcia on twitter
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Isaac Griberg – Social Media Specialist ICRC
“Social media isn’t broadcasting, it’s conversation. Fans are your friends. Don’t talk to them, talk with them”
Over the past 4 years Isaac has explored the borderlands between humanitarian aid and new media. He currently works as social media officer at the ICRC where he’s directing the organization’s endeavors in the social media realm. Isaac holds a Masters degree in Business and Economics and has previously consulted for UN organizations and the World Economic Forum. He believes digital communication is the biggest shift since the printing press, but still prefers brick-sized books and photo albums. Connect with Isaac on Linkedin or follow Isaac on twitter
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Lely Djuhari – Communication Specialist , Unicef Regional Office for CEE CIS
Lely Djuhari is based in Geneva with the UNICEF Regional Office for Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Prior to that, she worked for humanitarian and development agencies in her native country, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand. She was responsible for UNICEF Indonesia web development including digital engagement on children`s issues with KASKUS, Indonesia`s largest online community with over 2.6 million users. Currently, she is involved in researching digital citizenship and online safety issues for children and young people in Russia, Ukraine, Croatia and Serbia.
She is active in liaising with UNICEF`s 21 country offices in the region for the OneMinutesJr. Ms. Djuhari reported on social and
political issues in Indonesia, East Timor`s path to nationhood and the Indian Ocean tsunami for Kyodo News and The Associated Press. In 2000, she was an International Journalism Chevening Scholar at City University in London, UK.
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Jeremy Bogen – Social Media, The Global Fund
Hailing from the 2 great states of Minnesota and Montana, Jeremy began his career with UNHCR working to rally the masses behind the UN Refugee Agency through the social media powered Gimme Shelter campaign, and harnessing the power of social media to raise funds for emergency shelter for Somali refugees. Jeremy has been with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria since April 2010 where he worked as partnerships coordinator on the Born HIV Free campaign, and is now The Global Fund’s social media manager. Jeremy has a bachelor degree in history from the University of Montana.
Follow the Global Fund’s Born HIV-free campaign on twitter
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Rami Mansour – Social Media Evangelist & Researcher
Rami Mansour is a Marketing and Social Media Evangelist and Researcher from Jordan.
He holds a B.A in Communication and Modern Languages from Yarmouk University in Jordan, a Maîtrise in French as Foreign Language from Université Lyon II in France and an MBA in Marketing from Qatar University with a thesis in Social Media and its adoption built on Theory of Innovation
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Rahaf Harfoush – Author and Associate Director of the Technology Pioneers, World Economic Forum
Rahaf is a Strategist, Author, and Speaker who has a deep passion for exploring how technology is affecting the way we communicate, work and play. She haas been speaking about New Media and Technology internationally since 2006.
Rahaf specializes in helping organizations align their digital media initiatives with their strategic vision to build authentic relationships with consumers, employees and other stakeholders. Aside from her work at the WEF she is also working on her second book. In 2009, she published Yes We Did: An Insider’s Look at How Social Media Built the Obama Brand, about her experiences as a part of Barack Obama’s New Media team during his Presidential election campaign. Follow Rahaf on Twitter
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Dr. Marwa Daoudy – Lecturer on Middle Eastern Politics and Senior Policy Advisor for UNDP
Marwa Daoudy is lecturer of politics and international relations of the Middle East in the Department of Politics and International Relations, and the Middle East Centre (St Antony’s College).
Marwa provides strategic advice as Senior Policy Advisor to the United Nations Program for Development (UNDP) on the Middle East peace negotiations. She is also a consultant in international affairs for multilateral organisations (European Commission, ILO, UNESCO, UNDP, WCC) and the private sector (finance, legal), and offers training sessions to international professionals and diplomats in the field of negotiation theory and practice, water-sharing and security.
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Christian De Neef – Management Consultant, Fast Track
Christian De Neef is a seasoned business consultant and entrepreneur, working at the crossroads of innovation management, knowledge management & learning organizations. Also involved with peer-to-peer development projects and strong believer that social media can drive change.
Christian De Neef is committed and engaged in Social Media for Social Change (SM4SC), a movement that strongly believes that we can change the world with the social media tools at hand. Among other things, he collects money for Kiva loans to women entrepreneurs (2005 onwards), helped launching the coworking space Eclau in Lausanne (2008), organized the first Brussels Twestivals (2009), participates in the European Summit for Global Transformation (2009 onwards), and supports a water & sanitation project in Nyabushozi, Uganda (2010). Social media plays an important role in each of these projects… Follow Christian on Twitter
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Alexandra Karoun Eurdolian – Social Media Coordinator, UNHCR
Alexandra Karoun Eurdolian is Social Media Coordinator at UNHCR, bridging the divide and bringing the plight of refugees to the online global community.
Prior to joining the UNHCR, Alexandra was an Associate at the World Wide Web Foundation, headed by the Web’s founder, Sir Tim Berners-Lee. Alexandra first honed a deep appreciation for the digital world as a Research Assistant on the Internet & Democracy Project at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard. This was her first position after finishing her MBA in 2007, at the Université de Genève as part of the IOMBA program. A native and proud Bostonian, Alexandra has previously lived in Italy, South Africa, Armenia, and in another life, was a former competitive fencer.
Follow Alexandra on Twitter
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Mikaela Hildebrand – Social Media Officer, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS))
Mikaela Hildebrand is the Social Media Officer at UNAIDS. Her goal is to start an HIV prevention revolution using social media. Passionate about social change, she believes that social media needs to be integrated, strategic and all about impact.
Before joining UNAIDS in Geneva, Mikaela coordinated HIV-related research projects in Lesotho, Southern Africa. Mikaela holds an MSc in human rights and is a part-time Master’s Candidate in public health exploring new media opportunities for health promotion at Sweden’s Mid University.
Follow UNAIDS on Twitter and Mikaela on Twitter.
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Chris Schuepp – Media Educator and Consultant, UNICEF
Chris Schuepp has been working with the UNICEF Regional Office for Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States for eight years, coordinating the Young People’s Media Network in Europe & Central Asia. The Young People’s Media Network in Europe & Central Asia is a project supported by UNICEF. The YPMN encourages youth participation in the media and actively supports the children’s rights to access to media and freedom of expression.
The YPMN has facilitated more than 40 workshops over the past three years, mainly on the production of OneMinutesJr videos, 60-second films produced by young people on topics of their choice. Many of these videos focus on the children’s problems: violence, neglect, social exclusion, drugs, HIV/AIDS, etc. Mr. Schuepp, a national of Germany, studied Journalism at the University of Dortmund and worked for radio and TV stations in Germany. In 2000, he moved to Kyrgyzstan, where he worked as Country Director for Internews Network, supporting independent journalists in Central Asia. He has been working as consultant for UNICEF since 2002.
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Jigar Mehta – Documentary Filmmaker, Journalist and Project Developer #18DaysinEgypt
Jigar is a documentary filmmaker and a journalist and is currently at Stanford University as a Knight Journalism Fellow working on developing tools for collaborative journalism. Before Stanford, he worked as a video journalist for The New York Times. While at the Times, his passion was for telling stories through strong characters and accurate reporting.
Jigar is a believer in collaboration and building community and as president of the South Asian Journalist Association I’ve fostered programs that reflects those ideals.
His latest project #18DaysinEgpyt is still in the works and aims to create a unique media experience using everything the people witnessing the Egypt revolution created through video, tweets, sms, photos, text and email. Follow Jigar on Twitter
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Farrah Hawana – Doctorate Candidate and Researcher
Farrah Hawana is doctoral candidate in the Political Science Unit of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID) and a part-time Research Assistant for the Sudan Human Security Baseline Assessment (HSBA) project, which is a multi-year research project administered by the Small Arms Survey (SAS). Her doctoral research has been focused on legitimacy, social contestation, and state-society dynamics in Arab authoritarian states.
She holds an M.A. in International Conflict Analysis from the University of Kent (Brussels School of International Studies), and has worked with the International Labour Organization in Beirut and Cairo. She was a consultant project proposal writer and fundraiser for an Egyptian NGO, New Horizon Association for Social Development, and holds a B.A. in History and a B.A. in International Relations from the College of William and Mary. She is a dual citizen of Syria and the United States, and grew up in Kuwait.
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May Soliman – IOMBA candidate
May is an IO-MBA candidate and an Egyptian national. She has vast international exposure, having lived in seven countries within the last 16 years, since she had left Egypt, spanning five continents.
Throughout the years, she had stayed in close contact with the pulse on the Egyptian street, and has led numerous discussion circles about the situation in the Middle East, the challenges the Egyptian society is facing and the critical importance of addressing those issues in order to build a more solid base for development
She has nine years experience in the nonprofit sector managing teams with a highly diverse global profile and working in the areas of fundraising, event management and inter-cultural communication. She holds degrees in Literature and History, with a special focus on the history of Egypt.
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Peter Conlon – Founder and CEO, Ammado
Peter Conlon is the CEO of ammado.com – a unique online global donations and engagement platform that connects nonprofits, companies and individuals dedicated to positive change.
Ammado works to empower people where they can support their favourite causes, involve their social networks and make a difference. Peter has founded and been CEO of several companies during his career predominantly in software, digital and IT industries.
Peter is an award-winning entrepreneur, an active member of a number of not-for-profit boards and is a frequent lecturer at universities.
For more information on Ammado click here
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Urs E. Gattiker co-founder and CTO of ComMetrics.com
Urs E. Gattiker, PhD, an analytics and social media innovator, groundbreaking blogger and author of several books who got hooked on social media when that still meant dial-up bulletin boards.
After two decades as a professor at universities in Canada, Denmark, Germany and the US, he co-founded and became CEO of CyTRAP Labs GmbH, then started its subsidiary ComMetrics.com, where he is CTO.
He and his international team develop and implement effective social media strategies with the analytics and metrics that demonstrate ROI for blogs, Facebook and Twitter. He spearheads Social Risk Monitor, which helps brands manage governance, risk and compliance for better customer engagement.
Find out more by following Urs on Twitter and joining his Social Media Monitoring group on Xing.