Ricken Patel

Civic Leader

Canada

Ricken Patel is co-founder and executive director of Avaaz.org, the largest global political web movement in history with 20 million subscribers in 193 countries. Avaaz has a simple democratic mission: to close the gap between the world we have and the world most people want. Patel was voted Ultimate Game Changer in Politics in 2009 by Huffington Post and was named a Young Global Leader by the Davos World Economic Forum.

Prior to founding Avaaz, Patel lived in Sierra Leone, Afghanistan and other countries in conflict, working with various organizations including the International Crisis Group, the Rockefeller Foundation, the International Center for Transitional Justice and Res Publica.

Mr. Vladimir Pozner

Civic Leader

Russia

Vladimir Pozner is a Russian journalist and former president of the Russian Academy of Television. Pozner was the host of several Russian shows and is well known in the West due to his frequent appearances on a number of American programs. Pozner worked as chief commentator for the North American service of the Radio Moscow network, as host of “Moscow Meridian” and as co-host of “Pozner/Donahue” on CNBC, among others. In 1997, Pozner founded the School for Television Excellence in Moscow.

Mr. Tom Shelley

Civic Leader

United States

Tom Shelley is the president of Space Adventures, the only company in the world that has arranged for private citizens to fly into space. Prior to his position as president, he was the vice president of marketing and sales at Space Adventures, focusing on the development of the orbital spaceflight program. During his time at Space Adventures, a total of five space flight missions have been completed. He began his career in marketing for the British Standards Institution before shifting to the commercial spaceflight industry.

Mr. Jeffrey Skoll

Civic Leader

Canada

Jeffrey Skoll, a founding president of the American auction website eBay, is chairman of Participant Media, the Skoll Foundation and the Skoll Global Threats Fund. In 1999, he created the Skoll Foundation, which takes an entrepreneurial approach to philanthropy by investing in, connecting and celebrating the world’s most promising social entrepreneurs in order to effect lasting, positive social change worldwide. In 2004, Skoll founded Participant Productions, now known as Participant Media, a global media company that produces entertainment to inspire and compel social change.

Mr. John Thornton

Civic Leader

United States

Mr. John Thornton is an American business leader with a keen understanding of globalization and the need for international cooperation. A former president and co-chief operating officer of the Goldman Sachs Group, he is currently a professor and director of global leadership at Tsinghua University in Beijing.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Civic Leader

South Africa

Archbishop Desmond Mpilo Tutu was an Anglican priest who became the first black general secretary of the South African Council of Churches in 1979. As general secretary, he spoke strongly against apartheid, leading to strong counter reaction by the South African government. A month after winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984, Tutu was elected the first black Anglican bishop of Johannesburg, and in 1986 he was elected archbishop of Cape Town, the highest position in the Anglican Church in South Africa.

In 1994, after the end of Apartheid and the election of Nelson Mandela, Tutu was appointed chairman of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate Apartheid-era crimes. His stance of forgiveness and reconciliation has become a celebrated international example of conflict resolution.

Tutu passed away on December 26, 2021.

HRH Princess Mabel van Oranje

Civic Leader

Netherlands

Her Royal Highness Princess Mabel van Oranje is a founder and co-chair, together with Martti Ahtisaari and Joschka Fischer, of the European Council on Foreign Relations. She is also chair of the advisory committee of Girls Not Brides, an organization committed to ending the practice of child marriage. Princess Mabel was the chief executive officer of The Elders, the international advocacy director of the Open Society Institute from 2003 to 2008 and the executive director of the Open Society Institute in Brussels from 1997 to 2003. She founded and was the executive director of the European Action Council for Peace in the Balkans from 1993 to 1997.

Princess Mabel co-founded the Dutch foundation War Child and served on its board from 1995 to 1999. In 2005, the World Economic Forum named her one of its Young Global Leaders. She is also an advisor to multiple non-profits including Crisis Action and the Coalition for the International Criminal Court.

Mr. Frederick W. Whitridge Jr.

Civic Leader

United States

An entrepreneur and investor with great interest in international security issues, Frederick Whitridge, Jr. is the president and founder of the Archipelago Corporation. Since November 1996, he has been a director of Adaptive Broadband, a company producing microwave radio products. He is also director of DFI Corporate Services Inc. and DFI International. From 1988 to 1992, he held the position of chief investment officer and vice president of the North American office of the Swedish Wallenberg Group.