Speaker Profiles
The Global Peace Summit brings individuals and peace leaders in their rights, whose personal stories and experiences show what the path to peace should and can look like.
Our Peace Summit speakers have experienced childhood violence and torture, war trauma, violent extremism, genocide, terrorism and juvenile imprisonment. Their incredible journeys towards finding their paths, paths away from hate, and paths of peace serve as strength and hope to many. By sharing their learnings and reflections on peace, they invite young people to strive for cooperation and nonviolence to coexist peacefully amidst differences.
GET TO KNOW OUR SPEAKERS
Zak Ebrahim
A Terrorist’s Son
WTC Bombing, USA
Sulaiman Khatib
Co-Founder
Combatants for Peace, Palestine
Imrana Alhaji Buba
Founder
Youth Coalition Against Terrorism, Nigeria
Janice Leong
Regional Director
Humanitarian Affairs Asia
Ayik Chut Deng
Former Child Soldier
Red Army, South Sudan
Derek Schwartz
Former U.S. Marine
United States Army
Rahila Haidary
Refugee
Afghanistan
Cecillia Baek Hansen
Aarhust University, Denmark
Getting the opportunity to attend the 2nd Peace Summit of Emerging Leaders was something that quite frankly changed my life. I was finishing a bachelor’s degree in Art History and Visual Communication when I got offered the opportunity by a professor, who saw my passion for the subject. I have always been extremely interested in peacebuilding mechanisms and social change, but I did not believe that I had the means, knowledge and competencies to be able to pursue a life path and career that revolve around these themes. Neither did I believe that I would be able to make a difference in the world. But as I returned home after the conference, I found myself inspired to go in a completely different direction, and it was like a fire was lit inside me.
I found myself creating my own initiatives, participating in different case competitions and volunteering in different ways to help both my local, but also the global, community. And today I am studying for an MSc in Human Security, where peacebuilding is one of the cornerstones. My life had taken a turn I could have never predicted.
But the impact the Peace Summit had on me was evident already from the first day, as the setting of the summit allowed for both genuine connections with like-minded peers and first-hand teachings from incredible speakers, practitioners and professionals. It taught me that peace is not just the absence of war and conflict, it is so much more, and we can all have an impact on its fostering – especially when our efforts are combined.