The world’s leading education event is just a day again away. The World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) global summit fosters debate and action among global education leaders and have been doing so since 2009. The 2019 Summit will take place on November 19-21, 2019 in Doha under the theme of:
Unlearn, Relearn: What it means to be Human.
With over 200 speakers and contributors, 2,000 international attendees from over 150 countries in 150 sessions.
In this article Edugist highlight top 10 Africans that will be speaking at the global event in no particular order.
- Fred Swaniker- Founder and CEO, African Leadership Group
Fred believes that quality leadership is the missing ingredient for driving change in Africa. He co-founded the African Leadership Group – an ecosystem of organizations that aim to catalyze 3million ethical, entrepreneurial African leaders by 2035.
Fred earned an MBA from Stanford and previously worked as a management consultant at McKinsey in South Africa. Fred has been recognized as a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, was named a Forbes Magazine ‘top ten young power men’ in Africa, and was listed among the TIME most influential people of 2019. Fred was born in Ghana and has lived across Africa.
Fred will panelist on the session: Exploring new models in higher education
2. Amel Karboul- CEO, Education Outcomes Fund
H.E. Dr. Amel Karboul is CEO of the Education Outcomes Fund for Africa and the Middle East and Commissioner of the International Commission on Financing Global Education Opportunity (The Education Commission).
Dr. Amel Karboul is a social entrepreneur, chairwoman, author and politician. She is passionate about nurturing a new generation of responsible leaders and building bridges between the private, public sector and civil society to solve today’s global challenges.
Amel will be a panelist on the session: New frontiers in funding: Bridging the financing gap
3. Eman Abdulla- Head of Schools, Qatar Children’s Museum Project
Eman Abdulla specializes in the development and delivery of museum learning strategies and interpretation, audience research, and educational projects in arts, science, literacy and heritage for Qatar Museums. Eman holds a Bachelor Degree in Art and Design, and Qatar Museums Leadership Programme – ‘Qreation Generation’. She also has extensive international experience working in partnership with indigenous and local communities. she has played a key role in bringing museum educational experiences to life, She has also contributed to and consulted on interpretation development and exhibit design for permanent family exhibits and programming areas for QCM. Eman believes strongly in stimulating children’s creativity so they actively participate in forming their own world and are empowered to and manifest their intellectual and creative abilities.
Eman will be part of a workshop: Power of Play: Building our world through community relationships and technology
4. Patrick Gyimah Awuah Jr- Founder and President, Ashesi University
Patrick Awuah is the Founder and President of Ashesi University, a private, non-profit institution with a reputation for innovation and quality undergraduate education in Ghana. Before founding Ashesi, Patrick worked as a Program Manager for Microsoft Corporation. Patrick is a Fellow of the Africa Leadership Initiative; a member of the Council on Foreign Relations; and a member of the Tau Beta Pi honor society for excellence in engineering.
He has received the Millennium Excellence Award for Educational Development, was named a Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, one of the 100 Most Creative People in Business by Fast Company magazine, the 4th Most Respected CEO in Ghana by a survey of his peers, Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2014 by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship and the 2017 WISE Prize for Education Laureate by the Qatar Foundation.
He has bachelor’s degrees in Engineering and Economics, an MBA and honorary doctorates from Swarthmore College, Babson College and the University of Waterloo.
Patrick will be a panelist on the session: Empowering global citizenship for action
5. Gerard Akindes- Program Senior Specialist, Josoor Institute
Akindes earned a Masters in Sports Administration and PH.D. in Sports Media Studies at Ohio University where he taught Sport Management. He has co-edited a book and published several journal articles and book chapters, He has also co-created the Sports Africa conference series. At the Josoor Institute, he supports education programmes and coordinates research projects.
Gerard will be part of WISE Research Presentation: Relearning academics for athletes, and well-being for all.
6. Folly Bah Thibault- Journalist, Al-Jazeera English
Folly Bah Thibault is a journalist and Principal Presenter for Al Jazeera English, based in Doha, Qatar.
She joined the network in 2010, having previously worked at the French news channel, France24 in Paris and Voice of America in Washington D.C. Folly has covered some of the world’s biggest news stories including the 2004 tsunami, which devastated the southern regions of Asia, and the historic campaign and election of Barack Obama as president of the United States in 2008. She has also covered numerous stories that have dealt with humanitarian and immigrant issues from Africa to South America and beyond.
Folly Bah Thibault is also the founder and president of the Foundation “Elle Ira A l’Ecole” which promotes the education of girls in Guinea so they can later access a profession that will bring them freedom and dignity.
She was born in Conakry in 1978 where she spent the early years of her childhood, until her family moved to Nairobi, Kenya in 1987. She earned a Baccalaureate in French literature with honours, before heading to the United States to attend Howard University and the American University in Washington, D.C.; picking up a Bachelor’s degree in Broadcast journalism and a Master’s degree in International Communication along the way. She speaks four languages, including French and Swahili.
Folly will moderate Educate A Child plenary: Zero Strategy (Out-of-School children).
7. Bola Lawal- CEO and Co-Founder of ScholarX
Bola Lawal is an impact Entrepreneur focused on emerging markets; and he Co-founded ScholarX, an Education Finance platform that helps students access funding to get an education. ScholarX was recognized by AppsAfrica for “Social Impact” in 2018, and in 2019, it participated in Google Launchpad Accelerator Africa.
He is a 2018 African Changemakers Fellow and has been featured as a Speaker in Europe, Africa and the United States. Bola graduated from University of Houston with a BA in accounting in 2009 and he also obtained an Executive certificate for Social Impact Strategy from University of Pennsylvania in 2018.
Bola speaks with others on Edu-Debate’s topic: Resolved: College students should sell a share of their future salaries to fund their degrees.
8. Doreen Bateyunga- Pre-production Coordinator, Ubongo
Doreen Bateyunga is a young Tanzanian female with a passion for education. She holds a B.A in International Relations from the University of San Diego and an M.A from University College London (UCL). She credits her uncommon experience in education for her mission of wanting to afford the same quality of learning to as many children as possible in Africa. Her past work has included fighting for girls’ right to education in Tanzania and bridging the digital gender gap through sparking and sustaining an interest in STEM in young girls. She is currently working at Ubongo Learning, a social enterprise that aims at delivering effective and localized learning content to African families at low cost & massive scale through edutainment. As the Pre-production Coordinator, she leads her team in creating entertaining and educational content for young children. Doreen is excited to be joining the inaugural cohort of the 2019 WISE Emerging Leaders program.
Doreen, a cohort of 2019 WISE Emerging Leader program will tell Ubongo story in the newly introduced WISE ‘Hear my story”
9. Megan Lees-McCowan- Head of Street child program
Megan is the head of Street Child UK’s Africa programmes, leading programme strategy, resourcing and quality, and based 50/50 between the UK and Africa. She has been working for Street Child since 2011, as the field-based Sierra Leone Country Representative, and in the UK as the Programme Funding Manager and UK Charity Manager. Megan joined from a fundraising and communications role at the Tony Blair Africa Governance Initiative, and holds an MSc in Poverty and Development.
Megan, a 2019 WISE award project winner will share Family Business for Education story on WISE newly introduced “Hear my story”
10. Emtithal Mahmoud- Poet and Author, UNHCR goodwill Ambassador
UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador and World Champion Poet, Emtithal (Emi) Mahmoud advocates for refugees and disadvantaged communities worldwide. Named one of BBC’s 100 Most Inspirational Women, Emi co-founded a Sickle Cell research initiative at age 19. She’s since worked with President Obama, the Dalai Lama, the World Bank, and more. Emi has moved audiences at the UN General Assembly, The World Economic Forum, Forbes 30 Under 30, and countless high-level events. The Sudanese-American author of Sisters’ Entrance graduated from Yale in 2016. In 2018, she walked 1000km for peace in Sudan, mobilizing thousands of people across the way.
Emtithal will be a panelist on the session: Rediscovering the purpose of education.
