“By honoring these amazing leaders, the Tällberg Foundation seeks to draw attention to their work and to provoke a global conversation about leadership…they demonstrate that effective, courageous, and innovative leadership can overcome even the most seemingly intractable issues.”
– Alan Stoga, Tällberg Foundation’s Chairman
At a time of growing doubts about the quality of leadership in many countries, five extraordinary women leaders spur us to question what kind of leadership is required to counter the challenges of the 21st century. This year, the Tällberg Foundation has the incredible opportunity to honor their work through the Global Leaders and Prize process. Celina de Sola, a Salvadorian humanitarian and co-founder of Glasswing International; Christiana Figueres, former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Eleni Antoniadou, a Greek scientist, Sunitha Krishnan, an Indian social activist; and Thuli Madonsela, former South African Public Protector all demonstrate that individual leadership through innovation, ethics, determination and willingness to take great risks still exists.
Despite their diverse backgrounds, they all have one thing in common; these global leaders are setting the stage for the transformation of leadership in the modern world. Not only are these women leading change in their various capacities, they inspire both men and women globally to challenge existing paradigms in principled ways.
Celina de Sola is the innovative force behind Glasswing International, a non-profit that specializes in community-based education and public health initiative to foster a collaborative approach to end poverty and violence through the government, private sector, and civil society.
Christiana Figueres served not only as head of UNFCCC but also led the six-year effort which created the historic Paris Agreement on climate change. Eleni Antoniadou, co-founder of Transplants Without Donors is paving the way for artificial organ transplants to fight illegal trafficking through regenerative medicine. Sunitha Krishnan uses her passion for activism to fight against sex trafficking in India through her organization, Prajwala. And Thuli Madonsela represents a beacon of integrity, leading a fearless fight against corruption as South Africa’s former Public Protector.
These global leaders are being celebrated at the 2016 Tällberg Foundation Global Leadership workshop in Amsterdam from November 28 – 29, 2016. The Foundation is excited to kick-start the workshop with a public session addressing “What kind of leadership is required to meet the challenges of the 21st century?” which will be livestreamed on November 28. The live session which will be moderated by Jeroen Smit along with Defne Ayas will facilitate an engaging conversation for community members to participate in finding solutions to the world’s biggest problems. Two of the leaders will emerge as winners of the Global Leadership Prize, and each will be awarded $50,000. They will join last year’s Global Leaders as well as leaders from a wide variety of countries, cultures and organizations to share inspiring stories and explore some of the best practices of making a difference in a complicated global environment.
The Tällberg Foundation is an independent non-profit educational organization that is dedicated to encouraging dynamic conversations and optimizing resources to empower effective leadership. The Foundation hosts many projects and workshops, all of which promote the exploration of circumstances that are likely to define the next generation of geopolitics.
