The Leading Speakers Bureau

Actress, Television Personality, Historian

Due to her father İnal Batu’s occupation as a diplomat, she spent her childhood in many foreign countries including Pakistan, Czech Republic, France and the USA. She completed high school at Marymount School in New York and also pursued musical and theatre training at Mannes College of Music. After starting literature and philosophy at New York University, she switched her subject to history and completed it at Boğaziçi University. She made her film debut in Harem Suare in 1999 and has gone on to act with several more films and TV series.

Batu also hosted a show titled Tarihin Arka Odası (The Back Room of History) which aired on HaberTürk with Murat Bardakçı and Erhan Afyoncu. Interested in poetry from a young age, she has written, translated, and published many poems.
Continue Reading »

TEDGlobal Fellow & Renowned Journalist, Expert on Health & Social Welfare Issues in the Arab World

Shereen El Feki is a highly accomplished healthcare journalist and writer who also serves on the UN’s Global Commission on HIV and the Law. While she has worked in regional media, as a presenter with the Al Jazeera Network, and continues to write on health and social issues in the Arab world, her passion lies in the many projects in which she is involved which aim to better understand, and surmount, the social challenges facing Arabs, particularly young people.

“I would urge a combination of both patience and pragmatism, because there are no quick returns in social entrepreneurship in the Arab region.”

[expand title=”In detail”] Half-Egyptian, half-Welsh, Shereen El Feki was brought up in Canada. With a Ph.D in molecular immunology from the University of Cambridge she started her professional life in medical science and later worked as Healthcare Correspondent at The Economist magazine. She was a presenter for the Al Jazeera English channel (2006 – 2008), specialising in global health. She is also an international editor of MIT Technology Review and Middle East advisor to the Global Fund to Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and an expert consultant to PharmaFutures 3, an initiative looking at novel business models for the pharmaceutical sector in the developing world.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Shereen El Feki is full of fresh ideas on how to develop the field of health and science reporting in the Middle East, with a special focus on HIV/AIDS. She is experienced in the field and with deeper thinking beyond day-to-day journalism. A practitioner of open-door policy, she has vast experience in areas such as biomedical research, the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, international public health and development. Acknowledging that AIDS exists in this part of the world is not a sign of threat or weakness, Shereen explains that it is an amazing opportunity to take action and show our strength.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]At the forefront of groundbreaking investigative journalism, Shereen El Feki has travelled the world to see how the balance of power is shifting in politics, business and society and she has a contagious enthusiasm and passion when speaking.[/expand]

Continue Reading »

Foreign Correspondent for RTL Television, Middle East Expert, Award-winning TV Journalist

Antonia Rados is Germany’s most renowned reporter, a first-rate journalist from Austria with 30 years experience and an open mind on people and events. She gained recognition, becoming known for her reporting from Baghdad during the Iraq war in 2003. She has stopped counting the number of times she has travelled to and reported from Afghanistan.

“Only heroes and fools have no fear” Antonia Rados

[expand title=”In detail”] Antonia Rados studied political science in Paris and Salzburg, attaining a Ph.D. She won the German TV Prize and the Hanns-Joachim Friedrichs Award for her wartime coverage from Iraq. She also received the Robert Geisendörfer Prize, the German Camera Award and a nomination for the Grimme Prize and the German Television Prize. Her journalistic career had begun in the Austrian ORF. In 1991 she went to the WDR, from there she moved on to RTL. She had left in 2008 to join ZDF, where she was to work for the heute-journal. In November, RTL Television announced her return to Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Antonia Rados is a Middle East expert who has won numerous awards for her tireless and courageous work in documentaries on crisis-torn regions. As a speaker at major national and international forums, she vividly explains what it means to people in a war zone, that someone is interested in their fate and she provides insights into the constant battle against the stereotype of the emotional woman.
[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Antonia Rados always displays a great deal of energy and enthusiasm, known as being an objective and sophisticated reporter. With vast media experience, she is a courageous and charismatic presenter.
[/expand]

Continue Reading »

Founder and CEO, The Tiossano Tribe, Inc. & Founder, Adina World Beat Beverages

Magatte Wade is a serial entrepreneur born in Senegal, educated in France, and has launched her entrepreneurial career in the San Francisco Bay area. She is currently launching her second company, The Tiossano Tribe, Inc., a lifestyle brand initially focused on fashion accessories and body care products targeted at the cultural creative demographic. She also is the founder of Adina World Beverages, a multi-million dollar beverage company that sells culturally authentic beverages from diverse nations around the world.

“An inspiring entrepreneur”

[expand title=”In detail”] Prior to her career as an entrepreneur, she served as Director of Business Development for Greenough Consulting Group, a leading consulting firm specialising in interim financial management services to venture capital firms and their portfolio companies. The former sponsorship chair for the MIT/Stanford Venture Lab, she is also a board member of Agribusiness in Sustainable Natural African Plant Products, Afropop Worldwide, and SEED Academy (Sports for Education and Economic Development).[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Drawing from her own business experiences Magatte offers audiences a wealth of useful advice and business know how based on her own life story.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]A charismatic and charming woman, Magatte talks candidly about her life and success motivating and inspiring audiences in the process.[/expand]

Continue Reading »

Primatologist and Anthropologist

Jane Goodall DBE is an internationally recognized authority on the primate world. She has written books for adults and children, contributed to documentaries and serves as a National Geographic explorer-in-residence, a United Nations peace messenger, and the president of Advocates for Animals. For her efforts to observe and preserve all species, she has received honors and accolades from governments, nonprofits, universities, and professional organizations, including a medal from UNESCO and the French Legion of Honor in 2006.

“One of the best-known and most highly respected scientists and educators in the world”

[expand title=”In detail”] Dr. Goodall’s involvement in tropical forests and conservation has led her to be actively involved in a number of environmental issues, and to found the Roots & Shoots youth group. She has also endorsed the Forests Now Declaration, calling for new market based mechanisms to protect tropical forests. One of her major contributions to the field of primatology was the discovery of tool-making in chimpanzees.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Dr. Goodall takes the audience on an ecological journey, discussing highlights and low points of her experiences in the jungle. She shows how progress is helping research (DNA analysis) and hurting the environment (clear-cutting). She draws a dozen parallels between primate and human behaviour, making the point that we really aren’t all that different. She also speaks about the messages of hope that form the basis for her educational programme, ‘Roots and Shoots’.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Dr. Goodall lifts the audience to new heights, inspiring them to reach above and beyond through compassion, consumer action, and education.[/expand]

Continue Reading »

Writer, Activist, Lecturer, Poet & Photographer

Nimah Nawwab is a writer, photographer, activist and lecturer and is considered a trailblazing poet. She is currently working on several book projects, as well as two anthology projects revolving around women and youth. She is the first Saudi Arabian female poet to be published in the US

“Nimah is a cultural ambassadress”

[expand title=”In detail”] In 2006, Nimah received the nomination for Young Global Leader of the Young Global Leaders Forum, an affiliate of the WEF. She has been a poetry judge and facilitator of poetry sessions and workshops in several countries. Nimah’s widely read academic articles have been translated from English into a variety of languages. She has been interviewed by various television and radio outlets such as BBC World Update and BBC World Today. In 2005, Nimah became the first writer and poet, male or female, to hold a public book signing at a major bookstore in Saudi Arabia, an occasion covered by the international media. Through her involvement with the WEF she has joined new leading executives from 50 countries to address global issues.[/expand]

[expand title=”What she offers you”]Nimah seeks to build bridges of understanding, develop compassion and a basic respect for the dignity and rights of people everywhere. She draws on her 15 years of experience in PR, writing and lecturing to work with institutes to address matters of concern, as well as highlight the vital importance of outreach and social and community service.[/expand]

[expand title=”How she presents”]Nimah is a passionate, expressive and talented speaker who delivers an inspiring presentation either as a keynote speaker or facilitator. [/expand]

Continue Reading »

International Telecommunications Expert & Entrepreneur

Candace Johnson is an international telecommunications expert and entrepreneur. She is co-initiator of the Astra satellite system and SES Global, the world’s largest satellite systems. She is also founding President of Europe Online, the world’s first and largest independent Satellite Broadband Network, and founder of Loral Cyberstar-Teleport Europe, Europe’s first independent private trans-border satellite communications network. She is also founding President of the VATM, the Association of Private Telecom Operators in Germany and founding President of the Global Telecom Women’s Network (GTWN).

“One of the 50 most powerful Businesswomen in Europe”
CNN

[expand title=”In detail”] Candace is President of Johnson Paradigm Ventures (JPV), and a Founding Member of the Board of Directors of Sophia Euro Lab. In her personal capacity, she is a minority owner of FMN, a German telephone manufacturing company, and a member of their Supervisory Council. She is a minority owner of Alpha Com, a wireless data manufacturing company. She is also a member of the Advisory Board of numerous European and US ventures.

She has been featured in articles in Time Magazine, the Financial Times, the Economist, Le Monde, and Manager Magazin, to name a few. In 2002 she received the World Communications Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of her contribution to the telecommunications industry over the past 25 years.[/expand]

[expand title=”What she offers you”]Candace shows decision makers how to set up and build companies with real value. She also demonstrates how affordable and excellent communication tools can make a major difference to bottom line profits.

She is a thought-provoking and authoritative speaker on entrepreneurship, e-business and telecommunications.[/expand]

[expand title=”How she presents”]Candace is a charismatic speaker; her presentations are enlightening, stimulating and highly beneficial to all audiences.[/expand]
Continue Reading »

Economics, Finance & Innovation Expert

Mariana Mazzucato is an economist with an interest in the relationship between innovation and growth, and economic policies that can ensure that economic growth is not only ‘smart’ but also inclusive and sustainable. Her work on finance and innovation argues that financial markets must be reformed to support productive investments and innovation: creative destruction not destructive creation. Mariana is currently R.M. Phillips Professor in Science and Technology Policy at the University of Sussex and Visiting Professor in the Economics of Innovation at the Open University.

“What Europe needs today is not austerity but strategic investments”

[expand title=”In detail”] Mariana received her BA from Tufts University in History and International Relations, and a PhD in Economics at the Graduate Faculty of the New School for Social Research in Y. Shewas Scientific Coordinator of a 3 year European Commission funded FP7 project on Finance, Innovation and Growth (FINNOV, 2009-2012), and is working on two new research projects, one funded by the Ford Foundation, and the other by the Institute for New Economic Thinking.[/expand]

[expand title=”What she offers you”]Mariana focuses on theorising the role of the State in the dynamics of economic growth-and uses these insights to influence industrial strategy and growth policy in the UK and abroad. Mariana’s aim is to force people with very different backgrounds and views to bang heads together and come up with solutions.[/expand]

[expand title=”How she presents”]Mariana’s speaking style coupled with an incisive understanding and enlightened capacity to explain and discuss global issues has contributed to herhigh popularity and reputation.[/expand]
Continue Reading »

Deputy Chair Equalities and Human Rights Commission

Caroline Waters is a highly accomplished senior executive with 13 years’ experience of operating at board level in a variety of European executive and non-executive roles. Caroline held a number of positions for the BT Group including Director, People & Policy before her retirement in March 2013. She is currently Deputy Chair of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, Vice President of Carers UK, a member of the Whole Education Board and runs her own Strategic HR Consultancy business. She has established herself as a leading voice, across industry and Government for Inclusion, equal opportunities and progressive employment.

“She is one of the pioneers in approaches to workforce management”

[expand title=”In detail”] Caroline established BT’s Diversity Centre of Expertise, building BT’s leadership in diversity practice and embedding it within BT and its supply chain. She regularly contributes advice and guidance to Government and Industry. Her work is widely recognised across the industry with appointment as HR Director of the Year at HR Magazine’s HR Excellence Awards in 2009, where she is also consistently placed within a top 3 position in their annual HR’s Most Influential listings. This leadership was further recognised by the award of an OBE in the New Year Honours List 2010 for services to diversity and equal opportunities.[/expand]

[expand title=”What she offers you”]Caroline’s enthusiasm for the benefits of work-life balance is unrivalled. All her efforts are focused on demonstrating that flexible working is good for business. A high-profile leader in this area, she has proven track record of delivering sustained transformational change programmes across a complex international organisation.[/expand]

[expand title=”How she presents”]Her professional and personal integrity, passion and inspirational leadership style have allowed her to create an environment where success is a natural outcome and measurable results are delivered while creating a culture based on honesty, mutual trust and determined shared purpose.[/expand]
Continue Reading »

Best-selling Novelist

Catherine Lim is a Singapore Chinese writer, she has written a number of short-story collections and novels written in English, published in the US, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and other countries. Since 1992 Dr Lim has been a regular speaker on cruise ships worldwide, in particular for Cunard and Silver Sea Cruise Lines. She has appeared on Radio in the UK and talks at international seminars.

“Singapore’s greatest story teller”

[expand title=”In detail”] She has a PhD in Applied Linguistics and was recently awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Literature by Murdoch University, Australia. She contributes social and political commentaries to local and foreign newspapers and magazines.[/expand]

[expand title=”What she offers you”]Catherine offers audiences many colourful insights into modern day Singapore. She also offers great insight into the tensions that exist between the old Asian traditions and the newer progressive approach of the young professionals[/expand]

[expand title=”How she presents”]With characteristic verve and wit, Catherine Lim’s presentations are beautifully delivered and captivate audiences from around the globe.[/expand]
Continue Reading »