University for a Night 2005

University for a Night 2005 Plenary Speakers

The opening plenary set the stage for the evening's discussions. Moderated by Synergos' Founder and Chair Peggy Dulany, it featured five speakers:

Corazon C. Aquino, former President of the Philippines and Chairperson of the Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. Foundation (read biography)

James D. Wolfensohn, former President of The World Bank and Special Envoy for Gaza Disengagement for the Quartet Principals (read biography)


Hafsat Abiola-Costello is a human rights and democracy activist from Nigeria. She comes from a family of dedicated Pan-Africanists and courageous fighters for freedom and justice. Her father, M.K.O. Abiola, won the 1993 Nigerian presidential election but served out his term incarcerated by the military. He died in prison, on the eve of his release.

If women increasingly have their voices heard in spaces in the decision-making across Africa, we will be able to meet the Millennium Development Goals. We will be able to address poverty and all the other issues that affect the continent.
Her mother, Kudirat, was a democracy leader who organized major strikes, marches and fought assiduously against the military. In 1996, she was assassinated in the streets of Lagos. To continue the legacy left by her parents, Mrs. Abiola-Costello founded and directs the Kudirat Initiative for Democracy (KIND), which seeks to strengthen civil society and promote democracy in Nigeria through advocacy in that country and abroad. With the end of military rule, KIND now offers organizational support, leadership development and skills training opportunities to women, youths and communitybased organizations in Nigeria as well as other countries in Africa. Mrs. Abiola- Costello is also involved in the global movement to empower youth and women as well as strengthen democracy: she was a founding member of the State of the World Forum's Emerging Leaders Program and Global Youth Connect. She serves on the boards of the Youth Employment Summit, Educate Girls Globally, Women's Learning Partnership, Hewlett Packard's World e- Inclusion Project and the Global Security Institute. She holds a degree from Harvard University and is a recipient of awards including the Youth Peace and Justice Award and the State of the World Forum Changemaker Award.

Robert H. Dunn will become President and CEO of The Synergos Institute on November 3. He is a founder of Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) and has served as its Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. BSR is a nonprofit membership organization of major global companies that promotes more ethical, responsible and sustainable policies and

More than any time in our history, the three sectors -- government, business and civil society -- are coming together, putting their assets and resources on the table and working together to solve problems. We don’t view problems as being the purview only of government, or only of civil society or only of the private sector
practices. Its members have combined annual revenues of nearly $2 trillion and employ more than six million people. Mr. Dunn has also served as an advisor, member or board member of other groups working on business responsibility, including the Forum for Business Responsibility in the Americas, the International Advisory Committee to Instituto Ethos (Brazil), the Center for Responsible Business at the Haas School of Business at UC-Berkeley, and Israel Business for Social Responsibility. He has also provided counsel to governmental, intergovernmental and nonprofit organizations. He received Amnesty International's Media Spotlight Award for work on human rights. Prior to joining BSR full-time, Dunn was Vice President for Corporate Affairs at Levi Strauss & Co., playing a leadership role in the development of the company's groundbreaking Global Code of Conduct as well as programs addressing AIDS, community economic development and racial discrimination. Mr. Dunn spent 10 years in the public sector, serving in the Carter White House, the US Embassy in Mexico City and as Chief of Staff for the Governor of Wisconsin. He has also been a Dean and faculty member at Wesleyan University and is a lecturer at the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University.

Dr. Surakiart Sathirathai is Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand, where he oversees foreign affairs, education and culture. He has been nominated by the Royal Thai Government as candidate for UN Secretary- General when Kofi Annan completes his term at the end of 2006 and his candidacy has been endorsed by the Leaders of ASEAN. Dr. Surakiart began his career as an academic at Chulalongkorn University, where he served as Director of the Research Centre for Law and Development, as

The approach that we have adopted is focusing on the issue of ownership and empowerment. Ownership is very important, because you have to make sure that the poor feel that they are part of the solution, not a part of the problem. Empowerment is very important, because it will make the poverty reduction sustainable.
Vice- Dean for Foreign Relations and later as Dean. He holds degrees from Chulalongkorn and Harvard Universities. In government, he has held key positions under several Prime Ministers. Among his early achievements in government was helping to bring about a peaceful settlement to the long-lingering Cambodian issue of 1988 to 1991. Dr. Surakiart was Finance Minister in 1995-96 and Foreign Minister in 2001-2005, in both cases being the youngest person inThai history to serve in these positions. The economic policies he promoted as Finance Minister remain the basis for Thailand's economic policies. In the business world, he has held a range of senior positions, including as Chairman of the Executive Board, Thai Oil Co., Ltd. and Chairman of the Board of Laem Thong Bank Public Company Limited. In his work in government and more broadly, Dr. Surakiart emphasizes the use of multilateral approaches and partnerships to pursue the Millennium Development Goals in Thailand and internationally, to promote global free trade and regional cooperation, to combat anti-personnel landmines and human trafficking, and to help safeguard the rights of women and the needs of the elderly and youth.