Lord Ara Darzi
Lord Ara Darzi of Denham is Director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London and holds the Paul Hamlyn Chair of Surgery. Named in TIME100 Health 2025, he is an internationally recognised academic, surgeon, and leader in global health policy. He is also a former UK Health Minister (2007-09). In his role as Executive Chair of […]
Joe Studwell
Joe Studwell worked as a journalist and author in east Asia for 25 years. He was the founding editor of the China Economic Quarterly and co-founder of the Asian research firm Dragonomics, now GaveKal Dragonomics. Joe is the author of three books about East Asia, two of which were long-listed for the Financial Times Business Book of the Year. One […]
Jad Abumrad
Jad Abumrad is a composer, artist, and journalist. He is the creator of Radiolab, Dolly Parton’s America, Fela Kuti: Fear No Man, and many other podcasts, which collectively have been downloaded over a billion times. He has been called a “master of the radio craft” for his unique ability to combine cutting-edge sound design, cinematic storytelling, and a personal approach […]
Wawira Njiru
Wawira Njiru is a social innovator and enterprise leader who has spent more than a decade structuring, financing, and operating large-scale public food systems. As the founder and CEO of Food4Education, she is redefining how governments, investors, and philanthropists invest in the world’s largest reserve of human capital: African children. Food4Education works alongside families, schools, smallholder farmers, and governments to […]
Jamal Eltaeb
Dr. Jamal Eltaeb is an orthopaedic surgeon, head of traumatology, and General Director of Al Nao Hospital in Omdurman, Sudan. Amid Sudan’s devastating civil war and the near-total collapse of the country’s health system, Dr. Eltaeb has kept Al Nao Hospital operating as one of the last functioning referral hospitals in greater Khartoum—a testament to his resilience and leadership under […]
Dixon Chibanda
Dixon Chibanda is a Zimbabwean psychiatrist and the founder of Friendship Bench, a community mental health programme that has reshaped how the world thinks about closing the treatment gap in low-resource settings. He is a practising medical doctor and professor of psychiatry and Global Mental Health at the University of Zimbabwe and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, […]
Houda Ghozzi
Houda Ghozzi is the founder and CEO of Open Startup International (OST), an NGO that fosters innovation ecosystems with a focus on building linkages with academia. OST works with Columbia University and MIT to grow and connect ecosystems in Africa with the US, Europe and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. After a decade operating in Africa and supporting more […]
Edgar Pieterse
Edgar Pieterse is founding director of the African Centre for Cities (ACC) at the University of Cape Town. He publishes different kinds of text, curates exhibitions, as well as difficult conversations about pressing urban problems. He is co-founder of CS Studios with Tau Tavengwa, and his latest publication is the co-authored book Cities Rethought: A New Urban Disposition (Polity, 2025). […]
Nicholas Crisp
Nicholas Crisp is a medical doctor and public health medicine specialist, and an Honorary Professor in Public Health Medicine at the University of Pretoria. He spent 15 years in Limpopo, progressing from intern to Medical Officer, Hospital Superintendent, Regional Director for Northern Transvaal, and then Superintendent General of the Department of Health and Welfare (1995–1999). Nicholas then worked as a […]
Jovia Kisaakye
Jovia Kisaakye is a Ugandan biotechnology innovator, circular economy entrepreneur, and Founder of Ecobed Biotech. Ecobed pioneers the transformation of spoiled milk and other food waste into useful products, including mosquito-repellent skincare solutions, sustainable fuel additives, and biodegradable packaging materials, demonstrating how overlooked waste streams can become drivers of environmental and economic transformation. Beyond biotechnology, Jovia is leading the development […]
Yemi Dele Akinyemi
Yemi Akinyemi is a Czech-Nigerian serial entrepreneur and multidisciplinary creative force with over two decades of experience across entertainment, arts, and technology, driven by a commitment to social innovation and youth empowerment. He was selected to join SpaceX’s dearMoon mission, the world’s first civilian lunar orbit journey. He is the founder of Moonshot Platform Inc., a U.S. based nonprofit that […]