Nashville. International leaders in business, academia, finance, culture, government, foundations, and nonprofits will convene on December 7-8 for the 2021 Global Action Summit, hosted by Fareed Zakaria (CNN), to reimagine global food, health, and economic systems in the light of challenges and deficiencies revealed by COVID.
The 2021 Global Action Summit will be presented for the first time as a virtual event. The timing at the end of 2021 is designed to provide an opportunity to synthesize major findings of the year, connect initiatives, and to frame a new solutions-oriented agenda to create more resilient and inclusive food, health, and economic systems.
The Summit engages the world's most influential thinkers in business, academia, capital markets, government, and international nonprofits working on adaptive solutions to reimagine food, health, and economics in our COVID-disrupted world. Among the program partners are
- GALLUP
- World Bank
- United Nations
- Oxfam
- UC Davis
- Vanderbilt University
- Harvard Business School
- Ernst and Young (EY)
- FINN Partners
- Rotary international
- Oak Ridge Affiliated Universities
- Social Progress Imperative in London, among others.
A partial list of speakers includes,
- Fareed Zakaria (CNN), Host and Moderator
- Jon Clifton, Global Managing Partner, GALLUP
- Jackie VanderBrug, Managing Director, Head of Sustainable and Impact Investment Strategy, Merrill and Bank of America Private Bank
- Abby Maxman, President, Oxfam America
- Deborah Bossio, Lead Soil Scientist, The Nature Conservancy (TNC), and the main lead of the Foodscapes Report.
- Michael Green, President, Social Progress Imperative
- Christine Daugherty, Deputy Director, Business Development & Licensing, Gates Foundation
- Maaza Seyoum, African Coordinator, People’s Vaccine Alliance; Partnership Lead, African Alliance
- Bruce Gellin, Chief of Public Health Strategy, Rockefeller Foundation
- Mary Lou Valdez, Deputy Director, PAHO, U.S. Representative to WHO
- Khalid Abu-ismail, Senior Economist, UN-ESCWA
- Elizabeth Usovicz, Rotary International
- Howard-Yana Shapiro, Former Chief Agricultural Officer, Mars; Resilient Landscapes, Principal
- Rob Dongoski, Global Agribusiness Lead, EY
- Dr. Julio Frenk, President, University of Miami
- Joxel Garcia, 14th Assistant Secretary for Health, and US Representative, World Health Organization during SARS Epidemic
- Scott Miller, President and CEO, Circles USA
- Efoso Ojomo, Global Prosperity Lead Researcher, Christensen Institute, Harvard Business School
The Summit will also include release of major new reports and announcements for the launch of new initiatives. Through a new partnership with Oak Ridge, the Summit program will be used as the foundation for the creation of a new research agenda to solve problems in the food/health/prosperity nexus through the work of the National Lab and their network of 127 affiliated research universities.
The overall objective is to conduct an end-of-year synthesis of findings and recommendations for action that can strengthen the local and global food, health, and economic systems as we continue to adapt and move beyond the impact of the pandemic. We anticipate an international audience of approximately 1,500 senior leaders from around the world for the invitation-only event.
About Global Action Summit
The Global Action Summit is the most dynamic, agile, innovative and fastest growing forum for today’s global leaders in food, health, and prosperity. The Summit is designed to inform and mobilize leadership for scalable, sustainable solutions for abundant food, health, and prosperity and is convened by Global Action Platform.
About Global Action Platform
Global Action Platform is the leading university-business alliance to advance scalable, sustainable solutions for abundant food, health, and prosperity. Global Action Platform serves as a think tank and convener for urban innovation hubs linking universities, investors, and business and also serves as the strategic nonprofit partner for the development of a comprehensive rural development model based in the Caraga region of the Philippines.