Resilience in shared experiences

2020 will go down in history as one of the most pivotal times that humankind ever experienced.

It's been a time that has unearthed the inequality and inequities across the World but also a time that has revealed deep resolve and resiliency. As we isolate in response to the pandemic, we have witnessed global movements of unity at unprecedented scales. We have all struggled and found ourselves in new situations where we have had to adapt.

We curate conversations of our shared experiences, lessons learned, new solutions, new ideas, and stories of how we adapted and how these can propel us to create a more inclusive and equitable future for all.

Our Agenda

Tuesday, March 2

06:00 PM (EST): What’s Next in Rural Politics? A Conversation with Women in Agriculture Leadership

• Congresswoman Cheri Bustos, Illinois’s 17th Congressional District Representative

• Senator Heidi Heitkamp, Former North Dakota Senator (2013-2019)

Thursday, March 4

05:00 PM (EST): Isolation and Inspiration - Staying Creative in The Pandemic

• Susan Cattaneo, Award-winning Singer/Songwriter and Songwriting Professor at Berklee College of Music

• Carla Dirlikov Canales (Session Facilitator), Classical singer & entrepreneur, Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative Fellow

06:00 PM (EST): What do we mean when we say RISE? by Jacqueline BHABHA

07:30PM (EST): Speed Networking with the Conference on Gender and International Affairs at Fletcher

Friday, March 5

08:00 AM (EST): Happy Hour - Women Applying to Harvard

11:30 AM (EST): Rural Resilience: Women Leading From the Grassroots, An International Discussion On Gender, Advocacy, And Rural Social Change

• Mazé MORAIS, Family Farmer, Leader in Community Organizations, Youth Ministry and the Brazilian Rural Workers Union (MSTTR)

• Manisha MASHAAL, Anti-Caste Activist, Human Rights Lawyer And Founder of the Maha Dalit Mahila Andolan and Swabhiman Society

• Dr. Aleta BORRUD, Activist In Rural Minnesota

• Andrea P. SOSA VARROTTI, Postdoctoral Researcher for the CONICET at National University of San Martin, Argentina

• Vickie OLDMAN, Co-Manager of Seven Sisters Community Development Group in New Mexico

06:00 PM (EST): Happy Hour - Women Applying to Harvard

Saturday, March 6

09:00 AM (EST): Welcome Address by Conference Co-Chairs and Faculty Advisors

10:00 AM (EST): Negotiating Gender, Combating Climate Change: Women and Climate Crisis

• Halla LOGADOTTIR, Co-Founder and Co-Director, Arctic Initiative, Harvard Kennedy School

• Tina LATIF, Negotiator for the Paris Climate Agreement

• Rumaitha AL-BUSAIDI (Moderator), Director of Projects and Environmental Affairs for Oman’s fisheries investment arm, Fisheries Development Oman

10:00 AM (EST): Building Resilience through Digital Travel Trends & Sustainability

• Rashmi CHADHA, Founder & CEO, wovoyage & SheInTourism

• Anna ALAMAN, CEO, Open Eyes India

10:00 AM (EST): Quick & Easy Flavorful Creations by Sara SAEED, Founder, Orientable

10:00 AM (EST): Civil Mobilization: The Women Leading Today’s Social Movements

• Leah GREENBERG, Founder And Executive Director of Indivisible

• Greisa MARTINEZ ROSA, Executive Director, United We Dream

• Erica CHENOWETH (Moderator), Professor in Human Rights and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

11:00 AM (EST): Wartime Sexual Violence: Survivor Recovery and Resiliency

• Philipp SCHULZ, Post-Doctoral Researcher, University of Bremen, Institute for Intercultural and International Studies

• Kim Thuy SEELINGER, Research Associate Professor, Washington University in St Louis

• Christina LAMB, Chief Foreign Correspondent, The Sunday Times of London

• Binalakshmi NEPRAM, Indigenous Scholar and Woman Human Rights Defender

• Dara Kay COHEN (Moderator), Ford Foundation Associate Professor of Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School

11:00 AM (EST): Male Allyship: What Does It Mean and How Can You Embrace It?

• Dr. W. Brad JOHNSON, Professor of Psychology, U.S. Naval Academy

• Dr. David G. SMITH, Professor of Sociology, U.S. Naval War College

• Dr. Tsedale M. MELAKU, Sociologist and Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, CUNY

• Anuradha DAS MATHUR, Founder and Dean, Vedica Scholars Programme for Women

11:00 AM (EST): Creatively Adapting New Techniques & Strategies in the Time of COVID-19 by Mariah KENNEDY CUOMO, Senior Associate at Teneo Holdings

12:00 PM (EST): Debiasing the workplace with Iris BOHNET, Academic Dean of Harvard Kennedy School

12:00 PM (EST): Live Curiously and Dream Ambitiously with Raha MOHARRAK

12:00 PM (EST): The Female Entrepreneurship Toolkit

• Uche PEDRO, Founder, BellaNaija

• Samlara BAAH, Founder, Loo Works

• Sylvana Q. SINHA, Founder & CEO, Praava Health

01:30 PM (EST): Leading with Resilience by Daria NASHAT, Co-Founder of ‘Women in Politics’

02:00 PM (EST): Women in Economics: Stories of Life and Resilience

• Marcella ALSAN, M.D. MPH Ph.D.

• Dr. Suzanne COOPER, Academic Dean for Teaching & Curriculum at HKS

• Dr. Pinar DOGAN, Lecturer in Public Policy at HKS

02:00 PM (EST): For the Love of Men: From Toxic to a More Mindful Masculinity with Elizabeth PLANK, Author & Award-Winning Journalist

03:00 PM (EST): Strength & Flexibility of Tokyo’s Olympians & Paralympians: Resiliency During Postponement

• Haydy Morsey, Egypt, Pentathlon (and hopefully fencing)

• Nicky Nieves, USA, Sitting Volleyball

• Katarina Roxon, Canada, Paralympic Swimming

• Sarah Davies, United Kingdom, Weightlifting

• Jane McManus (Moderator), World-renowned sports columnist, Director of Sports Communication, Marist

03:00 PM (EST): Youth Activism & Civic Engagement

• Audrey McNEAL, Winner of Princeton University’s Prize in Race Relations and Student, Barnard College of Columbia University

• KaYesu MACHAYO, Generation Google Scholar 2020, President of Girls Who Code College Loops and Computer Science Major, George Washington University

• Jamie SHARKEN (Moderator), Digital Communications Specialist, Harvard University Graduate School of Education

04:00 PM (EST): Resilience of African Women with H.E. Arikana CHIHOMORI-QUOA, M.D., Founder, President & CEO, ADDI

04:00 PM (EST): Why We Must Stop Dancing To The Sound Of Our Own Oppression by Madame Gandhi, Artist and Activist and moderated by Zoe BULGER, Consultant at the Bridgespan Group

05:00 PM (EST): Rising Together to End Sexual Harassment

• Sarah WALD, Senior Policy Advisor and Chief of Staff to the Dean, Harvard Kennedy School

• Diane ROSENFELD, Lecturer on Law and Director, Gender Violence Program, Harvard Law School

• Isabelle Wijangco, Candidate, Doctor of Medicine and Masters of Public Policy, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Kennedy School

05:00 PM (EST): Beauty Inside Out

• Aishetu DOZIE, Founder & CEO, Bossy Cosmetics

• Rooshy ROY, Co-Founder & CEO, AAVRANI

06:00 PM (EST): How To Create a Custom Maskne (Mask Acne) Skincare Routine by Haneen Hindi, Founder, the Skincare Memo

06:00 PM (EST): Claiming Space At The Workplace

• Alicia BASSUK, Special Advisor To Individuals and Teams

• Rufina GARAY, Executive Leadership Coach, Business Consultant and Strategist

06:00 PM (EST): Research-Based Negotiation Strategies for Women by Joan MOON, Founder, Moon Negotiation LLC and Senior Consultant at Deloitte GPS - Intended for negotiation discovers

Sunday, March 7

09:00 AM (EST): Welcome Address by Co-Chairs & Advisors

09:45 AM (EST): Jam With the World’s Youngest Female DJ, Michelle RASUL

10:00 AM (EST): Top US Women in Defense: Rising in the Ranks of the Ultimate Boy’s Club

Brought to you by Belfer Center, and Co-sponsored with HKS W3D

11:00 AM (EST): My Experience in the Coronavirus Hotel in Jerusalem and Many Other Shenanigans in the Middle East by Noam SHUSTER, Comedian and Peacebuilder, and moderated by Samer HJOUJ, Education Consultant - Palestine

11:00 AM (EST): Leading Women: Resilience in Crisis

• Linda HENRY, CEO of Boston Globe Media Partners

• Joy TAN, Senior Vice President, Public Affairs, Huawei Technologies USA

• Rebecca CHATMAN, Vice-President and Coordinating Producer, Olympic Production

• Kate ARTHURS (Moderator), Global Director of Arts for the British Council

11:00 AM (EST): Navigating Identity, Fighting Hate, And Promoting Respect, A Conversation with Elif Shafak and Farah Pandith

• Elif SHAFAK (Moderator), Award-Winning British-Turkish Novelist

• Farah PANDITH, Senior Fellow, Future of Diplomacy Project, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School, Author of “How We Win”

• Marta Hanson (Session Facilitator), Candidate, Mid-Career Masters of Public Administration, Harvard Kennedy School

12:00 PM (EST): Beyond Female Firsts: Pushing Women’s Leadership Forward

• Cristine RUSSELL, Award-Winning Science Journalist

• Stela Bivol (Moderator), Jane Jie Sun Women in Global Health LEAD Fellow, Visiting Scientist at Harvard University

12:00 PM (EST): Women Medical Practitioners and their Courageous Fight Against the COVID-19 Pandemic

• Dr. Diala STEITIEH, Cardiology Fellow at Weill Cornell Medicine, New York Presbyterian Hospital

• Niamh DALY, Registered nurse at New York Presbyterian Hospital – Weill Cornel

• Kimberly WHALEN, Nursing Practice Specialist in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital

• Katherine Latham (Moderator), Medical Student, Harvard Medical School

02:00 PM (EST): Hotseat: Women Running Cities in COVID-19

• Satya Rhodes-Conway, 58th Mayor of Madison

• Indya Kincannon, 69th Mayor of Knoxville

• Michelle DE LA ISLA, Mayor of Topeka, running as a Democratic candidate for U.S. Congress in Kansas’s Second District

03:00 PM (EST): Male Allyship & Mentorship in Educational Spaces & Beyond

• Dr. Timothy McCARTHY, Lecturer on Education and Public Policy, and Core Faculty, Carr Center for Human Rights Policy

• Dr. Zoe MARKS, Lecturer in Public Policy at HKS

• Eric ROSENBACH, Director of HKS’ Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

• Eva Wolfangel (Moderator), Science and Tech Journalist

03:00 PM (EST): Women in Medicine: On the Front Lines, in collaboration with Brigham & Women’s Hospital

• Soha BAYOUMI, Lecturer in the Department of the History of Science, Harvard University

• Dr. Nawal NOUR, Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital

• Dr. Maria Montes, Surgeon, Tecnológico de Monterrey

• Dr. Ranjana Srivastava (Co-Moderator), Candidate, Mid-Career Masters of Public Administration, Oncologist

• Dr. Linda AROGUNDADE (Co-Moderator), Candidate, Mid-Career Masters of Public Administration, Physician

04:00 PM (EST): Leadership, Advocacy, and the Divine: Women in (Inter)Faith Leadership in the Time of COVID

• Rabbi Lori KOFFMAN, Director of Engagement and Innovation for the USCJ

• Sui Lang PANOKE, Founder, Rethink International; SVP, Diversity. Equity. Inclusion, Zions Bank

• Olga Marina SEGURA, Opinion and Culture Editor at the National Catholic Reporter

• Dr. Homayra ZIAD, Writer, Dreamer, Scholar-Activist, and Mother

04:00 PM (EST): Tightrope: Working-Class Women Reaching For Hope with Sheryl WuDUNN, Business Executive, Writer, Lecturer, and Pulitzer Prize Winner

04:00 PM (EST): Problems And Promises of COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout, with W3D

• Dr. Rebecca KATZ, Ph.D., M.P.H., Professor, and Director of the Center for Global Health Science and Security at Georgetown University

• Cynthia KEYSER, New York City Mayor’s Office COVID-19 Vaccine Senior Advisor

• Dr. Syra MADAD, Public Health Leader And Epidemiologist

05:00 PM (EST): Define Your Brand: Build Credibility & Visibility by Rachael BOZSIK, Thought Leadership Coach and International Keynote Speaker

05:00 PM (EST): Decolonizing U.S. Indigenous Maternal Health: Past, Pandemic, and Future

• Amanda BANNAN, Oglala Lakota, Health Educator on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota

• Cindy GAMBLE, MPH, CLC, Tlingit of the Kaax’oos.hittaan, Tribal Community Health Consultant

• Summer LUNDERMAN, Tribally Enrolled Member Of The Sicangu Lakota Oyate (Rosebud Sioux Tribe)

06:00 PM (EST): Closing remarks & reception

06:30 PM (EST): Official Afterparty with Hoe_mies, the German-based DJ-Duo - Live performance by Lucie LUCIANO & Gizem ADIYAMAN

Monday, March 8

3:00 PM (EST): Advancing Women’s Leadership in G20 Countries by Gaia VAN DER ESCH, Sherpa G20 EMPOWER, Policy Expert & Writer