Source: MIL-OSI Submissions
YouTube CEO, UN Secretary-General’s Envoy for Youth, APEC Executive Director and Emmy-nominated Journalist among speaker line up at APEC Voices of the Future 2021
The impressive line-up of business, economic and political speakers who have been secured for APEC Voices of the Future 2021 event in November includes YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, APEC Secretariat Executive Director Dr Rebecca Fatima Sta Maria, UN Secretary-General’s Envoy for Youth Jayathma Wickramanayake and Al Jazeera correspondent Wayne Hay.
The programme will also feature a range of young speakers from business, politics, academia and youth movements, bringing their distinctive perspectives to the issues.
The annual Voices of the Future event brings together 18 to 24-year-olds from across the APEC region to discuss the big issues facing the world and have their voices heard by APEC leaders. The event is on November 9 and 10 and is part of APEC Leaders’ Week, the culmination of New Zealand’s hosting of APEC 2021. Voices of the Future will be livestreamed free and people can register on Facebook or LinkedIn to watch all the action.
This year’s event has a record number of APEC economies attending, generating the largest turn-out in the event’s 23-year history. Delegates will hear from a wide range of speakers on the event’s four key themes – International Co-operation to Combat COVID-19, The Digital Future, A Greener Future, and A Future for All.
At the end of the event, the delegates will present their Youth Declaration to the Chair of APEC, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
The speaker line-up includes:
YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki – Susan is CEO of YouTube, the world’s most popular digital video platform used by over two billion people across the globe to access information, share video, and shape culture. An early champion of online video who was instrumental in Google’s 2006 acquisition of YouTube, Susan now oversees YouTube’s content and business operations, engineering, and product development. Susan was named to Time’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2015, and “the most powerful woman on the internet.”
Executive Director of the APEC Secretariat Dr Rebecca Fatima Sta Maria – a former civil servant and trade negotiator in Malaysia, she is now based in Singapore where she heads the Secretariat that provides support for APEC’s 21 diverse member economies.
Emmy-nominated Al Jazeera Asia correspondent Wayne Hay – the former TVNZ journalist has been covering the Asia Pacific region for Al Jazeera for 15 years, reporting on everything from international summits to coups and natural disasters.
Regional Director of The Asia Foundation’s Environment Progammes Kim DeRidder – with 40 years’ leadership in the region, Kim now oversees programme development and implementation of all Foundation activities related to the environment, including climate change, natural resources management, green growth development, and disaster risk management.
AUT Professor of Diversity Edwina Pio – the Fulbright alumna is the university’s director of diversity, and professor of diversity in the Faculty of Business, Economics and Law. She is New Zealand’s first and only professor of diversity, and is also a visiting professor at Boston College, USA, and Cambridge University, UK.
About APEC Voices New Zealand: New Zealand is the host of APEC in 2021, and is partnering with AUT, the Voices NZ Trust and the APEC Voices Secretariat in Singapore to deliver the APEC Voices of the Future 2021 programme. The APEC Voices New Zealand programme was launched in 2004 with funding from the Fletcher Foundation. This enabled their first delegation to travel to Chile. For five years the Voices Trust held national events to select four students to represent New Zealand. Throughout, a number of New Zealand universities and Te Puni Kokiri (TPK) have been strong supporters of the programme by selecting and funding students to represent New Zealand at the international events now organised by the APEC Voice Secretariat, Singapore.
About AUT: Auckland University of Technology (AUT) is one of the world’s best modern universities. Home to more than 29,000 students across three campuses, AUT leads Australasia in global research impact, with over 60 research centres and institutes delivering leading research – from artificial intelligence to robotics, and ecology to public health. As a contemporary university, AUT is connected to an extraordinary range of organisations worldwide; sharing expertise and resources, collaborating on ground-breaking research, and connecting students with industry leaders and employers. Learn more about AUT
