The leadership of the Global Hope Coalition is composed of men and women from various backgrounds and cultures, united in the conviction that extremism and intolerance pose a grave threat to the future of our children, shared cultural heritage, and intercultural relations. This threat can only be overcome through the mobilization of civil society forces, international organizations and the private sector working in tandem with Member States of the United Nations.
Global Leadership Council
Irina Bokova
Director-General of UNESCO, Honorary President
Wided Bouchamaoui
Nobel Peace Laureate, President of the Tunisian Union of Industry, Trade Handicrafts (UTICA)
Lakhdar Brahimi
Former Algerian Foreign Minister and United Nations Peace Envoy
Demet Sabanci Cetindogan
Founder and President of the One Foundation, Turkey
Amb. Wendy Chamberlin
President of the Middle East Institute
Amb. Esther Coopersmith
Goodwill Ambassador of UNESCO
Meera Gandhi
Founder and CEO of the Giving Back Foundation
Tarja Kaarina Halonen
Former President of Finland
Prof. David Khalili
Founder of the Khalili Collections, President of Maimonides Interfaith Foundation
Dr. Richard Kurin
Distinguished Scholar and Ambassador at Large, Smithsonian Institution
Aleksander Kwaśniewski
Former President of Poland
Amb. Ronald S. Lauder
President of World Jewish Congress
Francine LeFrak
Harvard Women’s Leadership Board
Deborah Lehr
Chairman of the Antiquities Coalition
Jack Ma
Executive Chairman of the Alibaba Group
Amin Maalouf
Acclaimed author, member of the French Academy
Emily Rafferty
President Emerita of the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art
Catherine Reynolds
Founder and CEO of the Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation
John Rogers
Executive Vice President, Goldman Sachs; Deputy Secretary of State (1991-1993)
Baron Eric de Rothschild
Banker and philanthropist
Kailash Satyarthi
Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Founder of the Bachpan Bachao Andolan (Save the Children Movement) in India
Gillian Sorensen
Advanced Leadership Initiative Fellow at Harvard University, former Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations
Amb. Marianna Vardinoyannis
President of the Marianna V. Vardinoyannis Foundation
Li Yongjun
President of Yong Xin Hua Yun Cultural Industry Group, China
Foundation Organization
The Global Hope Coalition is based in New York and aligned with two sister organizations—Global Hope Coalition Europe, based in Zurich, and Global Hope Coalition Asia, based in Hong Kong.
Honorary President:
Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO
U.S. Chairman:
Deborah Lehr, Chairman of the Antiquities Coalition
Asia Chairman:
Li Yongjun, President of Yong Xin Hua Yun Cultural Industry Group, China
Global Coordinator:
Abe Radkin, Special advisor to UNESCO Director-General, Executive Director of Project Aladdin
Counsel and Legal Affairs:
Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher (New York)
Bär & Karrer (Zurich)