2018 Concordia Annual Summit to feature Jennifer Lawrence, Michel Temer, Kristalina Georgieva, among others

NEW YORK, Sept. 10, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Serving as the largest nonpartisan convening alongside the United Nations General Assembly, the 2018 Concordia Annual Summit will be held on September 24-25 at the Grand Hyatt New York. Concordia today announces its second round of speakers, as well as its latest programming sponsors and partners.

The 2018 Concordia Annual Summit will hear from the following speakers: Jennifer Lawrence, Oscar-Winning Actor and Board Member of Represent.Us; Michel Temer, President of Brazil; Kristalina Georgieva, CEO of the World Bank; Bernard-Henri Lévy, Philosopher, Filmmaker, and Activist; Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber; Danilo Medina, President of the Dominican Republic; Dr. Tom Coburn, Former Member of the United States Senate; Bradford L. Smith, President of Microsoft; Luis Almagro, Secretary General of the Organization of American States; Lorena Castillo de Varela, First Lady of the Republic of Panama; Liz Schrayer, President & CEO of U.S. Global Leadership Coalition; Thomas F. “Mack” McLarty, III, Former White House Chief of Staff under Clinton Administration; Thomas S. Kaplan, Environmentalist, Philanthropist, and Investor; Andrew Liveris, Former Chairman & CEO of Dow Chemical; David Batstone, Co-Founder of Just Business, Not For Sale, REBBL, Dignita & Z Shoes Organic; Michael Sneed, Executive Vice President of Global Corporate Affairs & Chief Communication Officer at Johnson & Johnson; HRH Princess Lamia Al Saud, Secretary General and Member of the Board of Trustees at Alwaleed Philanthropies; Jan Saumweber, Senior Vice President of Responsible Sourcing at Walmart; Premal Shah, President & Co-Founder of Kiva; Jay Collins; Vice Chairman of Corporate & Investment Banking at Citi.

Concordia Leadership Council Members Dr. Ian Bremmer, President & Founder of Eurasia Group and GZERO Media, Senator George J. Mitchell, Former Majority Leader of the United States Senate & U.S. Special Envoy For Middle East Peace, Ambassador John Negroponte, Former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State & U.S. Director of National Intelligence, and H.E. Laura Chinchilla, Former President of the Republic of Costa Rica are also confirmed to speak. For a full list of confirmed speakers to date, click here.

Through its bold and inclusive nature, the Concordia Annual Summit will provide an innovative global forum through which to debate pressing global issues through the lens of collaboration. This year’s programming will cover diverse ground, from the rise of populism and the urgent need to engage the political middle to the outlook for global development. One area of focus this year will be the future of the workforce. With internet platforms and online technology entering uncharted territory over recent years, and with today’s rapid transition towards artificial intelligence and automation, traditional employment models are continually being disrupted. As this evolution continues, the need to keep pace with technological revolutions is more crucial than ever before. Concordia is partnering with Postmates, the leading on-demand delivery service, to provide a robust examination of today’s ever-changing employment models and establish cross-sector solutions towards stackable and portable benefits in order to address urgent needs in the future of work.

Continuing conversations from the Global Mayors Summit, hosted at last year’s 2017 Annual Summit, Concordia is also partnering with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to explore how the private sector can play a pivotal role in helping refugees rebuild the lives they had before fleeing war and persecution. By analyzing various displacement and resettlement contexts, the Annual Summit will also examine the unparalleled, multifaceted benefits of education to refugees, resulting in a series of concrete action steps that can be taken by companies and foundations in order to invest in sustainable development.

Concordia is partnering with The Octavian Report, the quarterly magazine of ideas, covering foreign policy, finance and economics, innovation, literature, art, and culture, to bring a special collaborative issue to the Concordia Annual Summit. The publication will be distributed to all attendees of the Annual Summit and will feature a diverse range of insightful perspectives and contributions from members of the Octavian and Concordia communities.

Concordia’s 2018 Programming Partners include: Americares, Atlantic Council, Lazarex Cancer Foundation, Women Political Leaders Global Forum (WPL), UNHCR, Innovadores de América, Xcala, The B Team, U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, Open Society Foundations, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), and Panorama.

Concordia’s 2018 Programming Sponsors include: Postmates, Uber, Arton Capital, Thomson Reuters, Millennium Challenge Corporation, Comcast, Walmart, Union Maritime, PMI, and H&M Foundation.

Additional Programming Partners and Sponsors will be announced over the coming weeks.

To purchase a ticket to attend the 2018 Concordia Annual Summit, click here.

To cover the Annual Summit as a member of the press, register here. 

ABOUT CONCORDIA: 

Concordia is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to actively fostering, elevating, and sustaining cross-sector partnerships for social impact. Concordia was founded in 2011 by Matthew A. Swift and Nicholas M. Logothetis.

Media contact: Rita Lockheart, media@concordia.net.