Jacinda Ardern
Prime Minister of New Zealand (2017 – 2023); Patron, Christchurch Call Foundation; Board Member, The Earthshot Prize; Founder, Field Fellowship for Empathetic Leadership.
The Right Honourable Dame Jacinda Ardern served as the 40th Prime Minister of New Zealand.
Assuming office at just 37, Ms Ardern championed an inclusive and empathetic leadership style that made bold policy change and successfully guided her nation through unprecedented global and domestic challenges.
Responding with a people-first approach grounded in kindness, she helped New Zealand achieve one of the lowest losses of life during the COVID-19 pandemic among developed nations, instituted a ban on military-style semi-automatic weapons, and created the Christchurch Call to Eliminate Violent Extremism Online, for which she remains an active Patron.
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A champion of women’s empowerment, Ms Ardern saw New Zealand reach a historic 50 percent representation of women in Parliament, and on government appointed boards. Her administration also decriminalized abortion, strengthened pay equity laws, and extended paid parental leave to six months. Ms Ardern is the second woman in history to give birth while leading a country.
Today, Ms. Ardern continues to hold roles that allow her to “be useful” including as a Member of the World Leaders Circle and a Distinguished Fellow at the Blavatnik School at Oxford University. She is an active advocate for climate action, serving on the board of The Earthshot Prize and as a Distinguished Fellow at Conservation International, helping provide solutions to climate change and environmental challenges.
In 2024, Ms. Ardern founded Field, a first of its kind fellowship programme that fosters empathetic leadership in politics.
Lars Svendsen
Professor of philosophy, University of Bergen and Civita.
Lars is the author of numerous books on themes such as boredom, fear, freedom, evil, work, loneliness, and hope; his works have been translated into 35 languages. Known for combining academic rigor with an accessible essayistic style, he writes for both scholarly and general audiences.
In addition to his academic work, Svendsen is affiliated with the liberal think tank Civita and is an active public intellectual, contributing essays and commentary on contemporary cultural and political issues.
Ana Mosiashvili
Research and Programmes Manager, European Partnership for Democracy.
Ana holds a Master’s degree in International Human Rights Law and has hands-on experience in project management, research and advocacy in the fields of meaningful youth participation, youth work, social justice, gender mainstreaming and intersectionality.
Ana has worked with several national and international organisations, including Y-PEER Network, Caucasus Environmental NGO Network (CENN), European Confederation of Youth Clubs (ECYC), as well as a consultant for UNESCO, UNFPA and PMNCH.
Staffan I. Lindberg
Professor and Founding Director, V-Dem Institute.
Staffan I. Lindberg is a Professor and the Founding Director of both the V-Dem Institute and the DEMSCORE research infrastructure, as well as the PI for Varieties of Democracy and a Wallenberg Academy Fellow alumnus. In addition to co-authoring major works such as Varieties of Democracy (2020) and Why Democracies Develop and Decline (2022), he has published over 70 scientific articles and numerous policy-focused “think-pieces.”
Leveraging this expertise, he serves as a consultant and advisor to international organizations and ministries, acting as the principal author for the annual Democracy Report and the Case for Democracy series.
Jannicke Mikkelsen
Astronaut and filmmaker
Jannicke Mikkelsen is a “citizen of the arctic” and a visionary who redefined the boundaries of both science and storytelling. As the world’s first cinematographer in space and Norway’s first astronaut, she has dedicated her career to capturing perspectives that challenge our understanding of what is possible. In 2025, she made history by becoming the first Norwegian in orbit, a journey defined by the pursuit of clarity within chaos.
Her work with global organizations like NASA, the BBC, and Disney explores the transformative power of narrative and its ability to shape culture and courage. By pushing the limits of filmmaking in the world’s harshest environments – underwater, under ice, and beyond Earth – Mikkelsen offers a unique lens on the resilience required to lead when the margin for error is zero.
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Space missions require international collaboration, scientific trust, and disciplined communication under pressure, not dissimilar to the institutional trust and coordination challenges currently facing multilateral systems. Her reflections provide a perspective on shared risk, collective responsibility, and the importance of long term cooperation.
Mikkelsen’s remarks will serve as a reflective lens on how perspective influences leadership. The view from space does not prescribe policy, but it reframes the scale of our challenges and underscores the necessity of collaboration across generations, sectors, and borders.
Kamzy Gunaratnam
Norwegian Parliament Member and former Deputy Mayor of Oslo.
Kamzy Gunaratnam is a Norwegian politician and advocate for democracy, inclusion, and peacebuilding. Born in Sri Lanka and raised in Oslo, she survived the 22 July 2011 terror attack on Utøya and has since become a leading voice against extremism and hate. Kamzy served as Deputy Mayor of Oslo (2015–2021) and is currently a Member of the Norwegian Parliament for the Labour Party.
Fatima Gailani
Former President and Secretary General, Afghan Red Crescent Society
Fatima Gailani is one of the most respected figures in both Afghan public life and the Red Cross Red Crescent (RCRC) Movement. Early in her career, she served as spokesperson for the Afghan Freedom Fighters during the Soviet invasion and led a humanitarian team supporting the war-wounded. She later advised on Islamic law and family issues at the Muslim College of London.
Following the fall of the Taliban, she participated in the Bonn Conference (2001) and was appointed to the Loya Jirga — Afghanistan’s supreme decision-making body — before serving as a Commissioner responsible for drafting and ratifying the new Constitution, where she worked to reconcile modern legal standards with Islamic Sharia law.
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In December 2004, she joined the Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS), an organisation she had first volunteered with as a student. As President and Secretary General, she oversaw a comprehensive institutional transformation: separating governance from management, introducing a governing board, establishing financial controls, building staff capacity, and growing domestic income towards self-sufficiency. She also secured ratification of the Red Crescent and Emblem Laws and launched a programme treating children with congenital heart defects, through which over 5,000 children have received care. Few national society leaders have achieved such systemic change within fifteen years.
Internationally, she chaired the 2015 International Conference — the RCRC Movement’s highest statutory meeting — and served as the founding Chairperson of the Compliance and Mediation Committee. She remains an active member of the Initiative to Educate Afghan Women, a US-based organisation.
She holds a BA from Iran Milli University and a Master’s from the Muslim College of London, and is the author of two books: The Mosques of London and The Jurist who became Prime Minister. Her awards include the One Woman in a Million award (Italy), a Peace Award (USA), the Peace and Friendship Award from the Red Crescent Society of Iran, and a Gold Medal from the National Union of Afghan Employees.
Anu Juvonen
Executive Director of Demo Finland, President of European Partnership for Democracy and OSCE Special Representatives on Civil Society
Anu Juvonen is the Executive Director of Demo Finland – Political Parties of Finland for Democracy, an impartial multiparty democracy support organization involving all of Finland’s nine parliamentary parties. She was seconded by Finland to the Council of Europe as a Policy Advisor (2021–2024) on democracy, specifically on civil society matters.
Anu Juvonen is also the President of the European Partnership for Democracy (EPD) and a member of the Human Rights Delegation of the Finnish National Human Rights Institute (NHRI). She has worked for over 20 years in the field of democracy support, development policy, and international affairs mainly in CSOs, working and living in Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Ethiopia among other countries, and holds both MA and BA (Hons) degrees from the University of Sussex, UK. She was also the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office on Civil Society during Finland’s Chairpersonship-in-Office in 2025.
Carl Henrik Knutsen
Professor of Political Science, University of Oslo.
Carl Henrik Knutsen is a Professor of Political Science and research group leader at the University of Oslo as well as Professor II at the University of South-Eastern Norway and Affiliated Researcher at The Norwegian Nobel Institute.
Knutsen’s research centers on the measurement of democracy, causes of regime change, and the economic effects of different regime types. Knutsen leads or co-leads several large projects, for example, an ERC Consolidator Grant on autocratic politics, the Assessment of Norwegian Democracy, and the international Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) project.
Finn Jarle Rode
Chairman, The Oslo Center.
Finn Jarle has previously served a number of roles in international development work, including as the Director of the Global Partnership team of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) headquarters in Geneva.
He has over 20 years of experience in IFRC/ICRC and the Norwegian Red Cross. He has been IFRC’s Country Director in Afghanistan and North Korea and Regional Director for Eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean Islands. Finn-Jarle also held different positions in Norway’s private sector, including within the shipping and hotel industry. He has an MBA from Heriot-Watts, specialising in organizational development and international finance.
Marianne Dahl
Research Director at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO)
Marianne Dahl is Research Director at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), currently leading the institute’s Conflict Patterns and Environments department. She is also Deputy Editor of the Journal of Peace Research, one of the world’s leading journals in peace and conflict studies.
Through numerous high-impact publications and major research projects, from authoritarian politics to democratization and post-conflict stability, she has established herself as a leading voice in understanding why, when, and under what conditions social movements succeed or fail.
Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner
Rabbi, Bromley Reform Synagogue; Former Senior Rabbi, Reform Judaism (2011 to 2020)
Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner grew up in London, has a BA Divinity from Cambridge and moved to Jerusalem where she lived for 14 years.
Rabbi Laura worked in education in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, training youth leaders, and Co-Directing the ‘People’s Peace’ track of the Oslo Peace Process – Israeli-Palestinian dialogue. She returned to the UK and was ordained in 2004, serving as acongregational rabbi for a decade and then the next decade as the national Senior Rabbi.
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Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner is a regular national broadcaster including BBC’s Radio 4’s flagship ‘Thought for the Day’. Rabbi Laura returned to the congregational rabbinate, serving South London at Bromley Reform Synagogue. Her interfaith work focuses on Jewish-Muslim relations in the UK, concentrating on dialogue about Palestine-Israel.
She initiated and designed the national programme of dialogue between Muslims and Jews, ‘Real Conversations’ and trains, with a Muslim partner, companies and NGO’s in anti-Semitism and anti-Muslim hatred. Additionally, she works as an Executive Coach, particularly with male CEO’s and a Non-Executive Director in business travel company.
Einar Tjelle
International Director, Church of Norway
Einar Tjelle is International Director in the Church of Norway, working on ecumenical, interfaith and international relations, based at the Head Office in Oslo.
His work focuses on peace, justice, interfaith dialogue, and human rights, with extensive experience from international church networks and global advocacy processes. He is a theologian and ordained priest, and has worked also for Norwegian Church Aid/ACT alliance for many years.
Toril Pedersen
Director, UNDP Global Policy Centre for Governance.
Pedersen brings extensive experience in governance, transparency and public finance, with a strong track record of working at the intersection of global policy and country-level implementation. Most recently, she served as Assistant Director at the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), where she headed the section for Governance, and previously led Norad’s work on Tax for Development.
Prior to joining Norad, Pedersen worked with the United Nations on a wide range of governance and public management issues, including support to local governments, expenditure and revenue management, land governance, and gender equality in public administration.
Sirianne Dahlum
Professor of Political Science, University of Oslo.
Sirianne Dahlum is a Professor of Political Science at the University of Oslo. Her research focuses on democracy and dictatorship, autocratization, mass protest, political violence and citizens’ attitudes.
She has held positions and/or fellowships at institutions such as Oxford University, Harvard University, Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) and the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Institute. She currently leads or co-leads several large research projects on the state of global democracy and the rise of authoritarianism.
Jonas Andersen Sayed
Member of Parliament, Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti)
Jonas Andersen Sayed is a Member of Parliament for the Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti) from Rogaland. He serves on the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence and the Standing Committee on Scrutiny and Constitutional Affairs in the Norwegian Parliament.
Sayed was elected to the municipal council in Sokndal at the age of 17 and served as the municipality’s mayor from 2019 to 2023—at the time, Norway’s youngest mayor. He has also been a member of the Rogaland County Council and the leader of the Christian Democratic Youth in Rogaland.
Emma Lacina-Moser
Youth Development Lead, The King’s Trust.
Emma Lacina-Moser is a Youth Development Lead at the King’s Trust, with a passion for labour advocacy and youth empowerment. She joined the Trust in late 2024 and works with disadvantaged young people and high-profile employers, fostering healthy and transformative working relationships.
Her Social Policy research background of barriers to employment and informal labour organisation motivated her to work with vulnerable young people, at the start of their careers.
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Within her role, she has supported a young person on the Youth Advisory Group of the inaugural UK-Ireland Youth Forum 2026. This marks fresh diplomatic and participation strategy as the YAG co-designed the purpose, operation and reporting of the event. Collaborating with national and grassroots youth organisations, Emma promoted the Trust’s social participation as a prerequisite for productive political participation.
Emma’s commitment to empowering young workers is necessarily rooted in accessibility. Pioneering Reasonable Adjustments and Equality Act education for the Trust’s young people, she recognises there is still a way to go to integrate underrepresented youth into the labour market. Having the privilege of learning alongside young people, youth participation will remain a part of her process as her career progresses.
Fabian Wahl Sandvold
Central Board Member, AUF (Workers’ Youth League)
Fabian Wahl Sandvold is a Norwegian politician in the Workers’ Youth League (AUF) and a member of the national central board of AUF. He works primarily with issues related to equality, anti‑racism, and justice, and has become a visible voice in public debate through opinion pieces and political advocacy.
In addition he is elected to the Vestfold County Assembly for the Labour Party. He is currently working in the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO).
Sandvold frequently engages in discussions on topics such as anti‑racism, youth participation in democracy, and the legacy of the 22 July terror attacks.
Jakob Øvensen Aanderaa
President, Norwegian Children and Youth Council (LNU)
Jakob Øvensen Aanderaa is President of the Norwegian Children and Youth Council (LNU), representing over 100 youth organizations and around 600,000 memberships. He works on strengthening youth participation and ensuring that young people have real influence in democratic processes.
Jakob is currently pursuing a professional degree in psychology at the University of Oslo, and has also studied informatics with a focus on design, interaction, and user experience. He has a background from the School Student Union of Norway (Elevorganisasjonen) and Operation Day’s Work (Operasjon Dagsverk), and is particularly interested in how young people engage with democracy and the role of civil society in building trust and participation.
John Lovdal
CEO, The Oslo Center
As CEO of The Oslo Center, John Inge Løvdal has decades of experience in democratic development and inclusive governance. He previously served as Program Director at the National Democratic Institute (NDI), focusing on political party strengthening and the inclusion of women, youth, and marginalized groups.
His background includes extensive work across Ethiopia, Kenya, Ukraine, Somalia, and Nepal, centering on participation, accountability, and institutional reform.