Agenda

Doreen Bogdan-Martin was elected Director of the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau in November 2018 and took office on 1 January 2019, and is the first woman in ITU history to hold one of the organization’s top elected management positions.

She is a strategic leader with more than 30 years’ high-level experience in international and inter-governmental relations, and a long history of success in policy and strategy development, analysis and execution. ​ 

She was an architect of the annual Global Symposium for Regulators, the pre-eminent global event for digital policy-makers, and leads ITU’s contribution to the EQUALS Global Partnership for Gender Equality in the Digital Age. For more than a decade she has served as Executive Director of the UN Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development, and is leading ITU’s collaboration with UNICEF on the Giga project to connect all the world’s schools.

Anaëlle Cathelineau is a 19-year-old student at Sciences Po Paris. Since high school, she's been particularly driven by channeling and empowering women and girls’ voices in ICTs. Since leading the 2020 Futurecasters summit at the International Telecommunications Union, she's been working with the ITU to promote Child Online Protection (with the COP event) and bridging the gender digital divide (with the Tech4Girls workshop). She is now participating in the organization of the Generation Connect Youth Summit, which will take place in June 2022, preceding the World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC). More specifically, she is focusing on highlighting gender equality in the Youth for Youth debates as well as in the Youth Call to Action.  

Dr. Jyrki Pulkkinen assumed the position of the Ambassador for Innovation at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs on 1st of September 2021. Prior to this assignment, Dr. Pulkkinen was the Ambassador of Finland to Nigeria, Ghana, Benin, Cameroon and ECOWAS, based in Abuja, Nigeria for three years. Dr. Pulkkinen has worked in many other positions at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, including the Director of Development Evaluation in years 2013-2018 and a Senior Adviser for Information Society, Science, Technology and Innovations for Development since 2004. He was also the Chair of the UNESCO IPDC Intergovernmental Council in 2012-2014 and the CEO of an UN ICT Taskforce initiated partnership organization GESCI in 2008-2011, based first in Dublin, and later in Nairobi. Prior joining the Ministry Dr. Pulkkinen held several academic positions, including an Assistant Professor, a Research Manager and a Lecturer for 15 years on behavioral sciences and educational technologies at the University of Oulu, Finland. He finished his PhD on e-Learning in 2004. During the Oulu years he was seconded to the Department of Education of South Africa as an ICT in Education Expert in 2000-2001. 

Ms. Hélène Molinier is the Senior Manager for the Action Coalition on Innovation and Technology at UN Women. She has led various innovative policy and programming initiatives with international development organizations focusing on sustainable development, gender, rule of law and education. She is the author of the UN Women policy paper on “Leveraging Digital Finance for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment” and provides technical leadership on the development of inclusive and gender-transformative digital tools, frontier technology and social innovation.

Ms. Vidhya Y, being blind since birth, faced several obstacles studying Science and Math due to their visual nature. Most visually impaired students drop out of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) subjects even before completing high school.  Vidhya pursued these subjects till post-graduation overcoming all barriers and excelling in them throughout. She was the gold medalist in the Masters in Digital Society program at IIIT Bangalore in 2017. She received numerous scholarships and awards for academic excellence and later for her work on improving STEM access. Vidhya founded “Vision Empower” (VE) in 2017 and is working tirelessly with the VE team to make STEM education more accessible for students with visual impairment. VE has designed an accessible learning management platform called Subodha and promotes experiential learning of STEM subjects, Computational Thinking, Digital Literacy, and early childhood programs. Its technology arm Vembi technologies has developed the world's most affordable braille book reading solution for children called Hexis-Antara. VE is currently working with 83 schools in India across 5 states and has trained 375+ special educators in teaching STEM subjects benefiting 3800 students.

Claire is Head of Digital Inclusion in the Mobile for Development (M4D) team at GSMA. She leads the Connected Women and Connected Society programmes which are focused on accelerating digital inclusion for the underserved in low- and middle-income countries. Connected Women has a specific focus on accelerating digital and financial inclusion for women. 

Claire has been working for over 25 years with public, private and international development organisations on social policy and service delivery with a focus on information and communications technology (ICT) policy and practice. She has developed, managed and implemented programmes in Africa, Asia and the UK. Claire holds an MSc in Social Research Methods and an MSc in Social Policy and Planning in Developing Countries from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

As a global public policy leader at Netflix, Shanta focuses on digital and media policy issues including online protection of minors, ratings & classification, accessibility and technology ethics. She has also in previous roles at the company led strategic policy initiatives & campaigns, industry development efforts, regulatory advocacy, and industry relations across the Asia Pacific region.

Shanta has over 10 years of experience in developing regulatory, industry, and communications strategy for private companies and public sector entities. Prior to joining Netflix, she held various Government Relations and Communications positions in PayPal Asia Pacific. Her work there included leading on internal and external policy & public affairs efforts for the company’s technology organisation and corporate social responsibility initiatives; providing communications counsel to senior leadership at the regional and global level; and spearheading consumer and Business-to-Business media campaigns; She was also previously a part of Strategic Movies, a strategic and crisis communication practice.

Additionally, Shanta has acted as a policy and communications consultant to several Members of Parliament in Singapore, conducting policy research and drafting parliamentary speeches.

Shanta holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the National University of Singapore.

Elizabeth Wuraola Kolade is a Cybersecurity professional. She has been involved in the strategy, creation, and implementation of security measures and the delivery of cyber security awareness across critical organizations. Elizabeth has served as an Analyst, Technical Specialist, and Advisor over the course of her career across government, the private sector, and civil society.  She has embarked on numerous campaigns to promote end-user security education in and outside Nigeria. Her interest spans Incident Response, Cyber policy, Cyber Capacity Building, and Cyber Diplomacy, all geared toward enhancing and sustaining international peace and security. Elizabeth is a Fellow of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) and has been a part of several multi-stakeholder engagements on Cyber Security in and outside Africa. She was listed as one of the Top 50 Women in Cybersecurity in Africa in 2020. In 2021, she was named a Global Influencer in the  IFSEC  Global  Awards under the “Security –One to Watch” Category and was soon after nominated for the  2021  Young  CISO  of the  Year  Awards.  Elizabeth served as a  member of the presidential committee, which reviewed and produced Nigeria’s National Cybersecurity Policy and Strategy (NCPS) 2021. She is a long-serving member of the Cyber Security Experts Association of Nigeria (CSEAN) and remains an ever-avid advocate for the education of women in technology.  

Alicia Tambe is currently Head of International Organizations for Connectivity & Inclusion at Meta. In her role, she leads Meta’s connectivity efforts with international organizations across the globe to advance digital inclusion and affordable and reliable internet access initiatives. She works with policymakers, industry, and other stakeholders to develop strategies for ICTs as a tool for development. Alicia has experience working on a variety of issues including digital literacy, spectrum management, net neutrality, and broadband deployment.  Alicia also serves on Meta’s Global Black Women Leadership Team. 

Prior to joining Meta, Alicia was regulatory Counsel at SES, where she worked on global satellite and connectivity regulatory issues, and she has served as Counsel and Regional Specialist for Africa in the International Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Alicia has also served as Law Clerk in the Office of the White House Counsel as well as Law Clerk to the Deputy Chief of Staff at the Office of the United States Trade Representative.

A lawyer by profession, Louise has practiced in Canada, in England, within the United Nations and European Union institutions in post-conflict Kosovo, and at the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (Nobel Peace Prize 2013) in The Hague.  

Louise joined CERN in October 2014 as a Legal Adviser and was appointed Diversity & Inclusion Programme Leader in 2018. She carries both functions at 50% each.  While enjoying the occasional fusion between the legal and D&I activities (such as embedding gender-inclusive language in CERN’s legal frameworks), Louise champions the business case for diversity and the absolute necessity for the workplace to be welcoming and inclusive of everyone's visible and invisible characteristics. 

“When we create a work environment in which we can bring our full selves to work, that is when we experience our full potential.”  - L Carvalho, D&I Programme Leader 

Over 4 years of a  combined practical experience in Information  Security and related frameworks in terms of implementation and training. Shamma worked in her own startup  “CyberHero” as Founder and CEO. Her experience includes training programs design, development, and delivery in addition to trainer’s development and program /project analysis and reporting.

Some of Shamma’s key inspiring relevant experiences include: Delivery of cybersecurity awareness for(Dubai Sports Council), Information security awareness session for AIfatih School, Information security awareness session for Ahmed Bin Rashid School, Delivery of cyberbullying material for Fakhr AlEmirat volunteering group, and Trained more than 30 students from Higher Colleges of Technology for an internship program.

Ms.  Syeda  Shafaq  Karim is a  Telecom professional with rich experience of over 21 years in  Telecom  Regulatory  Affairs,  Research  & Development, Spectrum  Auctions,  Strategy making,  Spectrum Management, and Telecom policy-making. 

Ms. Shafaq is a Telecom Engineer and holds a Masters in Business  Administration. She has served in key positions in the  Pakistan Telecommunication Authority since 2004, currently serving as Director of Wireless Licensing, PTA, and heading PTA’s initiative for reducing the gender gap in ICTs. While heading PTA’s initiative for Gender inclusion in ICTs, she has made PTA and multi-stakeholder collaborative engagements of national and international reputation to improve access and availability while reducing the gender gap in usage of ICTs in Pakistan. She has represented PTA on various international forums like WRC 19, APT 5th Conference Preparatory meeting 2019, and South Asian Telecommunications Regulators Council (SATRC). She is part of ITU Network of Women (STEM), SATRCSpectrum Group, a member of PTA’s 5G planning Committee and a member of the Pakistan Engineering Council.

Courtney Gregoire serves as Chief Digital Safety Officer for Microsoft Corporation. In this role, Courtney is responsible for Microsoft’s company-wide digital safety strategy to address illegal and harmful content online through technology, policy, and partnerships.   From 2015-2019, Courtney led Microsoft’s Digital Crimes Unit work to combat cybercrime against vulnerable populations including children and the elderly.   

Before returning home to Washington state, Courtney served as Director of the National Export Initiative for President Barak Obama and Deputy Chief of Staff for the U.S. Department of Commerce.  She previously served as Legislative Director and Chief Counsel for U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell and policy assistant for the White House Domestic Policy Council. Courtney began her career at K&L Gates, an international law firm, counseling clients on litigation, legislative and regulatory matters.  

Lydia Logan is the Vice President for Global Education and Workforce Development CSR. She serves as the global lead for IBM’s education and workforce development initiatives. She is responsible for leading the strategy development and end-to-end execution of IBM's global education and workforce development initiatives which include P-TECH IBM SkillsBuild and STEM for Girls. Her portfolio also includes the development of new and innovative education initiatives and strategic global partnerships with IBM's clients’ non-profit organizations governments and content and curriculum developers. She is an education expert with over 25 years of experience in education non-profit organization management policy and philanthropy.  Prior to joining IBM she led the Verizon Innovative Learning Schools initiative. A national digital inclusion initiative providing technology access and training in over 500 under-resourced public schools. Prior to that role she led Chiefs for Change a national membership organization of Chief State School Officers. Lydia has served as the senior director of policy at the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation where she focused on education policy and philanthropic investments focused on systemic improvements in management human capital quality and transparency in public school systems. She also held the position of vice president and executive director of the Institute for a Competitive Workforce at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. 

Sophiyat is an advocate for women and youth. She spends her time encouraging more girls into STEM-related careers and teaching them the basic use of ICT, volunteering for organizations that provide more opportunities for young girls and women, and leads her own non-profit where she provides STEAM-based education to females in developing communities. 

As an advisory board member for three different non-profits, A youth envoy for the International Telecommunications Union, Generation Connect -Africa Youth Group, and Kofi Annan Changemaker, she works to ensure that no one is left out of the digital space regardless of their race, gender or however they identify. 

She’s excited to work with more organizations and individuals to create a better world for all.