This is part two of my series looking at 100 speakers to follow from OYW2025 in Munich, Germany. This article features speakers from companies such as the BCC Siemens, CBS, Ikea, UNHCR, Reckitt and The Nobel Women’s intiative to name a few. Like part one, their expertise is in a range of areas such as journalism, international relations, female empowerment, DEI, sustainability, and social impact at the 2025 Munich Summit. They are more than 15 nationalities from a broad range of countries, showcasing how broad the summits’ reach is.
A video summary is to follow. But you can see all the profiles below
Title: Senior Journalist at BBC News
Where are they based: London, UK
Area of expertise: Journalism
Holly is Senior Journalist at BBC News, based in London, where she works across the BBC World Service and BBC News audio output. Her work is closely associated with The Happy Pod, the popular and uplifting offshoot of the Global News Podcast that highlights positive and solutions-focused stories from around the world, and she has previously held roles with BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 4, and Sky News. Holly’s journalism is defined by her ability to craft narrative-led audio stories that combine rigorous reporting with warmth and accessibility, reaching global audiences with content that informs, moves, and inspires. Her area of expertise centres on broadcast journalism and podcast production, with a particular focus on international news told through human-centred, solutions-focused storytelling. She is experienced in shaping programmes that balance hard news with constructive, hopeful angles, and in commissioning and scripting interviews that genuinely resonate with listeners from diverse backgrounds.
At OYW2025, Holly and her fellow BBC journalists took part in the session “How to Get a Journalist’s Attention in 30 Seconds (and then what?)”, held at the SAP Hub. In this practical and popular session, Holly and her colleagues shared their expertise on how to create a compelling pitch and hook a busy newsroom in under thirty seconds, helping young changemakers tell their stories to the widest possible audience.
Title: Strategic Consultant & Co-Founder of FuturInstant
Where are they based: London, UK
Area of expertise: The Future of Work
Lisa is a Strategic Consultant and Co-Founder of FuturInstant, a London-based advisory firm focused on helping organisations navigate emerging trends and disruptive change. She brings over eighteen years of commercial leadership experience across gaming, hospitality, and digital consumer brands, including a senior role as Chief Commercial Officer at Bombay within the YOLO Group. Throughout her career, Lisa has been known for shaping ambitious growth strategies, building high-value partnerships, and driving customer engagement, with a distinctive ability to translate complex and fast-moving market shifts into clear, actionable plans that executives can implement with confidence. Her area of expertise centres on the future of work and the ways in which technology, shifting customer expectations, and new business models are fundamentally reshaping organisations across every sector.
This includes advising senior leaders on workforce agility, hybrid work structures, the skills required for the digital economy, and the cultural transformation needed to keep teams innovative and genuinely resilient in the face of rapid change. Lisa is particularly passionate about helping leaders understand that the future of work is not simply a technological challenge but a deeply human one.
At the One Young World 2025 Summit in Munich, Lisa participated in “The Founders’ Formula: Tech, Science and Community for a Better Future,” a session that explored how to leverage transformative technology to address some of the world’s most pressing challenges in practical and scalable ways.
Title: CBS News Anchor
Where are they based: Detroit, Michigan, USA
Area of expertise: Journalism
Rachelle is a News Anchor at CBS News Detroit, part of CBS 62 and CW50, where she anchors the 9 a.m., noon, and 4 p.m. newscasts, bringing years of broadcast journalism experience to one of Michigan’s most prominent television platforms. Based in Detroit, she has progressed through multimedia journalist roles in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Greenville, South Carolina, before anchoring at NBC25/FOX66 in Flint. Prior to returning to broadcast journalism, Rachelle served as Senior Communications Manager at the Detroit Zoological Society, where she handled public relations, crisis communications, and grew the organisation’s social media presence significantly. Her expertise in journalism centres on delivering compelling local stories that combine strong visuals, authentic natural sound, and powerful interviews, always working to the tightest of deadlines.
Rachelle has earned significant recognition for her work, including an Emmy nomination for her coverage of the Flint water crisis, the Reporter of the Year award from the South Carolina Broadcasters Association, and a Mark of Excellence Award, underscoring her commitment to journalism that makes a genuine difference in the communities she serves.
At OYW2025, Rachelle spoke about ethical storytelling in local journalism, emphasising how anchors and reporters can amplify community voices, foster trust amid widespread misinformation, and use digital platforms to engage younger audiences on critical issues such as urban resilience and social equity.
Title: Senior People & Culture Specialist at IKEA
Where are they based: Älmhult, Sweden
Area of expertise: HR
Michaela is a Senior People and Culture Specialist at IKEA, focusing on work environment and health within the company’s global People and Culture function. Based in Sweden, working primarily from Älmhult, she combines expertise in occupational health, psychosocial work environment, and inclusive culture-building in one of the world’s most recognised retail and home furnishings organisations. Michaela joined IKEA in 2021, holding roles as People and Culture Generalist and Work Environment Specialist before moving into her current position, which involves supporting leaders and co-workers on wellbeing, safety, and sustainable ways of working. Her expertise in HR centres firmly on creating conditions in which people can genuinely thrive at work, with a strong emphasis on inclusion, belonging, and preventive work environment practices that address risk before it becomes harm.
Michaela is also an IKEA Next Generation Leader and a One Young World Ambassador, reflecting her commitment to developing future-oriented, people-centred leadership within large organisations. These roles allow her to connect her passion for inclusion with the broader global youth leadership community.
At OYW2025, Michaela spoke in the session “Enabling people to thrive: Practical ways to strengthen inclusion and belonging,” sharing practical tools and everyday strategies for fostering allyship, psychological safety, and genuinely inclusive behaviours within complex organisations, encouraging delegates to use their own roles to make workplaces where everyone feels seen and valued.
Title: Innovation Community Manager at the World Food Programme
Where are they based: Munich, Germany
Area of expertise: Community Development
Zoë is Innovation Community Manager at the UN World Food Programme Innovation Accelerator, based in Munich, Germany. Her role focuses on building and sustaining a global community of innovators both within and beyond WFP, connecting staff, partners, and startups who are testing new and promising approaches to tackling hunger at scale. Originally from Dublin, Ireland, Zoë combines a background in communications and community building with a deep commitment to social impact, underpinned by studies at Dublin City University. Her work involves designing meaningful engagement programmes, facilitating knowledge-sharing across a diverse global network, and creating opportunities for collaboration that span WFP’s entire innovation portfolio. Zoë’s expertise lies specifically in community development within humanitarian innovation contexts, supporting innovators as they work to scale ideas that address food insecurity, from digital tools to new delivery models.
She does this by ensuring they have access to networks, mentoring, and peer support that can make the difference between a promising pilot and a real-world solution.
At OYW2025, Zoë spoke in the session “Igniting and Nurturing Innovation Through a Community of Innovators,” exploring how intentional and well-designed communities can accelerate change, sustain motivation, and turn promising experiments into lasting solutions. She shared lessons from the WFP Innovation Accelerator on building inclusive, mission-driven communities that keep people engaged in solving the world’s most complex humanitarian challenges.
Title: Special Advisor to the UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency
Where are they based: Oslo, Norway
Area of expertise: Philanthropy
Per is Special Advisor to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, focusing on renewable energy and economic development for displaced people, and is based in Oslo, Norway. He is best known for his long and transformative tenure as CEO of the IKEA Foundation, where he helped build the organisation into one of the world’s largest philanthropic funders working on refugee livelihoods, climate action, and children’s rights. In that role, Per worked closely with UN agencies, NGOs, and governments to design large-scale programmes that combine humanitarian relief with long-term development goals, particularly in refugee-hosting countries where sustainable livelihoods matter as much as immediate assistance. His area of expertise is strategic philanthropy with a strong emphasis on enabling self-reliance for displaced people rather than delivering short-term aid. He has championed investments in clean energy, education, and job creation in camps and host communities, and he frequently advises international bodies on how private philanthropy can de-risk and catalyse broader public and private financing for humanitarian challenges.
At OYW2025, Per participated in the “What’s Next for ESG?” session, drawing on his experience at the IKEA Foundation and UNHCR to discuss how environmental, social, and governance commitments can evolve from corporate marketing exercises into programmes with genuinely measurable impact, particularly for people forced to flee their homes..
Title: Co-CEO Yunus Social Innovation
Where are they based: Munich, Germany
Area of expertise: Social Innovation
Lisa co-leads Yunus Social Innovation as Co-CEO from Munich, Germany. Her expertise in social innovation is the product of a rich and varied career spanning investigative journalism, political campaigning, strategy consulting, digital transformation, and corporate intrapreneurship. Lisa built and led the social innovation unit at a major global corporation, forging powerful synergies between internal intrapreneurs and external social enterprises to drive purpose-led change from within. She joined Yunus Social Business in 2020 and developed its intrapreneurship practice, helping corporations integrate social impact into their core operations through accelerators, strategic partnerships, and broader ecosystem-building initiatives. As Co-CEO and shareholder of Yunus Social Innovation, a Europe-based consultancy, she now partners with businesses, philanthropies, and social ventures to scale solutions for systemic challenges including inequality, climate action, and community resilience. Lisa places particular emphasis on measurable impact, cross-sector collaboration, and steward ownership models that keep organisations accountable to their stated social missions over the long term.
At OYW2025, Lisa participated in sessions on corporate social innovation and leadership for impact, sharing strategies from Yunus Social Innovation on empowering intrapreneurs, fostering radical collaborations across traditional boundaries, and transforming businesses into genuine forces for good through people-powered innovation that creates lasting value for communities and companies alike.
Title: CEO at Pernod Ricard Northern Europe
Where are they based: Cologne, Germany
Area of expertise: Sales and Marketing
Julien is CEO of Pernod Ricard Northern Europe, based in Cologne, Germany, with expertise centred on sales and marketing within the premium spirits sector. He oversees operations across key markets including the United Kingdom, Germany, Benelux, Austria, Switzerland, Ireland, and the Nordics, leading the world’s second-largest spirits company across a diverse and commercially significant region. His portfolio includes some of the world’s most iconic and valuable spirits brands, including Absolut Vodka, Jameson Irish Whiskey, and The Glenlivet, and he navigates the complex interplay of consumer trends including premiumisation, growing moderation movements, and rapid innovation in aperitifs and ready-to-drink products. Julien’s leadership is characterised by a deep understanding of how economic cycles, consumer psychology, and cultural shifts interact to shape demand in the premium beverages category. He brings both strategic clarity and operational discipline to a business environment that demands constant adaptation.
At OYW2025, Julien spoke on the future of the spirits industry amid global challenges, addressing key trends including the ongoing acceleration of premiumisation, the dramatic rise of agave spirits such as tequila and mezcal, and strategies for sustainable growth during cyclical economic downturns. Drawing on Pernod Ricard’s wide-ranging experiences, he emphasised the importance of adapting to economic pressures, understanding consumer psychology deeply, and identifying opportunities in on-trade and aperitif categories to foster both responsible consumption and long-term market resilience.
Title: Deputy Head | Zero Waste Fachstelle at Landeshauptstadt München
Where are they based: Munich, Germany
Area of expertise: Sustainability & Circularity
Ramona is Deputy Head of the Zero Waste Unit at Landeshauptstadt München, based in Munich, Germany, where her work focuses on sustainability and circularity within the city’s economic and innovation ecosystem. As Zero Waste Manager and Project Lead for the Zero Waste Innovation Hub, she supports local companies and startups in developing resource-efficient, low-waste business models that contribute to Munich’s ambitious goal of becoming a Zero Waste City by 2035. Her expertise spans circular economy strategies, waste prevention, and sustainable technologies, with a strong emphasis on connecting municipal policy with business practice and community engagement in ways that create practical, lasting change. Ramona is a skilled connector of different actors within Munich’s innovation landscape, bringing together startups, established businesses, researchers, and city government to tackle the challenge of waste and resource use at every stage of the value chain.
At OYW2025, Ramona spoke in the session “Bridging Urban Projects and Munich’s Business Landscape,” highlighting how cities and businesses can collaborate effectively to scale circular economy solutions. She shared practical examples from the Zero Waste Innovation Hub, including collaborative workshops and innovation projects that link startups with established firms to pilot circular business models across multiple sectors. Ramona also underlined the importance of cross-sector networks and dedicated experimentation spaces such as Munich Urban Colab in accelerating sustainable, circular innovation at the city level.
Title: Global Chief Digital Officer at KPMG International
Where are they based: London, UK
Area of expertise: Digital transformation
Lisa is Global Chief Digital Officer at KPMG International, based in London, UK. With over thirty years of experience in the technology sector, her expertise focuses on digital transformation, guiding large and complex organisations to become more agile, customer-centric, and capable of maximising their technology investments. She oversees KPMG’s multi-billion-dollar commitment to technology and innovation globally, having previously led the UK firm’s digital overhaul, including the establishment of Ignition centres and the transformation of the way KPMG’s people work. Lisa is also a vocal champion for diversity in the technology sector, sponsoring initiatives such as IT’s Her Future to encourage and support women in building technology careers. Her approach to digital transformation is both strategic and deeply practical, rooted in her understanding that technology alone does not create change; it is the people and culture around it that determine outcomes.
At OYW2025, Lisa spoke on leveraging digital innovation for sustainable global change, exploring how enterprise-wide digital strategies can address inclusion, climate challenges, and the ethical deployment of emerging technologies. Drawing on KPMG’s work with clients in financial services and beyond, her insights emphasised the critical importance of breaking down organisational silos for integrated value creation, and how technologies such as AI can be used responsibly to empower youth leaders seeking to transform both businesses and broader societies.
Title: Director at Global Nature Fund
Where are they based: Cologne, Germany
Area of expertise: Biodiversity
Stefan is Director and Head of the Business and Biodiversity Unit at Global Nature Fund, based in the Cologne Bonn Region, Germany. His expertise in biodiversity drives comprehensive corporate strategies for integrating nature conservation into business operations and supply chains, supporting companies with biodiversity assessments, materiality analyses, and compliance with a growing range of regulations including CSRD, TNFD, EUDR, and CSDDD. With over two decades at GNF, progressing from Head of Unit to Managing Director, Stefan coordinates the European Business and Biodiversity Campaign and leads high-impact initiatives including fair rubber certification in his capacity as COO of the Fair Rubber Association. Holding a master’s in political and administrative science, he fosters multi-stakeholder partnerships for climate, water, and planetary boundary challenges, enabling businesses to monitor their nature-related impacts, set science-based targets, and actively restore ecosystems through improved traceability, smallholder training, and certification programmes.
Stefan’s work bridges the gap between corporate compliance and genuine ecological stewardship, demonstrating that protecting biodiversity is increasingly both a regulatory necessity and a business opportunity.
At the One Young World 2025 Summit in Munich, Stefan participated in sessions on biodiversity and sustainable business, sharing practical tools for companies seeking to embed nature-positive practices. He drew on GNF’s extensive global portfolio of conservation and corporate responsibility projects to inspire young leaders to take biodiversity seriously as a business and societal priority.
Title: Taiwan’s first openly LGBTQ+ parliamentarian and the youngest member of the 11th Legislative Yuan
Where are they based: Taipei City, Taiwan
Area of expertise: Politics and LGBT+ advocate
Jie is Taiwan’s first openly LGBTQ+ parliamentarian and the youngest member of the 11th Legislative Yuan, representing Kaohsiung’s sixth constituency for the Democratic Progressive Party since February 2024. Born in 1993 in Kaohsiung, she previously served on the Kaohsiung City Council from 2018, gaining early prominence for her direct challenges to then-mayor Han Kuo-yu. She holds a degree in public health and sociology from National Taiwan University, and her career path has encompassed stints in journalism, legislative assistance, and environmental health research before she entered politics initially with the New Power Party. Her expertise spans politics and LGBTQ+ advocacy, where she champions human rights, gender equality, and the public good, earning recognition on TIME’s 100 Next 2024 list and BBC’s 100 Women 2024 list as the first Taiwanese female politician to be so named by the latter. Jie is a trailblazer whose election and legislative work have broken significant barriers in Taiwanese and broader Asian political life, pursuing reforms on issues including IVF access for same-sex couples and menstrual product affordability.
At OYW2025, she spoke on advancing LGBTQ+ rights in Asia, drawing from her own experiences, including being forcibly outed by the media, and inspiring young leaders to normalise queer representation in governance structures across the region.
Title: Global Chief People & Organisation Officer at CHANEL
Where are they based: London, UK
Area of expertise: HR
Claire leads as Global Chief People and Organisation Officer at CHANEL, based in London, UK. Her HR expertise drives cultural transformation and leadership evolution at the iconic luxury brand, where she has built a global people function from the ground up to support over 36,500 employees across 42 countries. Her career began in consulting at Hewitt Associates, where she served as Europe Practice Leader for Talent and Organisation, before moving into leadership roles that have shaped her philosophy of courageous, inclusive, and trust-based HR leadership. Claire fosters what she describes as a “culture of care” at CHANEL, prioritising employee wellbeing, diversity, and shared purpose alongside the brand’s celebrated heritage and relentless drive for creative excellence. She champions collective intelligence, emotional connection, and lifelong development, embedding these principles into everything from hiring and onboarding to leadership development and performance management. As a member of CHANEL’s Executive Leadership Team and Nomination Committee, Claire ensures that humanity remains at the very core of the brand’s business decisions.
At OYW2025, Claire participated in sessions on leadership and organisational culture, sharing her insights on fostering empathetic and inclusive workforces that can hold the tension between preserving tradition and embracing the modernity and innovation that will define CHANEL’s next chapter. Her message was that great brands are built on great people, and great people need to feel genuinely valued and supported.
Title: First Indigenous Former Mayor of Wellington
Where are they based: Wellington, New Zealand
Area of expertise: Politics, Indigenous people and females in leadership
Tiana is a Māori political and climate justice advocate from Wellington, New Zealand, recognised as a pioneering Indigenous woman leader in the city’s formal local government structure. Her expertise spans politics, Indigenous rights, and women’s leadership, with a strong focus on climate justice rooted in Indigenous knowledge and community-led solutions developed across Aotearoa and the wider Pacific. Tiana affiliates with iwi, including Ngāti Kahungunu ki Te Wairoa and Te Whakatōhea, and has held governance and advisory roles, including on the Victoria University of Wellington Council, consistently using these platforms to push for systemic change for rangatahi and Indigenous communities. Her work centres on advocacy for ending fossil fuels, including active support for the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, and amplifying Pacific and Māori voices in international climate spaces where Indigenous perspectives have historically been absent. Tiana argues powerfully that Indigenous peoples contribute least to climate change yet hold key solutions that must be centred, not marginalised, in global policy and leadership frameworks. Her voice brings both moral clarity and practical wisdom to these conversations.
At the One Young World 2025 Summit in Germany, Tiana took part in the panel “Indigenous Leaders setting the example for Environmental Action,” a session designed to inspire and inform Indigenous people from around the world to champion environmental causes in their own communities, drawing on the deep knowledge systems that have sustained Indigenous lands and peoples for generations.
Title: Assistant Chief Engineer at Rolls-Royce
Where are they based: Cambridge, UK
Area of expertise: Women in STEM
Katie is Assistant Chief Engineer at Rolls-Royce, based in Cambridge, UK, where she works on novel nuclear and space programmes at the frontier of advanced engineering. Her expertise sits at the intersection of cutting-edge engineering, nuclear innovation, and passionate advocacy for greater women’s representation in STEM fields. Her engineering background was built at the University of Cambridge, followed by a series of increasingly senior technical roles within Rolls-Royce that have given her deep experience of complex, safety-critical projects and the future power solutions that will shape how the world generates and uses energy. Katie is particularly passionate about encouraging more girls and women into STEM careers, frequently engaging with schools, universities, and outreach initiatives to demystify engineering and shine a light on the diverse and fulfilling careers available within the sector.
She supports mentoring programmes and community projects aimed at boosting maths and science confidence among young people, often involving colleagues from across Rolls-Royce to extend the reach of these efforts. Through her combination of technical leadership and personal advocacy, Katie demonstrates how senior women in engineering can simultaneously drive cutting-edge innovation and actively work to change the culture of STEM to be more genuinely inclusive.
At OYW2025, Katie participated in the “Energy Resilience in an Energy-Hungry World: The Critical Role of Nuclear in Europe’s Future” session, discussing how nuclear power can deliver continuous, carbon-free energy at scale.
Title: Global Head, Environment, Social and Governance (ESG), Executive Director & Head, Bayer Foundation
Where are they based: New Jersey, United States
Area of expertise: Social innovation and governance
Chitkala is Senior Vice President and Global Head of Environment, Social and Governance at Bayer, alongside her role as Executive Director and Head of the Bayer Foundation, based in New Jersey, United States. Her expertise focuses on social innovation and governance, steering Bayer’s comprehensive sustainability strategies while simultaneously advancing the Foundation’s programmes in science, health equity, and community empowerment. With a professional background in global regulatory affairs for oncology and in vitro diagnostics at both Bayer and Merck, she brings rare regulatory insight to her purpose-driven leadership role, ensuring that Bayer’s ESG commitments are not only ambitious but also rigorously grounded in scientific and commercial realities. Her work reflects a conviction that ESG leadership must go beyond compliance to actively shape the conditions in which communities can thrive. Chitkala engages with the Bayer Foundation delegation on questions of inclusion and equitable health solutions, connecting overarching ESG frameworks with youth-driven efforts focused on vulnerable communities.
At OYW2025, Chitkala participated in the “What’s Next for ESG?” session alongside Barbara Spiegel of EY Switzerland, exploring how ESG must continue to evolve in order to genuinely embed purpose into business operations and strategy.
She shared perspectives on aligning corporate performance with social and environmental impact, emphasising the governance frameworks that drive measurable and accountable progress in health access and sustainability.
Title: Chief Strategy & Talent Officer at Standard Chartered and author of the book ‘The Skills-Powered Organisation’
Where are they based: London, UK
Area of expertise: HR and Strategy
Tanuj is Chief Strategy and Talent Officer at Standard Chartered, based in London, UK, and author of The Skills-Powered Organisation. Her expertise spans HR and strategy, encompassing corporate strategy, group-wide transformation, and a range of critical business functions, including human resources, brand and marketing, corporate affairs, supply chain management, and corporate real estate. Appointed to her current role in April 2024 after serving as Global Chief Human Resources Officer since 2019, she drives end-to-end strategy execution with a particular focus on skills-based talent deployment, artificial intelligence integration, and workforce agility in the emerging markets that are central to Standard Chartered’s business model. With over two decades of experience in financial services across HSBC and Standard Chartered, working in markets including Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai, India, and London, Tanuj combines deep sector knowledge with a genuine conviction that aligning people capabilities with business growth requires continuous learning and a culture of inclusive innovation. Her book reflects years of practical experience as much as strategic thinking.
At OYW2025, Tanuj delivered the Standard Chartered keynote “Learning to Learn Again: Thriving in the Age of AI,” offering an honest and insightful exploration of AI’s business applications beyond the surrounding hype. She discussed AI’s role in reshaping work, productivity, and the distinctly human skills such as curiosity and empathy that algorithms cannot replicate, sharing practical strategies for young leaders to build adaptive mindsets for continuous learning.
Title: Vice President Talent, Learning, Leadership Development & Inclusion at Reckitt
Where are they based: London, UK
Area of expertise: Learning, Leadership Development & Inclusion
Munazza is Vice President Talent, Learning, Leadership Development and Inclusion at Reckitt, based in the UK. Her expertise spans learning, leadership development, and inclusion, underpinned by an MBA in Human Resource Management and Management of Change from Cardiff Business School. She has spent over fourteen years at Reckitt in senior HR roles across Pakistan, Dubai, the wider Africa, Middle East and Asia region, and global leadership positions, including Regional HR Director AMEA and Global Head of Leadership, Learning and Culture. In her current role, Munazza leads global talent, learning, and leadership strategies, building inclusive cultures that support high performance, genuine capability building, and meaningful career growth across Reckitt’s global markets. Her approach reflects a belief that inclusion is not simply a programme or a metric but a fundamental enabler of organisational excellence and individual fulfilment.
At OYW2025, Munazza took part in the session “Enabling people to thrive: Practical ways to Strengthen Inclusion and Belonging.”
She joined Zenna Law and Michaela Hanzén to explore why inclusion matters profoundly for both organisations and individuals, and what it truly means to act as an ally in everyday working life. Drawing on Reckitt’s experience, Munazza shared practical tools and behaviours to foster inclusion and belonging, encouraging delegates to show up intentionally, use their influence to create safe and supportive workplaces, and translate people-centred values into concrete actions.
Title: Advocacy Coordinator at Nobel Women’s Initiative
Where are they based: Ottawa, Canada
Area of expertise: Female Empowerment
Dildar is the Advocacy Coordinator at the Nobel Women’s Initiative, based in Ottawa, Canada, with a core focus on female empowerment and women’s rights as a fundamental matter of justice and human dignity. Trained in psychology, she has worked extensively on social justice and gender equality with marginalised women and young people in Europe and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, particularly supporting survivors of ISIS, sexual and gender-based violence, and armed conflict. Her expertise lies in linking mental health, minority rights, and women’s rights in ways that acknowledge the complex and interconnected nature of the harms that conflict-affected women face. She has contributed to significant strategies and published reports on mental health access and survivor recovery, alongside impactful work with organisations including Oxfam, UNICEF, and the German Children and Youth Foundation.
Dildar brings both professional expertise and deep personal commitment to her advocacy, recognising that sustainable peace and genuine security for women cannot be built without centring their voices and their specific experiences of harm.
At OYW2025, Dildar participated in the session “Centring Women in Peace and Security: From Asking to…”, where she spoke about the leadership of women from conflict-affected regions in driving the Women, Peace and Security agenda. As a One Young World Ambassador, she called for feminist, trauma-informed approaches that place conflict-affected women at the heart of peace and security policies rather than treating them as passive beneficiaries.