What sparks a movement that changes the world?
This is the question that Global Citizen’s Movement Makers Summit, with our Presenting Sponsor Johnson & Johnson, sought to answer on Sept. 25 in New York City.
With over 30 global activists from across the arts, culture, political, social good, and behavioral science spheres in attendance, the answer was wide-ranging. For many, unified momentum and commitment is vital, while for others, one voice and enough passion to challenge the status quo is all that is needed.
Below, we have recapped the biggest and best takeaways from each speaker that we feel every Global Citizen should know. Check it out.
Achieve Founder Derrick Feldmann speaks onstage during Global Citizen - Movement Makers at The Times Center on Sept. 25, 2018 in New York City.
Achieve Founder Derrick Feldmann speaks onstage during Global Citizen - Movement Makers at The Times Center on Sept. 25, 2018 in New York City.
Derrick Feldmann, Author of Social Movements For Good: How Companies and Causes Create Viral Change
Feldmann is a renowned author and adviser on the topics of creating social movements for good and the importance of nonprofit millennial engagement. At the Movement Makers Summit, Feldmann revealed the top issues among young Americans today are civil rights and racial discrimination, gun safety, immigration, and climate change.
We have to understand what others are saying about us We have to listen before we create. To be movement makers, we have to be with the people.
KEEN Chief Marketing Officer Tyler LaMotte speaks onstage during Global Citizen - Movement Makers at The Times Center on Sept. 25, 2018 in New York City.
KEEN Chief Marketing Officer Tyler LaMotte speaks onstage during Global Citizen - Movement Makers at The Times Center on Sept. 25, 2018 in New York City.
Tyler LaMotte, Chief Marketing Officer of KEEN
What allows outdoor footwear brand KEEN to breakthrough the market is the fact that the company is led by values and mission driven with a real commitment for creating long lasting change, LaMotte revealed to audiences. The company, he stated, makes a purpose of being more open, honest, and transparent about how they conduct their business.
What can we do today to create a better world? If you want better — you truly need to do something about it.
Greyston Bakery Account Manager Sunitha Malieckal (L) and Greyston Bakery Supervisor Dion Drew speak onstage during Global Citizen - Movement Makers at The Times Center on Sept. 25, 2018 in New York City.
Greyston Bakery Account Manager Sunitha Malieckal (L) and Greyston Bakery Supervisor Dion Drew speak onstage during Global Citizen - Movement Makers at The Times Center on Sept. 25, 2018 in New York City.
Dion Drew, Training Supervisor of Greyston Bakery
Sunitha Malieckal, Account Manager and Benefit Corporation Co-Chair of Greyston Bakery
Greyston Bakery has long asked one question: What would happen if everyone who wanted a job could have one — with no exceptions or prerequisites? Drew shared how and why he came to work at the bakery, and Malieckal explained to audiences why an all-inclusive workplace policy in the current global environment is so vital.
Our doors are open for everyone. Open hiring is something that all companies need to be doing because it’s wonderful and we’re fighting for people.
WeWork Director of CultureOS Deployment Deborah Alden speaks onstage during Global Citizen - Movement Makers at The Times Center on Sept. 25, 2018 in New York City.
WeWork Director of CultureOS Deployment Deborah Alden speaks onstage during Global Citizen - Movement Makers at The Times Center on Sept. 25, 2018 in New York City.
Deborah Alden, Director of CultureOS Deployment with WeWork
Purpose. Leadership. Citizenship. Space. Connection. Agility. Talent. Platform. These are the eight cultural systems that drive and inspire WeWork — a shared workspace company — to strive to achieve once impossible feats. Alden revealed that over the next five years, WeWork will employee 1,500 refugees across 13 cities.
We are going to hire 1,500 refugees over the next five years. We are the lucky ones to have the opportunity to do this.
Johnson & Johnson EVP Global Corporate Affairs & Chief Communication Officer Michael Sneed speaks onstage during Global Citizen - Movement Makers at The Times Center on Sept. 25, 2018 in New York City.
Johnson & Johnson EVP Global Corporate Affairs & Chief Communication Officer Michael Sneed speaks onstage during Global Citizen - Movement Makers at The Times Center on Sept. 25, 2018 in New York City.
Michael Sneed, Executive Vice President, Global Corporate Affairs and Chief Communication Officer at Johnson & Johnson
Sneed provided insight into how global companies can play a vital role in creating momentum and movements that can change the world. Johnson & Johnson, Sneed said, brings together people and organizations to encourage action.
When it comes to social movements, global companies are very much a part of the cause as well. Movements begin and succeed when disparate groups who share in a similar belief and purpose come together. This idea of working together is what we are focusing on.
Matsepo Mary-Anna “Dee” Mphafi, Youth Ambassador with the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation
Dee spoke about her work providing counseling to young people living with HIV. As an HIV-positive women from Lesotho, Dee uses her own lived experience and knowledge to provide an inclusive community to those similarly living with the disease.
Ask us what we think. Invite more women from countries like mine to speak on stages like this.
Koketso Moeti, Wailsitz Global Citizen Award winner and Founder and Executive Director of Amandla.mobi
Caitlin Barrett, Waislitz Global Citizen Youth Innovation Award winner and CEO of Love Mercy Foundation
Tabitha Mpamira-Kaguri, Waislitz Global Citizen’s Choice Award and Founder and Executive Director of EDJA Foundation
The Wailsitz Global Citizen Award winners revealed to audiences the incredible work their respective organizations are doing to combat extreme poverty. Moeti, who won the grand Wailsitz Global Citizen Award, spoke about her company Amandla.mobi, an organization with a group of over 200,000 people throughout South Africa who use their cell phones to campaign against poverty.
I stand here coming from a collective.
African Youth Initiative Network Founder Victor Ochen speaks onstage during Global Citizen - Movement Makers at The Times Center on Sept. 25, 2018 in New York City.
African Youth Initiative Network Founder Victor Ochen speaks onstage during Global Citizen - Movement Makers at The Times Center on Sept. 25, 2018 in New York City.
Victor Ochen, Founder of African Youth Initiative Network
After surviving 21 years in a refugee camp in northern Uganda, Ochen felt compelled to help victims of war upon his release. His organization — the African Youth Initiative Network — provides reconstructive medical treatments to victims of mutilation and rape. Ochen told audiences about the role nonviolent activism can play in addressing the root causes of conflict in Africa.
We need to humanize the policies. We must never forget our brothers and sisters swimming in the deep sea of misfortunes and poverty.
Journalist Ali Velshi (L) and World Bank President Jim Yong Kim speak onstage during Global Citizen - Movement Makers at The Times Center on Sept. 25, 2018 in New York City.
Journalist Ali Velshi (L) and World Bank President Jim Yong Kim speak onstage during Global Citizen - Movement Makers at The Times Center on Sept. 25, 2018 in New York City.
Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank Group
Ali Velshi, Anchor and Business Correspondent with MSNBC
Kim told Velshi about the need for a total shift in the way societies think and act. He announced people must not just pressure donors to be more generous, but also pressure heads of states to invest generously in health and education. The sector, he stated, needs to shift from ideological-based development work to evidence-based development.
On issues like human capital, like climate change don’t trust anyone over 30 to make the decisions. Most of the people making these decisions are over 30; you can’t trust us. Ask the hardest questions and keep after people.
The Big Quiet & Medi Club Founder Jesse Israel speaks onstage during Global Citizen - Movement Makers at The Times Center on Sept. 25, 2018 in New York City.
The Big Quiet & Medi Club Founder Jesse Israel speaks onstage during Global Citizen - Movement Makers at The Times Center on Sept. 25, 2018 in New York City.
Jesse Israel, Founder of The Big Quiet and Medi Club
Israel bravely shared with audiences his experiences with mental health issues and how he was able to find fulfillment and peace through meditation. After realizing the wonderful effects medication had, Israel shared how he founded a mass meditation movement that has taken over the world.
We realized there was an opportunity to take what we were creating and share it with the rest of the city.
Brooklyn Defender Services Senior Staff Attorney & Director of Policy Scott Hechinger speaks onstage during Global Citizen - Movement Makers at The Times Center on Sept. 25, 2018 in New York City.
Brooklyn Defender Services Senior Staff Attorney & Director of Policy Scott Hechinger speaks onstage during Global Citizen - Movement Makers at The Times Center on Sept. 25, 2018 in New York City.
Scott Hechinger, Senior Staff Attorney and Director of Policy with Brooklyn Defender Services
Hechinger told audiences about his efforts to totally revamp the cash bail system. The current system, he claimed, disportionately affects the poor and pushes them deeper into poverty.
We have changed and moved what was once a lawyers only non-issue into a national movement.
Dr. James McLeary, CEO of Inside Circle Foundation
Rick Meisner, 30 year survivor of the California Prison System
McLeary and Meisner had a frank discussion about the importance of learning to be an authentically, spiritually, and emotionally open person. They urged audiences to write down what they would like to change about themselves everyday and to ask themselves, “What did I do of value today?”
Nothing is impossible. I believe we all can change, we all can transform, and we can be a part of the movements we have a passion for.
She's The First Co-founder & CEO Tammy Tibbetts (L) and Student Leadership Network Executive Director Jemina Bernard speak onstage during Global Citizen - Movement Makers at The Times Center on Sept. 25, 2018 in New York City.
She's The First Co-founder & CEO Tammy Tibbetts (L) and Student Leadership Network Executive Director Jemina Bernard speak onstage during Global Citizen - Movement Makers at The Times Center on Sept. 25, 2018 in New York City.
Tammy Tibbetts, Co-Founder of She's the First
Jemina Bernard, Executive Director with Student Leadership Network
Tibbetts and Bernard provided some fascinating insights into how their respective organizations work to create a more equal world free from sexism and misogyny.
We don't just want our students to go out into the world with a diploma, we want them to actually have the awareness and the skills to change the structural inequalities around them.
Poet & UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Emi Mahmoud speaks onstage during Global Citizen - Movement Makers at The Times Center on Sept. 25, 2018 in New York City.
Poet & UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Emi Mahmoud speaks onstage during Global Citizen - Movement Makers at The Times Center on Sept. 25, 2018 in New York City.
Emi Mahmoud, World Champion Poet, Activist, and UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador
Mahmoud treated audiences to two moving spoken-word poems that touched on the issues of equality, war, genocide, and peace. She argued for education, poetry, and peace as the solutions to violence.
The worst thing about genocide isn't the hunger, or the politics, or the government paid soldiers that chase you across borders … it's the silence.
Dylan Marron speaks onstage during Global Citizen - Movement Makers at The Times Center on Sept. 25, 2018 in New York City.
Dylan Marron speaks onstage during Global Citizen - Movement Makers at The Times Center on Sept. 25, 2018 in New York City.
Dylan Marron, Digital Creator
Marron’s podcast Conversations With People Who Hate Me attempts to provide open dialogue between people of totally opposing viewpoints. After discussing the inspiration behind the podcast, Marron urged audiences to approach healing through empathy.
The title suggests an era of hatefulness, but it is anything but. It’s also not a debate, because i don't believe in a debate as a form of conversation.
(L-R) Simon Moss, Emy Kane, and Mia Ives-Rublee speak onstage during Global Citizen - Movement Makers at The Times Center on Sept. 25, 2018 in New York City.
(L-R) Simon Moss, Emy Kane, and Mia Ives-Rublee speak onstage during Global Citizen - Movement Makers at The Times Center on Sept. 25, 2018 in New York City.
Emy Kane, Digital Strategist with the Lonely Whale
Mia Ives-Rublee, Founder and Coordinator of Women’s March Disability Caucus
Global Citizen co-founder Simon Moss facilitated a discussion between Kane and Ives-Rublee, who both spoke on civil rights activism. Kane revealed the challenges and inspiration behind her award-winning social media campaign #StopSucking, and Ives-Rublee told audiences about why the disability community must be able to participate fully in all aspects of society.
The interesting thing about the disability community is that we touch on every single issue that you could imagine.
(L-R) Ladan Manteghi, Jamie Margolin, and Afroz Shah speak onstage during Global Citizen - Movement Makers at The Times Center on Sept. 25, 2018 in New York City.
(L-R) Ladan Manteghi, Jamie Margolin, and Afroz Shah speak onstage during Global Citizen - Movement Makers at The Times Center on Sept. 25, 2018 in New York City.
Afroz Shah, Environmental Organizer
Jamie Margolin, Founder and Executive Director of Zero Hour
Ladan Manteghi interviewed both Shah and Margolin on the issue of environmental activism. Sixteen-year-old Margolin spoke passionately about the national youth movement Zero Hour, which sees students call for widespread protections for the environment. Afroz told audiences why it is vital for people to take ownership, action, and responsibility for global injustices.
We have to unfortunately step up and be the ones that we've been waiting for, because no one else is going to do it for us.
(L-R) Petra Nemcova, Frank Giustra, and Howard Sherman speak onstage during Global Citizen - Movement Makers at The Times Center on Sept. 25, 2018 in New York City.
(L-R) Petra Nemcova, Frank Giustra, and Howard Sherman speak onstage during Global Citizen - Movement Makers at The Times Center on Sept. 25, 2018 in New York City.
Petra Nemcova, Co-Founder of All Hands and Hearts - Smart Response
Frank Giustra, CEO of the Fiore Group
Howard Sherman, CEO of Good360
The next three speakers shared the stage to talk about the need for a reform in the way disaster relief is handled. With 60% of unsolicited donated goods being thrown into landfills in the weeks after a climate disaster, the need for a new framework for disaster relief is crucial, they announced.
Seventy percent of the money comes in the first two months and then it trickles off to nothing. As admirable as that emotional giving is, it’s not smart.
Violinist Mariela Shaker speaks onstage during Global Citizen - Movement Makers at The Times Center on Sept. 25, 2018 in New York City.
Violinist Mariela Shaker speaks onstage during Global Citizen - Movement Makers at The Times Center on Sept. 25, 2018 in New York City.
Mariela Shaker, Violinist and Activist
Shaker moved audiences to tears not only through her extraordinary musical talent, but also by explaining how she managed to escape war-torn Syria to make a new life in America. As a refugee advocate, Shaker was named a Champion of Change by former President Obama and appointed UNHCR High Profile Supporter in 2015.
I believe in the power of music to break down barriers and build bridges.
Singer-songwriter Mohombi speaks onstage during Global Citizen - Movement Makers at The Times Center on Sept. 25, 2018 in New York City.
Singer-songwriter Mohombi speaks onstage during Global Citizen - Movement Makers at The Times Center on Sept. 25, 2018 in New York City.
Mohombi, Singer-songwriter and #ILoveCongo Activist
Mohombi pledged to always fight for equality and justice for the people of the Dominican Republic of Congo. By launching the #ILoveCongo initiative this month, Mohombi intends to focus on hope instead of despair by showcasing the beauty and intelligence of Congolese people.
We all need to get involved. Each and every one of us holds an element of the solution in our hands.
Filmmaker Zach Ingrasci speaks onstage during Global Citizen - Movement Makers at The Times Center on Sept. 25, 2018 in New York City.
Filmmaker Zach Ingrasci speaks onstage during Global Citizen - Movement Makers at The Times Center on Sept. 25, 2018 in New York City.
Zach Ingrasci, Humanitarian, Activist, and Filmmaker of Living On One
In his latest documentary Salam Neighbor, Ingrasci takes viewers inside a Syrian refugee camp in the hope of keeping one of the most important issues in our world today at the front and center. Before leaving the stage, he encouraged audiences to use their passions and talents for the greater good.
Find a creative process that brings out the dignity and beauty of stories.
Artist & architect Mohamad Hafez speaks onstage during Global Citizen - Movement Makers at The Times Center on Sept. 25, 2018 in New York City.
Artist & architect Mohamad Hafez speaks onstage during Global Citizen - Movement Makers at The Times Center on Sept. 25, 2018 in New York City.
Mohamad Hafez, Artist and Architect
As an interdisciplinary artist and architect, Hafez's latest mission has been to create artwork that places a spotlight on the plight of Syrian refugees. By doing so, he hopes to humanize refugees and allow for a more open and honest discussion on the true horrors of the current war.
Events outside of our control push us to create movements that energize people.
Run for Something Co-Founder Amanda Litman speaks onstage during Global Citizen - Movement Makers at The Times Center on Sept. 25, 2018 in New York City.
Run for Something Co-Founder Amanda Litman speaks onstage during Global Citizen - Movement Makers at The Times Center on Sept. 25, 2018 in New York City.
Amanda Litman, Author and Co-Founder of Run for Something
Litman told audiences that everybody — no matter their race, age, sex, religion, or sexual preference — should be encouraged to run for office. She is committed to making this a reality through her organization Run for Something, which provides people with everything they need to know about the process of running for office.
This isn’t just a moment, the people we are helping run for office continue to inspire others.
Minnijean Brown-Trickey speaks onstage during Global Citizen - Movement Makers at The Times Center on Sept. 25, 2018 in New York City.
Minnijean Brown-Trickey speaks onstage during Global Citizen - Movement Makers at The Times Center on Sept. 25, 2018 in New York City.
Minnijean Brown-Trickey, American Civil Rights Activist and Icon
Brown-Trickey and student Sophia Fiallo had an inspirational discussion on why nonviolent activism is the best way to win against oppression. Sixty-one years exactly to the date that Brown-Trickey and the Little Rock Nine walked into Little Rock Central High School, Brown-Trickey announced to audiences that she has never stopped fighting for what she believes in.
Nonviolence is a way of life for a courageous person ... Nonviolence has the power to transform anger into action.
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Kailash Satyarthi speaks onstage during Global Citizen - Movement Makers at The Times Center on Sept. 25, 2018 in New York City.
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Kailash Satyarthi speaks onstage during Global Citizen - Movement Makers at The Times Center on Sept. 25, 2018 in New York City.
Kailash Satyarthi, Nobel Peace Laureate and Child Rights Activist
Sayarthi has advocated for the rights of the child for just under four decades. The unwavering activist was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 for his incredible efforts creating the largest civil society network for the world's most exploited children. His life mission, he revealed to audiences, is to ensure every child is able to life a happy and healthy life.
My humble effort is to ensure every child is free to be a child.
The Revival Resistance Chorus performs onstage during Global Citizen - Movement Makers at The Times Center on Sept. 25, 2018 in New York City.
The Revival Resistance Chorus performs onstage during Global Citizen - Movement Makers at The Times Center on Sept. 25, 2018 in New York City.
Revival Resistance Chorus
To end a fantastic and impactful day, audiences were treated to a performance by the Revival Resistance Chorus. The choir sang two songs that both centered around the importance of holding onto hope and resistance in the face of the world’s evils.
The 2018 Global Citizen Festival in New York will be presented for the very first time by Citi. MSNBC and Comcast NBCUniversal will air a live simulcast of the Festival on MSNBC and MSNBC.com. The Festival will also be livestreamed on YouTube and Twitter, presented by Johnson & Johnson. Proud partners of the 2018 Global Citizen Festival include Global Citizen’s global health partner and major partner Johnson & Johnson, and major partners P&G, CHIME FOR CHANGE Founded by Gucci, Verizon, House of Mandela, iHeartMedia, and NYC Parks. Associate partners include Microsoft, Great Big Story, and One Championship.
