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Breakthrough Summit Leadership Council

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Dr. Nafis Sadik, Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for HIV/AIDS in Asia
Dr. Nafis Sadik is Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General, with the rank of Under-Secretary-General, and UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Asia and the Pacific. Educated in medicine at Dow Medical College, Calcutta, and at Johns Hopkins University, Dr. Sadik joined the (UNFPA) in 1971, and was its Executive Director from 1987-2000. She was one of the highest-ranking women in the UN system to head one of its major voluntarily-funded programmes. As Secretary-General of the landmark International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), Cairo,1994, the approach to reproductive health which includes empowering women through education and economic opportunity, was unanimously agreed to by the international community. She is well-known for her leadership in the fields of international maternal and child health, reproductive and sexual health, and as a strong advocate for education in the prevention of HIV and AIDS. She was the Laureate of the United Nations Population Award 2001.

She is a member of the Board of Trustees/Directors of several national and international organizations, and is the author of publications in the areas of reproductive health and family, population and development, women, and gender and development.

Dr. Sadik was a member of the UN Secretary-General's High-level Panel on Alliance of Civilizations, and also served as a member of the UN Secretary-General's High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change.

She is married to Azhar Sadik, businessman (retired). They have three children and two adopted children.

Ms. Zainab Salbi, President & CEO, Women for Women International
Zainab Salbi is the Founder and CEO of Women for Women International, which has distributed more than $ 42 million through direct aid and micro-credit loans to over 153 ,000 women survivors of war since 1993. In 2006 Women for Women International received the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Award. Salbi details her life growing up in Iraq in her memoir, Between Two Worlds: Escape from Tyranny: Growing up in the Shadow of Saddam (2005: Gotham) and is the author of National Geographic's The Other Side of War: Women's Stories of Survival and Hope (2006). Salbi is regularly interviewed in the national and international media, including seven appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show. She is a graduate of the London School of Economics and Political Science (2001) and George Mason University (1996).

Reverend Charles Sandefur, president, Adventist Development & Relief Agency International

Ms. Vicki Sant, Co-Founder and President, The Summit Foundation

Monica Santamarina, President Latin America and the Carribean, World Union of Cathloc Women's Organizations

Priestess Beatriz Schulthess, President, Indigenous Peoples Ancestral Spiritual Council; Member, Religions for Peace, World Council
Beatriz Schulthess is currently Coordinator of Women's and Indigenous People's Programs at the Earth Council in Costa Rica, developing programs in relation to the follow-up and implementation of the Agenda 21 and other Rio agreements. She was Executive Director of the International Indigenous Commission from 1989 to 1992.

Since 1977, Ms. Schulthess has participated actively with the United Nations in practically all negotiations related to indigenous issues. She was instrumental in negotiations which led to the Proclamation of the International Year of the World's Indigenous Peoples, 1993, as well as in the drafting of the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. She participated in the revision of Convention 169 for Indigenous and Tribal Peoples and in the drafting of the Universal Declaration of the Rights of the Child. She was active in promoting the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development and was appointed adviser to the UNCED's Secretary General on Indigenous issues.

Born in Argentina, she is a member of the Kolla Nation, and for many years worked as an accountant and senior international banking official.

Mr. Edward W. Scott, Jr., Chairman, Center for Global Development

Dr. Tasneem Shamim, Executive Director, Muslim Women's Coalition

Ms. Jill Sheffield, President Emeritus, Family Care International

Mr. Salil Shetty, Director, Millennium Campaign

Dr. Ella Smith Simmons, Vice President, The Seventh-day Adventist World Church

The Honorable Portia Simpson-Miller, former prime minister, Jamaica

Dr. Rajinderit Kaur Singh, Vice President, The Sikh Heritage Organization, Representative of Religions for Peace International Women's Coordinating Committee (IWCC)

Ms. Shantha Sinha, chairperson, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, Government of India
Ms. Shantha Sinha is the Founder and Secretary Trustee of the Indian NGO M V Foundation. Since inception in 1981, MV Foundation has been actively involved in programmes for elimination of child labour through universalisation of elementary education in more than 7 States in India. In Andra Pradesh alone, the organization's work, supported by a number of local and international donors including Catholic Relief Services, has help more than 400,000 children escape the work force and regain their childhood. At present MV Foundation is focusing on girl-children and children engaged as bonded labourers, partnership developing with government teachers, women's groups, youth associations, PTAs and local bodies; and training and networking with other NGOs.

Ms. Sinha is a recipient of numerous national and international awards including the Albert Shankar International Award, Education International in recognition of outstanding personal contribution for education and the Rotary India Award on Elimination of Child Labour.

In March 2007, the Government of India set up the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights. This statutory body, operating under India's Protection of Child Rights Act, 2005, was established to protect, promote and defend child rights in India - a country with the largest child population in the world. Ms. Shantha Sinha was selected to head this Commission and will serve as its first Chairperson for a period of three years.

Ms. Sinha holds a Masters Degree in Political Science from Osmania University, India, as well as a PhD in Political Science from Jawaharlal Nehru.

Ms. Elise Fiber Smith, Co-Founder and Founder Chair, Women Thrive Worldwide

Ms. Esta Soler, President, Family Violence Prevention Fund

Ms. Kathy Spahn, President and CEO, Helen Keller International
Kathy Spahn is President and Chief Executive Officer of Helen Keller International, an international development organization dedicated to the prevention and treatment of blindness and malnutrition. She previously served as President and Executive Director of ORBIS International, an international blindness prevention organization; and Executive Director of God's Love We Deliver, an AIDS service organization combating malnutrition among people living with HIV/AIDS.

Ms. Spahn serves on the boards of directors of InterAction, International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness and The Bernadotte Foundation for Children's Eyecare, and is Board Chair of the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Disease Control.

Ann Starrs, President, Family Care International

Mr. Richard Stearns, President, World Vision
Richard E. Stearns is President of World Vision United States, one of the largest relief and development organizations in the world. Established in 1950, World Vision has more than 23,000 staff serving victims of poverty and injustice in nearly 100 countries. The agency's annual budget is approximately $2 billion.

Prior to joining World Vision, Stearns served as president and CEO of Lenox, the gift and tableware company and president and CEO of Parker Brothers Games. After a quarter-century business career, Stearns joined World Vision in 1998, guiding the organization to unprecedented growth and calling on the American Church to respond to the global AIDS pandemic.

Mr. Stearns has served on the boards of The ONE Campaign, USAID's Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Aid and InterAction.

He earned a BS degree from Cornell University and an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Stearns and his wife Reneé reside near Seattle and have five children.

Ms. Vivian Stromberg, Executive Director, MADRE

Ms. Susan Sygall, CEO, Mobility International USA
Susan Sygall, co-founder and CEO of Mobility International USA (MIUSA), is an internationally recognized expert in the area of international exchange and leadership programs for persons with disabilities. Sygall, who uses a wheelchair, has had a personal and professional commitment to disability rights and women's issues for more than 25 years. MIUSA's Loud, Proud & Passionate!® projects focus on infusing the perspectives of women with disabilities into international women's movements and development agendas. Loud, Proud & Passionate® is one important step toward creating opportunities for women with disabilities to take integral roles in the development process, empowering themselves and their communities.

Mr. Elias Szczytnicki, Director, Latin American and Caribbean Council of Religious Leaders
Elias Szczytnicki has extensive and distinguished experience in inter-religious relations. Since 2004, he is the Director of the Latin American and Caribbean Regional Office and General Secretary of the Latin American and Caribbean Council of Religious Leaders (LACCRL) of the World Conference of Religions for Peace (WCRP).

Also, Mr. Szczytnicki serves as Secretary of the Interfaith Committee of Peru, a national inter-religious council integrated by representatives of the Christian, Jewish and Muslim religious communities established in Peru, for inter-religious understanding, dialogue and cooperation.

As representative of Interfaith Committee, Mr. Szczytnicki is member of the National Executive Committee of the Consensus-Building Table on Fight against Poverty of Peru, and the National Committee on Supervision and Transparency of the National Program on Direct Support for the More Poor People of Peru (Together).

On the other hand, Mr. Szczytnicki was a member of the Human Relations Committee of the Jewish Association of Peru (AJP) and a lecturer in Judaism at the Center of Oriental Studies of the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP).

Mr. Szczytnicki holds a bachelor's degree in Latin American history from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. Also, he is a graduate from the Program on Jewish Organization Direction, of the Training and Investigation Latin American Center for Jewish Institutional Leadership Leatid, and a fellow of the Nahum Goldmann Fellowship, initiated by the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture (MFJC).

The Honorable Linda Tarr-Whelan, Former Ambassador, UN Commission on Status of Women
Linda Tarr-Whelan, the Demos Distinguished Senior Fellow on Women's Leadership, chairs the Pax World Resources Advisory Council for the Women's Equity Fund. She served as Ambassador to the UN Commission on the Status of Women in the Clinton Administration and as Deputy Assistant for Women's Concerns to President Jimmy Carter.

Linda led the Center for Policy Alternatives, partnered in an international management consultancy, and held executive positions in state government and national unions. A nurse, she holds a BSN from Johns Hopkins, an MS from the University of Maryland, and honorary PhDs from Chatham and Plymouth State Universities.

Dr. Jenny Te Paa, Maori Anglican theologian, Principal of College of St John the Evangelist, Aukland, New Zealand

Ms. Ann Tiemeyer, Women's Program, National Council of Churches

Ven. Karma Lekshe Tsomo, President, Sakyadhita International Association of Buddhist Women/ Jamyang Foundation

Mr. Frank Tugwell, President and CEO, Winrock International

Ms. Alison Van Dyk, Board Chair, The Temple of Understanding.

Rev. Judith VanOsdol, Coordinator, Religions for Peace Latin American and the Caribbean Women of Faith Network
Rev. Judith VanOsdol, an ordained Lutheran Minister, serves the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Argentina and Uruguay. With degrees in Linguistics and Theology, she is also the Director for Women's Ministries and Gender Justice Desk for the Latin American Council of Churches, CLAI, serving over 160 Protestant and Evangelical Churches in 20 Countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. Rev. VanOsdol is a Biblical specialist on Gender Issues from a Human Rights perspective, who speaks, publishes and organizes internationally and ecumenically in the area of Religion and Gender Justice.

Dr. William Vendley, Secretary, General World Conference of Religions for Peace (Co-Founding Organization)

Ambassador Anne Veneman, Executive Director, UNICEF

Ms. Toni G. Verstandig, Executive Director/ Middle East Strategy Group, Aspen Institute

Ms. Melanne Verveer, Co-founder and Chair, Vital Voices Global Partnership

Ms. Faye Wattleton, Founder and President, Center for Advancement of Women

The Reverend Dr. Robert Welsh, General Secretary, Disciples Ecumenical Consultative Council

Reverend Elder Nancy Wilson, Moderator of Metropolitan Community Churches

Ms. Joan Winship, Executive Director, International Association of Women Judges

Mr. Sam Worthington, President and CEO, InterAction (Co-Founding Organization)

Ms. Chris Yelton, President, International Museum of Women

Ms. June Zeitlin, Executive Director, Women's Environment and Development Organization (WEDO)
June Zeitlin joined WEDO as the Executive Director in 1999. WEDO is an international organization which has been advocating for women's rights in global policy for over 15 years. Ms. Zeitlin has extensive experience as a women's rights lawyer, social policy advocate and in intergovernmental relations. She worked for the Ford Foundation for over a decade in a variety of program and management positions focused on women's rights, social justice and governance. Prior to joining the Ford Foundation, Ms. Zeitlin served as a legislative assistant in Washington, DC, for former Congresswoman and WEDO co-founder Bella Abzug. She began her career at Bedford-Stuyvesant Legal Services in Brooklyn, New York, and worked in intergovernmental relations for New York City and with the National Women's Law center in Washington, DC. She has a JD from New York University School of Law.

Ms. Elaine Zuckerman, President and Founder, Gender Action.

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