Chain Reaction

Here is a selection of confirmed speakers, we will be announcing more soon - sign-up for information to be kept informed of developments and let us know in the forum who you would like to see at the event.

David Robinson OBE

David Robinson is the Founder of Community Links, now Senior Advisor (www.community-links.org). Community Links work with more than 50,000 people a year through an extensive network of community development projects in East London. This local experience is shared with policy makers and practitioners nationwide through the Links UK publications, training and consultancy programme. David is also the founder and, now chair of We Are What We Do (www.wearewhatwedo.org) originator and joint author of the movements current best sellers "Change The World For A Fiver" and "Change the World 9 to 5", co-founder of the Children's Discovery Centre, and a founding Trustee of TimeBank. Recent publications include "Unconditional Leadership" and, with others, "Enduring Change" and "Living Values". He also collaborated with Gordon Brown on the Prime Ministers new book "Britain's Everyday Heroes" and leads the recently announced Prime Ministers Council on Social Action. David's policy work has been recognised with an honorary doctorate from the Open University and he was recently named Morgan Stanley Great Briton 2006 for his contribution to public life.

Jane Tewson CBE

Jane Tewson, CBE founded Charity Projects (1984), co-founded Comic Relief (1986), Pilotlight UK (1998), Timebank (1999) and is currently Founder and Director of Pilotlight Australia (2001). Jane is well known for pushing the boundaries of philanthropic thinking and "creating a new concept of charity as active, emotional, involving and fun".

Pilotlight Australia acts a catalyst for social change www.pilotlight.org.au. Current Pilotlight initiatives include ground breaking programs that enable young men to create and manage their own social businesses at Port Phillip Prison – www.servingtime.org; using remainder clothing stock to create social enterprises for small rural initiatives and Dying To Know, their second best selling book which offers 60 thoughts that reflect on bringing death to life. Pilotlight believes that by renewing a conversation about dying we can help build supportive communities and inspire change for the living… "If you knew when it was coming, would you do anything differently? Why wait?"

Nipun Mehta, Founder, CharityFocus.org

Dissatisfied by Silicon Valley's dot-com greed, Nipun Mehta went to a homeless shelter with three friends to "give with absolutely no agendas." In April 1999, they ended up creating a website, and also an organization named CharityFocus.org — a fully volunteer-run organization that leverages technology to inspire greater volunteerism and shift our cultural ethos towards generosity. Today, CharityFocus has grown into an incubator of "gift-economy" projects ranging from web services to a film production company to a print magazine to a restaurant; with a growing membership base of 200K, they serve millions of global viewers to their websites and send more than 50 million solicited newsletters every year. In 2005, Nipun and his wife embarked on an unscripted walking pilgrimage in India that dramatically deepened their understanding of gift-economy values. While Nipun's childhood dream was to either become a tennis-pro or a Himalayan Yogi, the current mission statement of his life simply reads: "Bring smiles in the world and stillness in my heart."

Professor Brenda Gourley, Vice Chancellor, The Open University

Professor Brenda Gourley has been Vice-Chancellor of The Open University since 2002. She shares with The Open University a social justice agenda and a belief in education as a tool to tackle growing inequalities in the global society.

Professor Gourley is a member of the board of the International Association of Universities and the Longer Term Strategy Group of Universities UK. She chairs the Association of Commonwealth Universities as well as the Talloires Network's Global Project on literacy.

A frequent speaker on a broad range of platforms and issues as well as a contributor to publications around the world, Professor Gourley has also received honorary degrees from the University of Nottingham, University of Abertay, Richmond University, and Allama Iqbal Open University. She has been named as one of the Global Business Network's "remarkable people".

Professor Brenda Gourley was previously Vice-Chancellor at the University of Natal for eight years. Professor Gourley is a qualified Chartered Accountant and began her career in the private sector before moving into academia.

www.open.ac.uk

Tim Smit, Chief Executive, The Eden Project

Tim Smit was born in Holland on 25 September 1954. He read Archaeology and Anthropology at Durham University. Tim worked for ten years in the music industry as composer/producer in both rock music and opera. In 1987 Tim moved to Cornwall he and John Nelson together 'discovered' and then restored the Lost Gardens of Heligan. Tim remains a Director of the gardens to the present day.

Tim is Chief Executive and co-founder of the Award winning Eden Project near St Austell in Cornwall. Eden began as a dream in 1995 and opened its doors to the public in 2000, since when more than 8 million people have come to see what was once a sterile pit turned into a cradle of life containing world-class horticulture and startling architecture symbolic of human endeavour. Eden has contributed over £800 million into the Cornish economy. Eden is proud of its success in changing people's perception of the potential for and the application of science, by communicating and interpreting scientific concepts through the use of art, drama and storytelling as well as living up to its mission to take a pivotal role in local regeneration. It demonstrates once and for all that sustainability is not about sandals and nut cutlets, it is about good business practice and the citizenship values of the future.

Tim is a Trustee, Patron and Board Member of a number of statutory and voluntary bodies both locally and nationally. He has received a variety of national awards including The Royal Society of Arts Albert Medal. In 2002 he was awarded an Honorary CBE in the New Years Honours List and he has received Honorary Doctorates and Fellowships from a number of Universities. Tim was voted "Great Briton of 2007" in the Environment category of the Morgan Stanley Great Britons Awards. Tim has taken part in a quantity of television and radio programmes and has been the subject of "This is Your Life" and a guest on "Desert Island Discs". He is a regular speaker at conferences, dinners and other events. Tim is the author of books about both Heligan and Eden and he has contributed to publications on a wide variety of subjects. He lives in Fowey, Cornwall and in his free time he enjoys reading, film, music and art.

John Bird, Founder and Editor-In-Chief, The Big Issue

John Bird, was a poor boy, orphan, thief, inmate, artist and poet before going on to found the ground-breaking social initiative that is The Big Issue. He was born shortly after the Second World War to a London-Irish family into slum-ridden Notting Hill. Homelessness, orphanages, crime and prison characterised much of his early life until his metamorphosis into a successful small businessman occurred in the 1980s.

Since setting up The Big Issue magazine and foundation to help the homeless help themselves some sixteen years ago, John has become an authority on motivation and the ascendancy to achievement. Amongst the places he has spoken are the UN in New York, Nairobi and Istanbul, Downing Street and Buckingham Palace. The UN Scroll of Honour, an MBE and the 2005/6 Beacon Prize for Creative Giving are just three of the many accolades and awards he has received. Since the inception of The Big Issue in 1991, John has overseen its development into the UK's most successful social enterprise, stretching from Tokyo to Totnes and helping thousands of homeless people worldwide.

John's latest venture is called Wedge Card, a loyalty card aimed at revitalising the local high street. The card gives shoppers discounts at hundreds of independent businesses as well as raising money for local charities. For further information, log on to www.wedgecard.co.uk.

His autobiography "Some Luck", published by Penguin is a fantastic explanation of much of John's lack of fortune, misfortune and his ascendancy out of the vulgar life of crime to social engineering. In March 2007 he took part to the Quick Reads campaign and wrote the best selling book "How to change your life in 7 steps".

Now aged 62, he has recently remarried for the third time and he has 5 children.

www.bigissue.com

Jessica Williams, Writer & Television Producer

Jessica Williams is a writer and television producer. Born in Aberdeen and brought up in New Zealand, she has lived in London since 1999.

Jessica is the author of two books: 50 Facts That Should Change The World, first published by Icon Books in May 2004 and now in its third revised edition, and How To Give To Charity, published by Icon in January 2006. Her writing has appeared in the New Statesman, Dazed and Confused, Third Sector and Good magazine and she has been a contributor to BBC Radio 4 and the Indymedia collective.

Jessica currently works for the BBC World News programme HardTalk with Stephen Sackur and is working on a new book project.

Colin Parry OBE, Founder of Foundation for Peace

Colin's 12 year old son Tim was killed by an IRA bomb.

But he turned his tragic loss into creating an internationally acclaimed charity helping young people become "Ambassadors for Peace".

Colin secured the support of members of the Royal family, international Statesmen and senior politicians from Britain, Ireland and the United States.

Hear about the Peace Centre built as a memorial to his son and the other young victim.

In front of 10,000 people in Osaka, he received Rotary international's "World Award for Peace and Understanding";…previously given to Nelson Mandela, the late Pope John Paul and Former US President Jimmy Carter

Colin is an ordinary man who lost an ordinary son, but with extraordinary energy and fierce determination, did not allow his son to be simply another statistic in the long list of innocent victims.

www.colinparry.co.uk

Martyn Lewis CBE

Martyn Lewis's career is an unusual blend of the media, charitable and corporate worlds. Over 32 years as a television journalist he presented every mainstream national news programme on Britain's two main terrestrial channels, before moving nine years ago into the world of business where he co-founded and chairs the technology company Teliris (www.teliris.com), a major global pioneer in a new "real-time" communications business space known as Telepresence. In 2005 he also became Chairman of NICE TV (www.nicetv.org), which works with ITN Consulting to provide high quality bespoke news programmes for events, conferences, exhibitions and webcasts. His charitable involvement began with the Hospice movement, and has expanded over the last 25 years to embrace areas as diverse as disadvantaged young people, learning disabilities, dementia, volunteering and leadership.

First and foremost, Martyn is Chairman of YouthNet, the award-winning charity he founded in 1995 to create a comprehensive internet site signposting 16-24 year-olds to every conceivable opportunity or form of help they might need (www.thesite.org). It is accessed by over half a million young people every month. YouthNet also provides the UK's national volunteering database – www.do-it.org.uk, listing and regularly updating some 800,000 volunteering opportunities available across the UK.

Martyn has been a regular campaigner for the Hospice movement since 1983, and is a Vice-President of the three main national hospice charities — Help The Hospices, Marie Curie Cancer Care and Macmillan Cancer Relief — as well as many individual hospices.

Martyn is one of the original patrons of The Tomorrow Project, which tries to predict the shape of society in years to come; a patron of For Dementia, providing specialist nurses for people with dementia; an adviser to the Ogden Educational Trust; and a member of the International Committee of RADA.

For the last 20 years he has been President of United Response, who provide homes and work in the community for people with learning disabilities, and since 2001 has been a Trustee of the Windsor Leadership Trust, helping develop the leaders of tomorrow.

Drew Dellinger, Founder, Poets for Global Justice

Drew Dellinger is a spoken word poet, professor, activist and founder of Poets for Global Justice. He has inspired minds and hearts at hundreds of events in many countries, performing poetry and keynoting on justice, ecology, cosmology, activism and human compassion. He has spoken and performed at numerous conferences including Bioneers and the Dream Reborn, colleges, poetry venues, protests and places of worship. Dellinger has shared podiums and stages with luminaries such as Cornel West, Danny Glover, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., AniDifranco, Billy Bragg, Michael Franti, Eve Ensler, Jim Hightower, Paul Hawken and many others.

Dellinger's work has appeared on radio, in visionary films, books, anthologies, and in magazines, from the New York Times Magazine to Yes! Magazine. His collection of poems, Love Letter to the Milky Way—now in its third printing—has sold thousands of copies to enthusiastic readers in North America, South America, the United Kingdom and Australia. His poems have been shared at gatherings and conferences; in classrooms and prisons; in women's groups, men's groups, and spiritual communities.

Dellinger has studied cosmology and ecological thought with Thomas Berry since 1990 and is finishing his Ph.D. at the California Institute of Integral Studies. He is currently writing his dissertation on Martin Luther King Jr. and the connections between cosmology, ecology and justice. Dellinger has taught at Prescott College, John F. Kennedy University, Naropa University-Oakland, and the Esalen Institute. Dellinger lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

www.drewdellinger.org

Nick Turner, Partner, Monitor Group

Nick Turner is a Partner of the Monitor Group, a leading global strategy consultancy. Based in London, Nick provides strategic advice to both private and public sector clients, in addition to running Monitor GBN's operations in Europe. Nick has extensive experience in leading a diverse range of strategic projects, helping key stakeholders to challenge their preconceived mental models and formulate strategies for success in an uncertain world. Prior to joining Monitor, Nick spent 11 years at Morgan Stanley, where he was a Managing Director and Head of Strategy in Europe. The initial part of Nick's career was spent in the high-technology industry, both in Europe and Silicon Valley. Nick is the former Chairman of the London Employer Coalition and a current member of the London Employment and Skills Board, helping to develop an employer-led and integrated strategy for the city. He also sits on the board of Working Ventures UK.

www.monitor.com
www.gbn.com

Sophi Tranchell, Managing Director, Divine Chocolate Ltd.

Sophi is Managing Director of Divine Chocolate Ltd, the pioneering Fairtrade company co-owned by farmers. Over the last nine years, she and her team have built the company and the brand from a wonderful idea to a dynamic robust business turning over £10 million with £500k profit. She has a high profile as a champion of the company's mission to improve the lives of smallholder cocoa farmers in West Africa through a fairer trading relationship, and is an innovative marketeer, creating a brand that delights and engages consumers.

To further set this farmer-owned Fairtrade company apart, Sophi has overseen the development of Dubble – a Fairtrade chocolate brand specially for young people. Co-founded with Comic Relief, and accompanied by award-winning education resources for young people, the brand has attracted a signed up fan club of 50,000 proactive young Fairtraders. Sophi is also a founding trustee of Trading Visions, an education charity established to build awareness of fair trade issues and to amplify the voices of smallscale producers.

In 2007 Sophi was proud to announce the first Dividend paid to the farmers as shareholders, and on Valentine’s Day 2007, she attended the launch of the USA company Divine Chocolate Inc she helped to set up, with a briefing on Capitol Hill and front page coverage.

Most recently Divine Chocolate won the Observer Ethical Business Award.

Sophi Tranchell graduated in Philosophy and Politics from the University of Warwick in 1986. She lives in London with her husband and their two children.

www.divinechocolate.com