The Leading Speakers Bureau

Iconic Singer, Writer, Symbol of Enduring Excellence, Dedicated Activist & Campaigner

Annie Lennox OBE is one of the world’s most renowned singer songwriters, formerly with the Eurythmics. She is celebrated as an innovator, an icon, and a symbol of enduring excellence. Annie’s music career is peerless with over 80 million record sales to date. In 2011, Annie received an OBE in the New Years Honours list. Throughout her career she has been honoured with prestigious awards in recognition for both her brilliant music and the great campaigning work she does for humanitarian causes around the world.

“After personally witnessing Nelson Mandela describing the African HIV AIDS pandemic as a genocide, with women and children being the frontline victims, I set out to try and do something” Annie Lennox

[expand title=”In detail”] Eurythmics released their first album, in 1981, but it was not until the worldwide success of their second album, (Sweet Dreams Are Made of This) in 1983, that Eurythmics became the musical phenomenon we know today. In 2007 Annie released her much-anticipated album, Songs of Mass Destruction to critical acclaim. The album featured SING a new song featuring 23 or the world’s most acclaimed female superstars, invited by Annie to appear on the record to help draw attention to the HIV AIDS pandemic. Now, the SING campaign continues to raise funds and awareness in order to contribute to support and change. In addition to that, Annie is an Ambassador for UNAIDS, Oxfam, Nelson Mandela’s 46664 Campaign, Amnesty International, The British Red Cross, as well as supporting numerous other organisations.[/expand]

[expand title=”What she offers you”]Annie Lennox uses her unique voice to fight stigma and bring about change. A tireless campaigner against HIV/AIDS in South Africa and its impact on women’s and children’s lives, she openly shares her experiences in South Africa and her fight against the HIV / AIDS epidemic at prestigious worldwide events including TEDGlobal 2010, having already raised 2 million dollars so far through her SING campaign.[/expand]

[expand title=”How she presents”]The most successful female British pop musician in history, Annie Lennox is a highly motivational and passionate speaker who powerfully and emotively explains the action everyone can take in fighting the pandemic. Drawing on her talents, she combines music and film to put a human face on the crisis and emotionally connect people to the cause.[/expand]
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Worldwide Recognised Business Guru

Alf Rehn is a worldwide recognised business guru. The Times called him “star of the future”. He has a chair of management and organization, a professorship of innovation and entrepreneurship, and an odd outlook on life. In addition to this he is active as a columnist, an author, and a sought-after speaker. Currently, Alf holds a chair of management and organization at Åbo Akademi University in Finland, a professorship of innovation and entrepreneurship at the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden.

“One of Europe’s top young management scholars”

[expand title=”In detail”] Alf is with 31 one of the youngest full professors in Scandinavia. His research focuses on novel ways to understand management, organization and economy, and has been published in leading academic journals such as Creativity and Innovation Management, Group and Organization Management. He has contributed to works such as the Routledge Companion to Creativity and the Sage International Encyclopedia of Organization Studies. He is on the editorial board of several top management journals and edits a book series at a prominent Scandinavian publisher. [/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]As a speaker and consultant, Alf has worked with major business conferences, global industry, finance and insurance companies, CIO’s, pharmaceuticals and the high-tech industry, as well as mentored a series of start-ups. In doing so he has talked about things as far apart as discussing novel ways to develop city economies, economy as entertainment, cannibalism as strategy and going beyond creativity. In addition, he has appeared on TV talking about things such as business language, boredom in organizations, extreme wealth and new business models. [/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Rather than presenting the same buzzword everyone else does, Alf challenges audience’s thinking. At times provocative and always engaging, he represents a fresh new way of thinking about business.[/expand]
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Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School

Clayton Christensen is the architect of and the world’s foremost authority on disruptive innovation, a framework which describes the process by which a product or service takes root initially in simple applications at the bottom of a market and then relentlessly moves ‘up market’, eventually displacing established competitors. Consistently acknowledged in rankings and surveys as one of the world’s leading thinkers on innovation, Christensen is widely sought after as a speaker, advisor and board member. His research has been applied to national economies, start-up and Fortune 50 companies, as well as to early and late stage investing.

In 2011 Thinkers 50, the global ranking of management gurus, placed him 1st in the list of most influential thinkers.

[expand title=”In detail”] An advisor to numerous countries and companies, including the government of Singapore, he is a board member at India’s Tata Consultancy Services (NYSE: TCS), Franklin Covey (NYSE: FC), W.R. Hambrecht, and Vanu. Christensen also applies his frameworks via management consultancy Innosight which he co-founded in 2000, and Rose Park Advisors, an investment firm he founded in 2007. Prof. Christensen holds a B.A. with highest honours in economics from Brigham Young University. He received an MBA with High Distinction from the Harvard Business School. [/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Prof. Christensen’s research and teaching interests centre on the management issues related to the development and commercialisation of technological and business model innovation. He provides business leaders with tools and insights for managing innovation gleaned from his experience.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Comprehensive in his vision, astute in his diagnosis and clear in his guidance Prof. Christensen’s presentations are invaluable for business leaders around the world.[/expand]
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Explorer, Writer, Amazon Man – Inspirational Figure

Ed Stafford became the first person to walk the entire length of the Amazon River in August 2010. His adventure has been described as one of the most dangerous and difficult expeditions ever undertaken encountering venomous snakes, severe floods, electric eels, jaguars and hostile local tribes, one of whom held him for questioning about the murder of one of their tribesman. Since returning home to the UK his story has featured in over 300 articles around the globe.

Ed’s Amazon accomplishment has been described by Sir Ranulph Fiennes as being “..in the top league of expeditions past and present”

[expand title=”In detail”] On April 2nd 2008, Ed Stafford began his quest to walk the entire length of the Amazon River from source to sea. In 2009 he began writing a fortnightly blog for the Prince’s Rainforests Project. After leaving the military in 2002 he led expeditions in Belize and then supervised the building of a BBC base camp in Guyana.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Ed Stafford’s experiences of surviving adversity in some of the world’s most remote locations are simply unforgettable and highly inspiring. He uses his experiences to inspire and motivate audiences to achieve their own personal goals and shows that it is possible to succeed even when faced with seemingly insurmountable hardship.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Ed Stafford aims to motivate others to believe they can achieve their dreams and his laid back, humorous style educates and enthrals. His presentations are a mix of narrative and pictorial anecdotes with documentary footage filmed by Ed himself in the jungle. He takes the audience with him back to the jungle via his presentation and helps to inspire them to see life ahead as an adventure ready to begin.[/expand]
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International Economist, Author of Global Bestseller ‘Dead Aid’ and ‘How the West was Lost’

Dambisa Moyo is an international economist who comments on the macro economy and global affairs. In 2009, she was named by Time Magazine as one of the “100 Most Influential People in the World” and was nominated to the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders Forum. Her writing appears regularly in economic and finance-related publications such as Financial Times, the Economist and Wall Street Journal.

Dambisa Moyo’s diagnosis of the recent disasters in financial markets is succinct and sophisticated…. The Observer: Book Review

[expand title=”In detail”] Dambisa Moyo was born in Zambia. She received her doctorate at Oxford University, earned an MPA from Harvard’s University’s Kennedy School of Government, and an MBA from the American University in Washington DC. She worked for the World Bank as a consultant and at Goldman Sachs as an economist in the global macroeconomic team. Her two New York Bestsellers, ‘Dead Aid’ and ‘How the West was Lost’, will be followed by a new book in January 2012 ‘Winner Take All: China’s Race for Resources and what it Means for the World’.[/expand]

[expand title=”What she offers you”]She offers a bold new road map for financing development of the world’s poorest countries that guarantees economic growth, and shares her account of the recent disasters in global financial markets. Her views on the decline of the economic supremacy of the West over the past 50 years which is now poised to tip in favour of the emerging world, offers a prescription for stopping complacency in the Western world.[/expand]

[expand title=”How she presents”]Dambisa is an eloquent and well informed speaker, who is in frequent demand at keynote summits and conferences around the globe. She is also part of our Top Women keynote speakers. [/expand]
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Founder & CEO of Ariadne Capital, Online Dragon for the BBC

Julie Meyer is one of the leading champions for entrepreneurship in Europe. With over 20 years investment and advisory experience helping start-up businesses, she is the well known founder & CEO of Ariadne Capital, co- founder and Managing Partner of the Ariadne Capital Entrepreneurs Fund, founder of Entrepreneur Country and co-founder of First Tuesday. Julie has added a successful media career to her business commitments, recently joining BBC’s Online Dragon’s Den, in addition to her regular contributions to Business Week, Computing, FT Digital Business, Spectator Business.

“Wall Street Journal’s Top 30 Most Influential Women in Europe”

[expand title=”In detail”] From 1998 to 1999, Julie was part of the team at NewMedia Investors, which became early stage investment firm Spark Ventures in October 1999. At NewMedia Investors, she led deals in key internet success stories like lastminute.com and WGSN. In 1998, she co-founded First Tuesday, the largest global network of entrepreneurs, which many credit for igniting the Internet generation in Europe. It was sold for $50million in cash in and shares in July 2000.[/expand]

[expand title=”What she offers you”]With 20 years of experience with high growth new technology businesses in Europe and the US, Julie is ideally positioned to advise decision makers from private and public Internet based companies which are currently undergoing significant growth or change. She shares insights into her personal dedication that truly sets her apart. [/expand]

[expand title=”How she presents”]An inspiring and captivating speaker, straight-talking Julie’s invaluable presentations are filled with useful actionable information, essential for all expanding Internet-orientated companies.[/expand]
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Author & Hacker Extraordinaire

Joshua Klein is a fervent hacker of all things – he will hack anything that moves. His list includes “social systems, computer networks, institutions, consumer hardware and animal behavior.” His latest project, though charmingly low-tech, has amazing implications for the human-animal interface. Right now, he is working at Frog Design as a Principle Technologist, while developing mobile / social applications, health care-related systems and other tools that improve people’s lives. When he’s not taking things apart or putting them back together again he speaks, writes, and consults on new and emerging technologies that improve people’s lives – and has tremendous fun doing it.

“Joshua hacks…everything….”

[expand title=”In detail”] Joshua Klein has practiced, both formally and informally, the fine art of hacking across many fields – social systems, computer networks, institutions, consumer hardware, animal behaviour, and, most recently, the publishing industry. The unusual, the unexpected, and the effective pepper Klein’s work. He has come up with an elegant machine that may form a new bond between animal and human. He also spends a significant amount of time consulting to companies large and small, such as Microsoft, Oracle, Frog Design, Nokia, Johns Hopkins, Bankinter, The United States Office of the Director of National Intelligence and others.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Joshua Klein helps his global audiences discover how common opinion has shortsighted the impact and opportunity of the biggest trends we’ve all misunderstood. He has been described as “a cross-disciplinary, pattern recognising polymath who takes his greatest joy from combining the unexpected and seeing the result work in new and better ways”. Most of his time is spent speaking to companies and at conferences such as World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Gadgetoff, TED, SICS, LA-IP, BIF, and Serious Play, and he has appeared on the Sundance Channel, Nova, and other programs.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Joshua Klein is the quintessential hacker – someone who takes his greatest joy from combining the unexpected and seeing the result work in new and better ways. His innovative, entertaining and yet highly informative talks give you an insight into this mentality, from his unique viewpoint.[/expand]
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Futurologist with an in depth analysis of future trends and predicts the impact of future technologies on business and society

Dr. Ian Pearson works for Futurizon as their futurologist, having previously been with BT until 2007, and concentrates on mapping the progress of new developments throughout information technology, considering both technological and social implications. As a futurologist he speaks on all aspects of the future, across the whole field of industry and commerce, government and society. He has received many awards for his papers, written several books and has made approximately 400 TV and radio appearances.

“Renowned futurologist”

[expand title=”In detail”] Ian Pearson graduated in 1981 from Queens University, Belfast. He spent four years in Shorts Missile Systems, in many different disciplines from mechanical engineering to battlefield strategy simulation. He was BT’s Futurologist for 16 years, keeping track of developments across the whole field of technology and informing BT on emerging opportunities and threats. He is a fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science, the Royal Society of Arts and the Institute of Nanotechnology.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Ian’s focuses on tracking developments across the whole field of technology and society, figuring out where it is all going next, and how that will affect our everyday lives. In his presentations he offers in depth analysis of future trends and predicts the impact of future technologies on business and society. Recognised as being creative, he is often involved in shorter consultancy jobs and workshops for other business areas.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]An experienced media personality, Ian is well used to delivering the goods in front of a live audiences. His presentations are stimulating and filled with provocative views on the impact of future technology on business and society, attracting much media attention.[/expand]
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Leading Authority on Global Organised Crime

Misha Glenny is an award winning author and journalist who has been working in Eastern and Central Europe for 20 years. A former BBC Central Europe Correspondent, Misha is also the author of four best-selling books and has spent several years in a courageous investigation of organized crime networks worldwide. He is the Founding Director of SEE Change, an NGO which completed a two-year project developing cross-border cooperation between multi-ethnic municipalities in Kosovo, Serbia and Macedonia.

While at the BBC, Misha Glenny won 1993’s Sony Gold Award for his ‘outstanding contribution to broadcasting’

[expand title=”In detail”] Misha has written for all major British and European newspapers and is a regular contributor to the New York Times, the New York Review of Books, and the New Yorker. Among his awards are the Sony Gold Award for Special Contribution to Broadcasting. He has lectured at universities throughout Europe and the United States while the major diplomatic actors involved in the Balkans, including the Foreign Office and State Department at the highest level, continue to consult him regularly.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Misha Glenny is a popular keynote speakers at cyber security events around the world with his unique research into the relationship between cyber crime, cyber industrial espionage and cyber Having penetrated the convoluted, globalized and franchised modern underworld, often at considerable personal risk, he leaves no stone unturned (and no failed state unexamined) in his excavation of criminal globalization.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Currently researching a new book on cybercrime, underworld investigator and former BBC World correspondent Misha Glenny combines a thoughtful approach with an elegant style, speaking clearly, frankly and in great depth, providing a deeper understanding of the real-life, international criminals.[/expand]
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Entrepreneur, Founder & CEO, Global Adjustments Services Pvt Ltd.

Ranjini Manian is the founder and CEO of Global Adjustments Services Pvt Ltd, India’s 15-year-old destination and cross-cultural services company. Having worked with thousands of clients from over 75 nationalities, success is immutably bound to her commitment in promoting intercultural understanding. She is the only Indian on the Women’s Leadership Board at Harvard University.

Ranjini personifies the essence of the true global Indian with “Indian Roots and Global Wings”

[expand title=”In detail”] Ranjini Manian attained a Bachelors degree from Elphinstone College, Mumbai, and a Diploma in French Literature from the University of Sorbonne, Paris. An indelible part of her service in the last 15 years is the magazine she pioneered and continues to be the editor of: At A Glance – Understanding India was the country’s first free cultural magazine for expatriates, that even earned a congratulatory note from the then President of India, Dr Abdul Kalam. [/expand]

[expand title=”What she offers you”]Ranjini Manian’s deep knowledge of the Indian ethos, her excellent orientation and communication skills and understanding of world cultures, continually proves to be the perfect combination in helping audiences understand the nuances of Indian culture for personal, as well as business needs. An accomplished author, she writes regular columns in leading business dailies and is a highly sought-after speaker. She shares insights about Indian culture, particularly in the context of foreign businesses operating in India.[/expand]

[expand title=”How she presents”]Ranjini Manian is a clear and warmly communicative speaker and a multicultural expert at sharing her knowledge with business professionals. She is known to be an anecdotal and entertaining speaker with practical advice to make you “India credible” and ready. She is also part of our Top Indian keynote speakers. [/expand]

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