The Future Leaders Network is proud to announce the selection of the United Kingdom's delegates to the Y7 Summit 2016.
The Y7 Summit is the official youth platform within the Group of Seven (G7) process. The Summit provides a mechanism for youth from G7 member states to communicate with world leaders about issues that are important to them, enabling them to both raise concerns and propose solutions. The Summit is more than just a single event, but a significant exercise to build the participants’ capacity to understand and contribute to the G7, and thus offer them an unparalleled opportunity to shape real world politics.
The agenda for this year's Summit will cover three key topics:
International Security: Terrorism and Refugees;
Labour and Economy: Ageing Society, and Technology and Labour;
Sustainable Development: Gender Equality, Social Entrepreneurship and Educational Inequality.
The United Kingdom delegation will work with future leaders from the other G7 nations across the week-long Summit, in order to produce a communique, which will then be presented to G7 Leaders.
So, let's meet the team:
Sophie Daud
Sophie is a policy professional, currently working in the UK Government on the Life Chances Strategy, crafting a new approach to transforming lives and tackling disadvantage. She took the role having ‘graduated’ from the Fast Stream, where she enjoyed a variety of roles, ranging from working as Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the Rt Hon Iain Duncan Smith, to emergency planning and response (COBRA). She is particularly keen on the use of evidence and analysis in policy making, having studied Natural Sciences and specialising in the History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge.
Outside of work, Sophie is an avid sportswoman (she once walked 100km in 29 hours straight!), counterbalancing all of that exercise with a love of food and drink. She also loves travelling, having grown up in Portugal and with relatives in South east Asia, so is relishing the opportunity to explore Japan and its culture!
Sophie has been selected as the Leader of the UK Delegation to the Y7 Summit 2016.
George Darrah
George has spent his early career developing an appreciation of the complexity of sustainable development, as both an academic nirvana during his MSc in Environmental Technology but also practically, delving into an deeply emotive issue which often steered by the perception of those who are at the frontline of economic activity. His BA in Biological Sciences provides a foundation for understanding the functioning of the natural world, with a growing comprehension of the important and interlinked roles international politics and business play in determining the development trajectory.
He is actively pursues his interest in the linkage between sustainable development and international affairs, through active membership of the Institute of International Affairs at Chatham House, the US Embassy’s Young Leader’s Program and the Energy Institute. He has contributed to BP’s climate and carbon strategy, and currently is a Commercial Analyst in BP’s Integrated Supply and Trading organisation, within the Environmental Products Team. George looks closely at opportunities for private sector investment in environmental markets.
George is also involved in BeMore, a philanthropic organisation aimed at increasing young people’s capacity to give sustainably; currently his group is scoping out a charity that builds sand dams in arid areas suffering from droughts.
Loksan Harley
Loksan is an independent policy analyst and adviser to Governments, multilateral organisations and international corporations. Fluent in Chinese, French and Spanish, Loksan started his career in Brussels, helping clients understand EU policy. Then, he spent two years in West Africa, advising the British Government on Sahel security issues, while setting up his own microcredit initiative in Burkina Faso, and consulting on development projects.
He is particularly passionate about migration and development and subsequently worked as an external expert for the Interntaional Organization for Migration (IOM) and the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD). While continuing his work in Africa, Loksan is currently based in the UK and China, working most recently with WHO Beijing to improve road safety in China.
In addition, Loksan has written for the Guardian, the Sunday Times, and reported for BBC World. Loksan studied a Bachelor’s degree in economics at McGill University, and a Master’s degree in Public Policy at University of London, SOAS.
Majdi Silk
Majdi Silk is an associate in the Privacy and Cybersecurity Group at Dentons, specialising in data protection law. He has strong experience in advising clients from various sectors on all aspects of data protection and privacy compliance. This includes assessing risks and presenting solutions on international data transfers, data breach, profiling, big data analytics, records management, cloud computing, vendor contracts, e-marketing and data security.
Majdi frequently presents and provides training on data protection law at client and firm events. He also regularly attends privacy professional conferences and has obtained the Certified Information Privacy Professional/Europe (CIPP/E) credential through the International Association of Privacy Professionals.
Majdi completed his law degree at King's College London and the Legal Practice Course at the College of Law.