EF Global Leadership Summit 2019: The power of communication

How can we harness the power of communication to create meaningful change?

This past summer, future leaders from across the U.S. and Europe came together at EF’s Global Leadership Summits to answer that very question. Every EF Summit empowers students, educators, and world-renowned thought leaders to explore solutions to some of the most pressing global challenges. The 2019 events were no different, with attendees tackling a timely topic: The Power of Communication.

Featured speakers

From monologues to melodies, great stories are all around us. At the EF Summits in North America and Switzerland, these storytellers encouraged students to really listen, to raise their voices for what they believe in, and to open their minds to the beliefs of others.

• Former news anchor and international correspondent Ann Curry has covered the wars in Syria, Darfur, the Congo, Lebanon, Afghanistan, and Iraq. She’s reported on nuclear tensions from North Korea and humanitarian disasters like the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.

• A classical violinist turned innovative composer, Kai Kight is on a mission to make ingenuity the norm. The entrepreneurial artist has performed his original music everywhere from EF’s European Summit to the Great Wall of China.

• As the CEO of Starfish Media Group, Soledad O’Brien has told her fair share of stories. In addition to reporting for major news outlets in the U.S., Soledad hosts the weekly public affairs show “Matter of Fact with Soledad O’Brien” and the documentary series “Black in America.”

• When Clint Smith isn’t leading acclaimed TED Talks, winning poetry slams and accepting literary awards for his writing, he’s busy researching incarceration and inequality at Harvard University.

Student empowerment panel

Attendees at the EF Summit in Davos, Switzerland also heard from a panel of former and current student activists:

• Severn Cullis-Suzuki, who founded the Environmental Children’s Organization at age 9 and addressed the UN when she was only 12
• David Hogg, co-founder of the gun violence prevention movement March For Our Lives
• Justin Tindall, head of education and global programming for the It Gets Better Project
• Valerie Weisler, founder and CEO of The Validation Project

Thought leaders up close

From an award-winning toy creation company to a social media campaign for social change, these thought leaders helped bring the Summit theme to life for participants through hands-on workshops and programming.

Inspired by the featured speakers and thought leaders above, students at our 2019 Summits ideated, collaborated, and created actionable prototypes using the design-thinking process. The winning ideas from each event earned a place in the Nobel Prize Museum in Stockholm, Sweden alongside generations of Nobel Laureates.

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Global Leadership Summits are just one of the ways EF is opening the world through education. We offer culturally immersive language, travel, exchange, and academic programs that are designed to turn dreams into opportunities. Begin the adventure at ef.com