Rebecca Hope

With an international track record in music performance, language teaching and public speaking coaching, Rebecca Hope speaks on topics relating to creativity for innovation, agility, cross-cultural communication, storytelling in any context, and the role of EdTech in supporting growth.

Birthed out of solving a socioeconomic problem in 2019, musical artist, linguist and speaking coach Rebecca Hope started training prospective and practicing South African English teachers to teach English online with the goal of providing a promising alternative work option in a context where unemployment is a pressing societal issue with over 50% of the country's youth unemployed. This came after Rebecca herself had been an online teacher on the Edtech platform Verbling since 2016. Her online teaching lifestyle had enabled her to pursue a passion in music, traveling internationally to write, record and perform original music as a singer and violinist. Using her story to empower other South Africans, hundreds of teachers were trained nationwide to teach conversational English lessons online, building a sustainable online teaching practice using EdTech.

As a Nelson Mandela University graduate in Applied Language Studies, Rebecca continued her research in addressing communication needs beyond language. After months of research and development with various groups in the UK, Germany, South Africa, Ethiopia, and the Netherlands in 2022 and 2023, it became clear that the existing solutions for organisations tackling speech problems lacked in many areas of quality, efficiency and scalability.

Furthering studies in Economics and Business Development at Vrije University, Rebecca's startup The English Square was awarded winner of the Amsterdam Startup Launch 2023 through a competitive program supported by Ernst & Young, Golden Egg Check Capital, and Roland Berger. Her online learning platform offers a multidisciplinary insights-driven method of speech development.

Employees and executives of Fortune 500 companies including Google, Amazon and the likes, and TEDx talkers have experienced personal and professional transformation essential for growth through Rebecca's training. Recently, Estée Lauder Companies' executive tech team took part in a 3-day live training at their Global Technology Center in Bucharest, Romania, expressing that "It was the best training ever - how speech can improve an organisation's performance" (Okem Molokwu, Director Business Analysis).

Oliver Stone

Oliver Stone has been credited with writing and or directing over 20 full-length feature films, earning him a well-respected place in cinematic history for some of the most influential and iconic films of the last few decades.

Throughout his long career, which began at a young age writing short plays for his family, Oliver has served as director, writer and producer on a variety of films, documentaries and television movies. He is widely recognized for his controversial versions of recent American history, some of them at deep odds with conventional myth -- films such as 1986's Platoon, the first of his Vietnam trilogy (along with Born on the Fourth of July and Heaven and Earth), or 1991’s JFK and 1994’s Natural Born Killers and Nixon, his 1995 take on the finer points and parables of the Nixon administration, as well as on George W. Bush in W (2008). Stone says his films are "first and foremost dramas about individuals in personal struggles," and considers himself a dramatist rather than a political filmmaker.

In 1966, Oliver signed on to the U.S. Merchant Marine, where he worked as a “wiper” in the engine room below deck on several ships. His travels took him from Asia back to Oregon and then Mexico. In Guadalajara, he began writing a first novel, a 1,400-page manuscript entitled A Child's Night Dream. He later reedited the novel down to a manageable 236 pages, which was released 30 years later by St. Martin’s Press (1997). 
In 1967, Stone enlisted in the United States Army and served in the 25th Infantry Division near the Cambodian border, where he was wounded twice, and then later in the 1st Calvary Division in the northernmost part of Vietnam. He was honored with a Bronze Star for heroism and Purple Heart for his service.

Tackling subjects often deemed controversial and too grand in scale, Stone continued to build his successful film career in projects like Wall Street, a tale of greed, corruption and power in the excess era of the 80’s and The Doors, a drug-saturated biopic of the legendary and controversial singer Jim Morrison.

Oliver continues to write, direct and produce movies and documentaries that fit with his sensibilities and challenge the conventional teachings. With recent projects like Savages, an action-packed story of three SoCal friends going up against the Baja cartel to his 10-part Showtime documentary series called The Untold History of the United States, Oliver Stone shows no signs of slowing down his creativity while daring the global audience to see events in a whole new light.

Jamie Foxx

An Academy Award-winning actor, talented Grammy Award-winning musical artist and comedian, Jamie Foxx is one of Hollywood’s rare elite multi-faceted performers.

In 2012, Foxx starred as the title character in Quentin Tarantino’s award-winning Django Unchained. Foxx was recently seen in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Horrible Bosses. He also lent his vocal talents to the popular comedy-adventure series, Rio and Rio 2. He will next been seen as ‘Will Stacks’ in the 2014 adaptation of the beloved musical film Annie.

Jamie Foxx continues to expand his role as a producer. He recently executive produced the sketch comedy series In the Flow with Affion Crockett. Foxx also produced Thunder Soul, a documentary following the alumni from Houston’s Kashmere High School Stage Band who return home after 35 years to play a tribute concert for the 92-year-old “Prof,” their beloved band leader who broke the color barrier and transformed the school’s jazz band.

In addition to his work in film, Foxx has also achieved a successful career in music. In December 2010, he released his fourth album, Best Night of My Life, featuring Drake, Justin Timberlake, Rick Ross and T.I. In January 2010, Foxx and T-Pain’s #1 song “Blame It,” won Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group at the Grammys.

In January 2006, Foxx announced his partnership with SIRIUS Satellite Radio to start his own 24/7 radio station called Foxxhole.

In December 2006, Foxx was seen in the critically acclaimed screen adaptation of the Broadway musical, Dreamgirls. The film won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.

In 2005, Jamie’s portrayal of the legendary Ray Charles in biopic Ray garnered him an Academy Award for Best Actor and proved to be one of his career’s defining performances. In addition, Foxx shared in a SAG Award nomination received by the film’s ensemble cast, and single-handedly swept the Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards, BAFTA, and NAACP Image Awards.

Also in 2005, Foxx earned Oscar, Golden Globe, SAG Award, BAFTA Award, and Image Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor for his work in the dramatic thriller Collateral. But Foxx’s unwavering momentum did not stop there, as Foxx also received Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations and won an Image Award for Best Actor in a Television Movie for his portrayal of condemned gang member-turned-Nobel Peace Prize nominee Stan “Tookie” Williams in the TV movie Redemption.

Additional film credits include Due Date, Valentine’s Day, Law Abiding Citizen, The Soloist, The Kingdom Ali, Miami Vice, Jarhead, Bait, and The Great White Hype.

Jamie Foxx first rose to fame as a comedian. After spending time in the comedy circuit, he joined Jim Carrey and Damon Wayans and in the Fox sketch comedy series, In Living Color. In 1996, he launched his own series, The Jamie Foxx Show, which was one of the top-rated shows on the WB Network during its five-year run. Foxx was the star, co-creator and executive producer of the series and directed several episodes himself.

Alejandro Iñarritu

Academy Award-winning director, writer and producer Alejandro G. Iñárritu is one of the most acclaimed and well-regarded filmmakers working today.

Iñárritu won his second consecutive Academy Award for Best Director for The Revenant, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy. He co-wrote the film with Mark L. Smith. The epic adventure film, which received 12 Academy Award nominations, follows trapper Hugh Glass, who, driven by his love for his son, sets out on a quest for revenge against the harrowing backdrop of the 19th century American frontier.

Last year Iñárritu won three Academy Awards for directing, co-writing and co-producing Best Picture winner Birdman: or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance). The acclaimed dark comedy also won Best Cinematography and was nominated for an additional five Academy Awards. Iñárritu won a DGA Award and a PGA Award for the Fox Searchlight film, which starred Oscar nominees Michael Keaton, Emma Stone and Edward Norton.

Iñárritu made his feature directorial debut with Amores Perros, a drama that explored Mexican society told through the perspective of three intertwining stories connected by a car accident in Mexico City. The film was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2001 Academy Awards.

His next film, 21 Grams, was nominated for two Academy Awards for Lead Actress Naomi Watts and Supporting Actor Benicio del Toro and released by Focus Features. His third film, Babel, released by Paramount Pictures, premiered at Cannes where Iñárritu won Best Director. That same year, Babel subsequently went on to win the Golden Globe Award for Best Picture Drama, and was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including two for Iñárritu for Best Picture and Best Director. With his two nominations, Iñárritu became the first Mexican filmmaker to ever be nominated for either director or producer in the history of the Academy Awards. Iñárritu’s fourth film, Biutiful, was his first Spanish-language film since Amores Perros. He directed and produced the acclaimed drama, which he also co-wrote with Armando Bo and Nicolás Giacobone. The Focus Features film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and Javier Bardem was nominated for Best Actor for his moving lead performance.

Iñárritu first began his career as a radio host and radio director at Mexican rock radio station WFM, which became the number one radio station in Mexico during his time. After working in radio, Iñárritu spent three years studying theater in Mexico City with Ludwik Margules, and then began writing, producing and directing short films and commercials under his Z Films company in Mexico.

Eman Askar

A multipotentialite with the mission to inspire. Eman’s song on Instagram ”Story of Palestine" was watched over 11M times.

For 11 years, Eman has been professionally helping entities tell their stories, spread their messages, and communicate complicated information in creative, simple and entertaining ways.

It all started with her 5 year long job as a science communicator with Nutty Scientists where she would create and perform shows for children that help them understand scientific concepts while having fun! Then, for the following 5 years, Eman gained experience in the media industry when she worked in the creative team of Axeer studio and Giraffics. There, she was able to utilize her creative storytelling talents in a more corporate/ commercial context; writing creative concepts for commercial ads and scripts for professional infographic videos. She also learned how to create impact with stories while creating content in several awareness campaigns for UNICEF, UN Women, CARE, and more.

In the second half of 2020, Eman was ready to unleash more of her creative energy and so, she decided to continue her professional content creation work on freelance basis to have enough time to produce content for her own channel. There, she was able to explore more content creation methods in which she can add value, such as singing/songwriting, acting, and making short energetic videos.

Eman’s mission is to inspire individuals to become the best versions of themselves and eventually help in building a healthier community that is able to work together for a better future. First, her plan was to simply tell inspiring stories, spread motivational messages and explain game changing topics, all through her songs and videos. Then, one of her songs, “The story of Palestine”, went viral on an international level which gave her the opportunity of a bigger and more diverse audience. This motivated her into adding “bridging cultural gaps and building international friendships” to her list of “to do’s”. Eman’s long term plan for achieving this is, through hosting workshops and retreats (online and offline) that can help build closer friendships for her audience with her and one another.

On a personal level, despite looking young, Eman is actually a mom of two and she shares this part of her life in her content as well.

Ziauddin Yousafzai

Ziauddin Yousafzai is a co-founder and board member of Malala Fund. He is the father of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Malala Yousafzai. For many years, Ziauddin served as a teacher and school administrator in his home country of Pakistan.

Growing up, Ziauddin’s parents encouraged him to attend school, while his sisters remained at home. He recognized the disparity and knew one day he would treat his children equally. When Malala was born in 1997, he named her after Malalai, a Pashtun heroine. Ziauddin proudly recorded Malala’s birth on the family tree — she was the first girl to be included.

When the Taliban invaded their home in Swat Valley, Ziauddin peacefully resisted their efforts to limit personal freedoms. Speaking out put Ziauddin at risk, but he feared remaining silent would be far worse. Inspired by her father’s example, Malala began publicly campaigning for girls to go to school.

In October 2009, The New York Times filmed a short documentary about Ziauddin and Malala’s fight to protect girls’ education in Swat. Due to her increased prominence, Malala was shot in the head by the Taliban two years later. Malala survived the attack and was transported to the United Kingdom for treatment. Ziauddin, his wife, Toor Pekai and their two sons joined Malala in Birmingham.

Determined to continue their campaign, Ziauddin and Malala founded Malala Fund. Together they champion every girl’s right to 12 years of free, safe, quality education.

Ziauddin currently resides in Birmingham, UK.

Peter Zinn

Peter Zinn is a cyber agent, cyber security trend watcher and an International Speaker.
His goal is to make the world a more resilient place by sharing tomorrow’s threats today. He has been in ICT for 22 years, starting as a humble C programmer after graduating in Computer Science.
He has been strategic high tech crime advisor for the Dutch police for 8 years, acting as a liaison between law enforcement and the private sector.
As trend watcher and owner of the Dutch company CyberAgents he translates technology and threats to strategies and solutions.
Mr. Zinn is an accomplished, energetic, and award winning speaker. He was European speech champion in 2009, and has been voted best speaker at various prestigious conferences.
He had spoken at Microsoft, RSA, Kaspersky, Interpol and many many more from 20 to 2000 audience. He had coached beginning speakers at Toastmasters, trained professional presenters at PSA Holland, counciled TEDx-speakers, and provided in-company trainings.