H.E. Roza Otunbayeva is the former President of Kyrgyzstan and the Founder of the Roza Otunbayeva Initiative. When the Second Kyrgyz Revolution sparked in 2010, she was chosen to lead Kyrgyzstan out of the crisis. She was the first female President of her country and led it to the first peaceful transition of power in Central Asia. Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, H.E. Otunbayeva was Deputy Head of Government and Foreign Minister of the Soviet Kyrgyz Republic. She later served as Soviet Foreign Ministry in Moscow and President of the Soviet National Commission of UNESCO. After 1991, Roza Otunbayeva returned to the newly independent Kyrgyzstan to serve as Vice-Prime Minister and Foreign Minister. She was the first Kyrgyz Ambassador to the United States and Canada and later to the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland. Between 2002 and 2004, she worked as Deputy Head of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in the peacekeeping mission to Georgia. In 2007, she was elected to the Kyrgyz Parliament and led the opposition until April 2010. After the Revolution, she became the leader of the interim government. From July 2010 to December 2011, Roza Otunbayeva served as President of the Kyrgyz Republic. Roza Otunbayeva holds a PhD in Philosophy from Moscow State University.

Ruben Vardanyan is an Armenian-Russian impact investor and social entrepreneur. He serves on the advisory boards of the IFC (World Bank Group) and Fundação Dom Cabral business school in Brazil. He is also a board member at Ameriabank (a major Armenian bank), SOLLERS (Russia’s auto major) amongst a host of other companies, NGOs, public and professional organizations. A prominent financier, Ruben is known both for his commercial projects (investment companies Troika Dialog and Vardanyan, Broitman and Partners) as well as his deep reaching philanthropic programs, such as the first UWC college in Eastern Europe (Dilijan, Armenia) and the Tatev Revival Project, part of which includes the construction of the world’s longest cableway leading to an ancient monastery. Together with their partners, Ruben and his family have invested about $500M in projects in Armenia, developing a commercial approach that relies on involving blended financing to find solutions to social problems. They have also raised over $500M to finance the first private business school in Russia – a pioneering institution both in terms of scale and in its collaborative nature. In 2015, Ruben co-founded another global project, the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative, on behalf of the survivors of the Armenian Genocide and in gratitude to their saviors. He spends a significant amount of his time on projects related to the development and professionalization of charity infrastructure in Russia (Philanthropy Infrastructure – PHILIN) and the question of succession and wealth curation (Phoenix Advisors). With support from Ruben, Troika Dialog, SKOLKOVO business school and several charitable foundations, classics of world business literature were published in Russia. Since 2016 he has chaired the judging panel of the PwC “Business Book of the Year in Russia” Award.

Dr. Noubar Afeyan is founder and CEO of Flagship Pioneering, a unique enterprise that systematically makes breakthrough, life-science innovations which improve human health and sustainability.  During his 30-year career as inventor, entrepreneur and CEO, Dr. Afeyan co-founded and helped build over 40 successful start-ups. He is currently a Lecturer at Harvard Business School and was a Senior Lecturer at MIT where he taught courses on technology-entrepreneurship and innovation since 2000.  Noubar received a Technology Pioneer 2012 award from the World Economic Forum (WEF). Dr. Afeyan is a member of the Corporation (Board of Trustees) of MIT and a member of the Board of Overseers of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He also serves on the boards of the Armenian General Benevolent Union, the IDeA Foundation and the UWC Dilijan International School. Previously, he was a co-founder and board member of the National Competitiveness Foundation of Armenia, a private-public partnership dedicated to promoting economic development in the former Soviet Republic of Armenia. In 2008 he received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, an award granted to outstanding Americans who have distinguished themselves as United States citizens and who have enabled their ancestry groups to maintain their identities while becoming integral parts of American life. He was a Great Immigrant honoree of the Carnegie Corporation in 2016. Dr. Afeyan is engaged in a number of philanthropic initiatives. In 2015, he co-founded the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative.

Noor Daher Ali is a young activist from Lamu County, Kenya. Pushed by extreme poverty, he was at one point on the verge of joining the terror group al-Shabaab. Instead, he started his own youth organization, the Kiunga Youth Bunge Initiative, and is offering hundreds of youth an alternative to recruitment into violent extremism.Alongside Commissioner Joseph Kanyiri of the Kenya security forces, he brought together youth, the army, and leaders among fishermen in Lamu to find new, bold solutions to the problems affecting the community. Thanks to his work, the livelihoods of the coastal community have drastically improved, piracy has declined, and the rates of radicalization of young people have also gone down.

Mr. Masroor Javed (MJ) Khan and Ms. Kelly Feely are two everyday American heroes from Houston, Texas. One Muslim and one Christian, they crossed the religious divide to support disaster relief efforts after Hurricane Harvey hit their city. At the Awards ceremony, they were introduced by Pastor Bob Roberts Jr. and Imam Mohamed Magid. They are the founders of a new Search partner, the Faith Coalition.

Idrissa “Paho” Sani Malam is a fearsome gang leader from Zinder, Niger. After attending a training program by Search - Niger, he became a moto-taxi driver and a respected peacebuilder and youth activist.