Presidential Lecture Series With Leymah Gbowee and Thelma Ekiyor
About this Event
September 22, 2026, 12:30 p.m.
Claire Tow Theater
A conversation with President Michelle J. Anderson, Nobel Peace Prize Recipient Leymah Gbowee, and global leader in women鈥檚 economic empowerment, Thelma Ekiyor on building stronger communities and a more just world.
The Power of Courage: Leadership, Peace, and Social Change
September 22, 2026, 12:30 p.m.
Claire Tow Theater
A conversation with Nobel Peace Prize recipient and founding Executive Director of the CUNY Institute on Gender, Law, and Transformative Peace Leymah Gbowee; global leader in women鈥檚 economic empowerment Thelma Ekiyor; and, President Michelle J. Anderson on building stronger communities and a more just world.
Leymah Gbowee
Leymah Gbowee, 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, is a peace activist, trained social worker, and women鈥檚 rights advocate.聽 Gbowee鈥檚 leadership of the Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace鈥攚hich brought together Christian and Muslim women in a nonviolent movement that played a pivotal role in ending Liberia鈥檚 civil war in 2003鈥攊s chronicled in her memoir, Mighty Be Our Powers, and in the documentary Pray the Devil Back to Hell.聽 Gbowee is the executive director of the Institute on Gender, Law, and Transformative Peace at the City University of New York. The institute reimagines policymaking from the perspective of social movements, bringing those most impacted by crisis and conflict into the policy development process. Gbowee is also the founder of the Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa, the founding head of the Liberia Reconciliation Initiative, and the co-founder and former executive director of Women Peace and Security Network Africa. She previously served as executive director of the Women, Peace, and Security Program at Columbia University. She is also a founding member and former Liberian coordinator of Women in Peacebuilding Network/West Africa Network for Peacebuilding.
A global thought leader and international facilitator for peace,聽 Gbowee has been named one of the 100 Most Influential African Women by Avance Media, one of the World鈥檚 100 Most Influential People in Gender Policy by Apolitical, and one of the World鈥檚 50 Greatest Leaders by Fortune. In 2020, Gbowee was honored with the Martin and Coretta King Inaugural Peace & Justice Award. She advises numerous organizations working for peace, women鈥檚 rights, youth, and sustainable development, and currently serves as a member on the United Nations Secretary-General鈥檚 High-Level Advisory Board on Mediation, as a juror for the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation鈥檚 Hilton Humanitarian Prize, and as a trustee of the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Gbowee holds an M.A. in conflict transformation from Eastern Mennonite University and has received a number of honorary degrees from universities around the world.
Thelma Ekiyor
Thelma Ekiyor聽is the author of Women Entrepreneurs as Catalysts in Post-Conflict Africa and an award-winning global leader in women鈥檚 economic empowerment, philanthropy, impact investing, and international development, with more than 27 years of experience across Africa and Europe.
A pioneering leader across international development, impact investing, and philanthropy, Ekiyor has founded several institutions, including SME.NG, Afrigrants, the TY Danjuma Foundation, and the West African Civil Society Institute, and is a co-founder of Women in Philanthropy & Impact Africa.
Recognized among Africa鈥檚 50 most influential women in development, she has received multiple international awards for her contributions to philanthropy, social entrepreneurship, and women鈥檚 empowerment. Ekiyor is a doctoral researcher at Cranfield University, holds an M.B.A. from Imperial College London and an L.L.B. from the University of Buckingham, and serves on various boards and investment committees across Africa and Europe.
Leymah Gbowee
Leymah Gbowee, 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, is a peace activist, trained social worker, and women鈥檚 rights advocate.聽 Gbowee鈥檚 leadership of the Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace鈥攚hich brought together Christian and Muslim women in a nonviolent movement that played a pivotal role in ending Liberia鈥檚 civil war in 2003鈥攊s chronicled in her memoir, Mighty Be Our Powers, and in the documentary Pray the Devil Back to Hell.聽 Gbowee is the executive director of the Institute on Gender, Law, and Transformative Peace at the City University of New York. The institute reimagines policymaking from the perspective of social movements, bringing those most impacted by crisis and conflict into the policy development process. Gbowee is also the founder of the Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa, the founding head of the Liberia Reconciliation Initiative, and the co-founder and former executive director of Women Peace and Security Network Africa. She previously served as executive director of the Women, Peace, and Security Program at Columbia University. She is also a founding member and former Liberian coordinator of Women in Peacebuilding Network/West Africa Network for Peacebuilding.
A global thought leader and international facilitator for peace,聽 Gbowee has been named one of the 100 Most Influential African Women by Avance Media, one of the World鈥檚 100 Most Influential People in Gender Policy by Apolitical, and one of the World鈥檚 50 Greatest Leaders by Fortune. In 2020, Gbowee was honored with the Martin and Coretta King Inaugural Peace & Justice Award. She advises numerous organizations working for peace, women鈥檚 rights, youth, and sustainable development, and currently serves as a member on the United Nations Secretary-General鈥檚 High-Level Advisory Board on Mediation, as a juror for the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation鈥檚 Hilton Humanitarian Prize, and as a trustee of the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Gbowee holds an M.A. in conflict transformation from Eastern Mennonite University and has received a number of honorary degrees from universities around the world.
Thelma Ekiyor
Thelma Ekiyor聽is the author of Women Entrepreneurs as Catalysts in Post-Conflict Africa and an award-winning global leader in women鈥檚 economic empowerment, philanthropy, impact investing, and international development, with more than 27 years of experience across Africa and Europe.
A pioneering leader across international development, impact investing, and philanthropy, Ekiyor has founded several institutions, including SME.NG, Afrigrants, the TY Danjuma Foundation, and the West African Civil Society Institute, and is a co-founder of Women in Philanthropy & Impact Africa.
Recognized among Africa鈥檚 50 most influential women in development, she has received multiple international awards for her contributions to philanthropy, social entrepreneurship, and women鈥檚 empowerment. Ekiyor is a doctoral researcher at Cranfield University, holds an M.B.A. from Imperial College London and an L.L.B. from the University of Buckingham, and serves on various boards and investment committees across Africa and Europe.