S3 sparks change maker conversations from around the world
“All change makers have similar traits: they are persistent, brave, highly intuitive, curious, and have a sense of optimism amidst all challenges,” explained Fadilla Octaviani, Co-Founder and Director of the Indonesia Ocean Justice Initiative (IOJI), and one of 40 climate innovators from around the world that attended the inaugural Stanford Sustainability Summit, or S3.
As climate innovators and change makers are scrambling to address the planet's most critical challenges, S3 aimed to help create new connections and conversations. The summit was imagined by William Barnett, Professor of Business Leadership, Strategy, and Organizations at the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB), Professor at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment, and the event was supported by the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability and the GSB. The idea behind S3 was to create an intimate setting where a diverse set of change makers could converse. The two-day summit brought together heads of nonprofits, entrepreneurs, business leaders, and policymakers from around the world, to discuss issues ranging from land use and agriculture, to climate and greenhouse gas removal.
The King Center on Global Development helped to ensure that the voices of diverse leaders were present, specifically by sponsoring guests from around the world whose work focuses on the world's lowest income and least developed countries. “Some of the most extreme impacts of climate change are being felt by developing nations,” explained Jessica Leino, Executive Director of the King Center. “We wanted to ensure that S3 truly represented the voices of communities that are not only the hardest hit by climate impacts, but that are creating some of the world’s most inspiring solutions.” Some of the leaders sponsored by the King Center included Jael Amugongo, Hussam Hussein, Fadilla Octaviani, representing environmental initiatives of different scales and at varying stages of development.
Jael Amugongo - Health + Environment Research Institute (HERI-Kenya)
“It is always incredible to convene change makers,” explained Professor Desiree LaBeaud, co-founder of environmental nonprofit HERI-Kenya and Professor of Pediatrics at Stanford Medicine Children's Health. “It replenishes you. It reminds you about the why behind the long sleepless nights.” LaBeaud attended S3 with her HERI colleague, Jael Amugongo, a HERI founding community member and a laboratory scientist.
The summit enabled HERI’s introductions to individuals willing to help the organization with its communications strategy, PR and fundraising, which is ultimately what small organizations like HERI need most—help developing concrete business plans.
In addition to tackling climate change, “we should all be in the process of decolonizing our work,” added LaBeaud. “People doing the work on the ground should be the ones to represent the work. Bringing a native Kenyan to represent Kenyan efforts is just the right thing to do.” The King Center’s support enabled Amugongo to represent HERI’s work at S3, in a room full of other change makers from around the world.
Dr. Hussam Hussein - University of Oxford
Dr. Hussam Hussein, Research Associate in the Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford and former Executive Director of the Royal Scientific Society of Jordan, specializes in water politics in one of the most water-scarce countries in the world: Jordan. His research on water policies in the Middle East, with a focus on transboundary water governance, led to his being invited as a change maker to attend S3.
“Seeing how different perspectives and fields can come together to spark innovative solutions—from mayors to entrepreneurs, from academics to activists, from policymakers to indigenous communities—was inspiring,” explained Hussein.
“It reinforced the idea that when we connect and collaborate across disciplines and sectors, we can make real progress against climate change and toward sustainable development.”
Fadilla Octaviani - Indonesia Ocean Justice Initiative
At IOJI, Octaviani advocates for ocean policies rooted in sustainable development, and addresses threats to Indonesia’s oceans such as marine biodiversity, plastic pollution, illegal fishing, and impacts of climate change.
“From this event, I learned that ideas will always be challenged. What matters is whether we believe in them or not. If we believe it, we should work to realize them,” said Octaviani.
