Open to the Princeton University community, this panel discussion concludes the 3-day workshop on Innovating the United Nations for Agenda 2030.  Panelists will address questions of how to foster innovative problem solving in large organizations, highlight successful leadership approaches, and discuss strategies to address the organizational and technical barriers to achievement of the sustainable development goals (SDG)s.

Panelists:

Minh-Thu Pham is Executive Director for Policy at the United Nations Foundation, where she develops and leads strategic initiatives to strengthen the UN’s ability to solve global problems and brings together governments, civil society and thought leaders to help reach global agreements. Over the last four years, she has led UNF’s effort to support the creation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). She recently taught international policymaking at Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School and has over 15 years of experience in foreign policy, international diplomacy, and fieldwork. She served in the Executive Office of the Secretary-General for Kofi Annan and Ban Ki-moon as policy adviser in the Strategic Planning Unit, leading initiatives to strengthen the UN and improve relations between the U.S. and the UN. Minh-Thu has high-level experience delivering the MDGs, implementing the peace accord in Bosnia and advancing refugee and humanitarian causes in Ethiopia, Vietnam and Washington, DC. She has a background in documentary work and was once a crew photographer for the BBC series Planet Earth. Minh-Thu is a fellow of the Truman National Security Project; was selected a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations in 2007; and serves on the Board of the Coalition for Asian-American Children and Families. She holds an MPA from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University and a BA in History from Duke University. She was born in Vietnam and lives in New York City.

Nish Acharya is CEO of Equal Innovation, a firm that consults with leading universities, governments, foundations and companies to assist them with innovation, entrepreneurship and philanthropic strategies. Mr. Acharya is also a Senior Fellow with the Center for American Progress, a contributor to Forbes, and the author of the “The India-US Partnership: $1 Trillion By 2030” by Oxford University Press. Nish previously served as Director of Innovation & Entrepreneurship and Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Commerce for the Obama Administration, and as Executive Director of the Deshpande Foundation, a prominent American philanthropy focused on innovation, entrepreneurship and scalability around the world. He has been cited prominently worldwide in the New York times, Economist, Newsweek, Economic Times, India Today, BBC, Bloomberg and NDTV.