Professor Baroness Lola Young , Chair of the Commonwealth Group on Culture and Development (UK) and the Honourable Olivia Grange, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport of Jamaica, will be speaking at the World Summit as will a diverse range of presenters in the roundtable sessions.
Baroness Lola Young is currently a visiting professor at Birkbeck College, University of London, Honorary Associate Fellow at Warwick University and a Member of the Court of Governors of the London School of Economics. She has served on several boards in the arts and voluntary sector, and is currently a Non-Executive Director of The National Archives and a member of the Southbank Centre Board of Directors. Baroness Young has peer-reviewed the Arts Council of England and the UK Film Council and served as an advisor to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. She has written and broadcast extensively on culture, identity, film, arts and media, and advised national organisations on culture and diversity issues. She was awarded an OBE in 2001 and appointed as a life peer in 2004. Baroness Young founded Cultural Brokers (arts and heritage consultancy) in 2004 and has produced cultural events. Baroness Young is a member of the House of Lords’ EU Sub-committee G on Social Policy and Consumer Affairs, and has recently been appointed Chair of the Commonwealth Group on Culture and Development.
Ms Olivia Grange has had a long, productive and inspiring career as a cultural activist, working at the grass roots level in developing and managing talent. She is an artist, director, event planner and an ardent supporter and promoter of Jamaica’s creative and cultural industries. She is also a pioneer contributor to the development of the Reggae and Dancehall Music Industry in Jamaica, Canada and the United States. As a founding member and Director of the Jamaica Association of Composers, Artistes and Producers (JACAP), Minister Grange has been instrumental in introducing policy initiatives in Jamaica to support the development of the cultural industries and advance “brand Jamaica” in the international market. She has been a member of the Jamaican Parliament since 1997 and was appointed Minister of Youth, Sports & Culture, with responsibility for Women and Gender Affairs, Entertainment, Community Development and Special Projects in 2007. In June 2009, she had the distinction of being appointed as the Caribbean Community’s (CARICOM) first Champion for Culture, with responsibility for advocating, among other things, capacity building for cultural industries, cultural institutions and individual artists.
A number of roundtable presenters have also been confirmed and added to the list previously announced their names, photos and biographies can be found here