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Omidyar Network Leadership Forum 2017 Global Workshop
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Watch Highlights from the Global Conference in Tunisia

On September 10-12, 2017 the Omidyar Network Leadership Forum....

convened its first global workshop in Tunis, Tunisia bringing together over 45 alumni of the Stanford Draper Hills Summer Fellows Program. Tunisia was selected as the site for the global workshop so fellows could learn from the case of a democratic transition in the Middle East and from the individuals who were central to the process. During the course of the workshop, participants heard from Stanford faculty and Tunisian leaders who have been central to the country’s political and democratic transition– current Members of Parliament, the EU Ambassador to Tunisia, the first Prime Minister after the Jasmine Revolution, and members of the former Ben Ali regime.

The keynote address was delivered by Rached Ghannouchi, who is the current leader of the Islamist party – Al Nahda – which currently holds one of the largest majorities in the Tunisian parliament.

Alumni of the Summer Fellows were represented on panel discussions that focused on the themes of closing spaces for civil society, how to make democracy deliver inside government, as well as in shorter talks where alumni shared a specific model or organizational project with the network. In addition to these larger panel discussions were smaller regional breakout sessions that were led by a Stanford faculty member and provided a deeper exploration of regional trends.

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Conference Overview
Outputs from September 10-12, 2017
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Readings
Readings are available to conference participants and alumni community. If you have trouble accessing the materials please reach out to Sadaf Minapara (minapara@stanford.edu) for access.
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Conference App
Connect via the conference app to access live updates, fellow bios, agenda items, conference locations, sponsors and more. Password will be shared by program team.
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Community
DHSF alumni network includes 325 alumni from 81 developing democracies worldwide. Please see the "alumni" section on our website for a complete listing of program alumni and to read their bios.
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Conference Agenda

Full Program

During the course of the workshop, participants heard from Stanford faculty and Tunisian leaders who have been central to the country’s political and democratic transition– current Members of Parliament, the EU Ambassador to Tunisia, the first Prime Minister after the Jasmine Revolution, and members of the former Ben Ali regime. The keynote address was delivered by Rached Ghannouchi, who is the current leader of the Islamist party – Al Nahda – which currently holds one of the largest majorities in the Tunisian parliament.

Thanks to a successful partnership with a local events production firm – Wasabi – the conference proceedings were livestreamed to reach a much wider audience and recorded for more permanent distribution. CDDRL is happy to share and post our workshop content in an effort to share this rich experience with our alumni community and beyond. Click here to access.

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#HowIDisrupt
Below are some ways that our alumni disrupt the status quo through their work around the world.
How I Disrupt: Belabbes Benkredda

Belabbes Benkredda (‘16), Algeria

"My work is focused on creating alternative spaces for public conversation to disrupt the existing information space - which is largely controlled by autocrats, certainly in the Arab world. It has become increasingly clear in recent years that the single most important obstacle towards freedom and democracy in the Arab region is control of the public sphere by unelected leaders. Therefore, in order for citizens to emancipate themselves from imposed narratives, we must empower citizens to connect directly with each other to form popular will." Belabbes Benkredda is a Senior Research Scholar at the Information Society Project at Yale Law School. Benkredda is the founding director of The Munathara Initiative, the Arab’s world’s largest debate organization. He was named a 2016 Yale World Fellow and received the 2013 NDI Democracy Award.

Rafael Marques de Morais (‘16), Angola

"Corruption is the main weapon of oppression in Angola, and it has been institutionalized and glamorized. I disrupt it by investigating top corrupt officials. I expose their delinquency through social media, by reminding people of the laws of the land such individuals break, and how they have destroyed the social fabric of Angola. I have helped to change the narrative on corruption, by creating a public space where it is viewed for what it is: a crime."

Rafael Marques de Morais is a CDDRL Draper Hills Summer Fellowship alum (Angola, '16). Morais is an investigative reporter and anti-corruption activist, founder of http://www.makaangola.org.

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How I Disrupt 3

Oludotun Babayemi (‘15), Nigeria

"Connected Development's “Follow The Money” project started in Nigeria in 2012, and is an initiative that tracks government spending and international aid to rural communities. Since 2012, it has had a direct impact on 152,822 lives in 31 rural communities in Nigeria through demanding government accountability from its growing network of 1,256 members. Using a combination of grassroots (town hall meetings, focus group discussions, advocacy meetings) and online activities (online and social media storytelling -Twitter, Facebook, Whatsapp), it tracks whether government funds officially allocated to health, education and development projects do in fact reach their targets."

Oludotun Babayemi is the co-founder of Connected Development [CODE], an organization that uses online and offline tools to put pressure on governments and organizations in Nigeria to be more accountable and transparent.
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Leading Stanford Faculty