About this Event
Join Perry World House on Monday, November 9, 2026, for its Inaugural Annual Conference, marking a decade as the University of Pennsylvania’s home for global policy engagement. Across a full day of keynote conversations, leaders from government, defense, humanitarian organizations, and journalism will take on four of the most urgent challenges facing the world today: climate change, human rights and global justice, democracy, and security.
9:00 am Breakfast and Registration
9:45 am Introduction by John L. Jackson, Jr., Penn Provost and Richard Perry University Professor
10:00–11:00 am Keynote Conversation I on Climate Change
o Introduction: Zeke Emanuel, Vice Provost for Global Initiatives
o Keynote Speaker: H.E. Margöt Wallstrom, former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden
o Moderator: Amna Nawaz, Co-anchor of PBS NewsHour, Penn Alumna
11:00–11:30 am Coffee Break
11:30–12:30 pm Keynote Conversation II on Human Rights and Global Justice
o Introduction: Mark Trodden, Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences
o Keynote Speaker: Tirana Hassan, CEO, Doctors Without Borders-USA
o Keynote Speaker: Jeremy Konyndyk, President, Refugees International
o Moderator: Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, Perry World House Professor of Practice of Law and Human Rights
12:30–2:00 pm Lunch
2:30–3:30 pm Keynote Conversation III on Democracy
o Introduction: Erika James, Dean of the Wharton School
o Keynote Speaker: Bill Kristol, Director, Defending Democracy Together, and Editor-at-Large, The Bulwark
o Moderator: Ashley Parker, Staff Writer at The Atlantic, Penn Alumna
3:30–4:00 pm Coffee Break
4:00-5:00 pm Keynote Conversation IV on Security
o Introduction: Vijay Kumar, Nemirovsky Family Dean of Penn Engineering
o Keynote Speaker: Kenneth J. Braithwaite, 77th Secretary of the U.S. Navy
o Keynote Speaker: Kathleen Hicks, former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense
o Moderator: Andrea Mitchell, Chief Washington correspondent and chief foreign affairs correspondent for NBC News, Penn Alumna
5:30–8:00 pm Reception
Event venue & nearby stays
Perry World House, 3803 Locust Walk, Philadelphia, United States
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.