Kumi Naidoo
Kumi Naidoo is a South African-born human rights and climate activist. At 15, he organized school boycotts against the apartheid educational system in South Africa. His work made him a target for the security police and he was forced into exile in the United Kingdom until 1990. Naido returned to South Africa and was asked to lead the process to formally register the African National Congress as a political party. Kumi then served as the official spokesperson of the Independent Electoral Commission, the overseer of the country's first democratic elections in April 1994.
He has served as international executive director of Greenpeace International (from 2009 to 2016) and secretary general of Amnesty International (from 2018 to 2020). Naidoo has lectured at Fossil Free University and was a Richard von Weizsäcker fellow at the Robert Bosch Academy until early 2022.
Naidoo is a senior advisor for the Community Arts Network and a special advisor to the Green Economy Coalition. He is professor of practice, Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University, and continues to serve as a global ambassador, Africans Rising for Justice, Peace and Dignity. Naidoo is a visiting fellow, Oxford University, and honorary fellow, Magdalen College.
“Struggles only move forward when decent men and women step forward and say, 'Enough is enough and no more.’”
—Kumi Naidoo
Summit keynote speaker
Notable Work & Honors:
- South African-born human rights and climate activist
- Led the process to formally register the African National Congress as a political party
- Served as international executive director of Greenpeace International and secretary general of Amnesty International
- Serves as a global ambassador, Africans Rising for Justice, Peace and Dignity
- Previous lecturer and current professor and fellow at various institutions, including: Fossil Free University, Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University, Oxford University and Magdalen College