Nayeli Chavez-Geller

New York Correspondent, Primer Impacto, Univisión
Mexico 🇲🇽
@nayelichavezg

Nayeli Chavez-Geller is a bilingual and bicultural journalist and the New York Correspondent for Univisión Network’s daily newsmagazine show “Primer Impacto”. She has worked in the Spanish-language television industry in the United States for nearly two decades.

Her topics range from immigration to social justice, current events, medical, and human-interest stories, covering breaking news and investigative stories that directly impact the Hispanic immigrant community living in the United States. She has worked as a correspondent for CNN Spanish and the Telemundo Network. She was born and raised in Oaxaca, Mexico.

John Yearwood

Deputy Editor, Politico
USA 🇺🇸/Trinidad and Tobago 🇹🇹
@john_yearwood

John Yearwood is the Deputy Editor, Trade & Agriculture and Editor, China Watcher at POLITICO. Previously, he was the World Editor at the Miami Herald for more than 12 years. His coordination of the newspaper’s coverage of the Haiti earthquake contributed to its nomination as a finalist for the 2011 Pulitzer Prize.

He has also worked at the Dallas Morning News and Fort Worth Star-Telegram. He’s the recipient of numerous awards, including the Achievers Award of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) and the Media Trailblazer Award from the City of North Miami. He was also an honorary chair of the 2019 NABJ Convention, which attracted a record 4,000 journalists.

Thuraya Ismail

Secretary General and Executive Director, Mentor Arabia
Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦
@MentorArabia

Thuraya Ismail is the Secretary General and Executive Director of Mentor Arabia, a non-governmental organization working in the Arab region to promote healthy lifestyles among youth. She is a humanitarian and social work specialist.

Thuraya has over 18 years of experience in human and social development focusing on youth and women, advocating for using arts and films as means of empowerment.

She launched the “Youth Film Competition”, an initiative to empower youth to spread awareness against risky behaviors through films, and is also an ambassador of the “El Gouna Film Festival for Humanity”, Head of the Short Films Jury of Beirut’s International Women Film Festival 2020 and Board Member of the TAKREEM Award.

Louise Kanza

Co-Founder, Sophie A. Kanza Foundation
Democratic Republic of the Congo 🇨🇩/South Africa 🇿🇦
@SheAint_Lou

Louise Kanza is a peace activist born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and raised in South Africa. She is the co-founder of the Sophie A. Kanza Foundation, a youth-led organization that aims to spread active volunteerism and tolerance through Pan Africanism.

The organization has a footprint in South Africa, Malawi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 2017, her short film “We Are Human” won the PLURAL+ “I am a Migrant” Award. The film explores the stereotypes and discrimination faced by young African immigrants living in South Africa and conveys a powerful message of tolerance and social inclusion.

José Antonio Bautista

Investigative Freelance Journalist
Spain 🇪🇸
@JoseAntonio_BG

José Bautista is an investigative journalist based in Spain and specialized in migrations and the economy. He coordinates journalism initiatives at Fundación por Causa, an organization working on new narratives and investigating the migration-control industry.

His career spans multiple countries, including Brazil, Chile, South Korea, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Currently, he works for The New York Times, La Marea, Le Figaro, and other media outlets. Previously, he worked for Agencia EFE and the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

Sophia Kianni

United Nations Youth Advisor on Climate Change
USA 🇺🇸
@SophiaKianni

Sophia Kianni is a climate and environmental activist who specializes in media and strategy. Her passion for environmental advocacy began after witnessing the devastating effect pollution was having on her parents’ home country, Iran.

She is the founder and executive director of Climate Cardinals, an international nonprofit with over 6,000 volunteers in 40+ countries working on translating climate information into more than 100 languages. She represents the United States as the youngest member of the inaugural United Nations Secretary-General’s Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change. Previously a fellow with PBS NewsHour, she has written for news outlets such as MTV News, BuzzFeed, Teen Vogue, Refinery 29, and Cosmopolitan.

PLURAL+ 2020 Pre-Selection Committee

  • Abdirahman Olow, International Organization for Migration
  • Alessandro Girola, United Nations Alliance of Civilizations
  • Ariani Soejoeti, International Organization for Migration, Indonesia Office
  • Benjamin Harris, United Nations University
  • Betsabe Reyna, Pathways To Peace
  • Bram Van Haver, United Nations Alliance of Civilizations
  • Carlos Fernandez, United Nations Alliance of Civilizations
  • Caroline Smith, Suburban Jungle
  • Charles Tenenbaum, United Nations Alliance of Civilizations
  • E. Lee Woodyear, United Nations Mine Action Service
  • Elvis Mwaura, United Nations Environment Programme
  • Ibrahim Khazzaka, 92nd Street Y
  • Irene Lucini Serrano de Haro, United Nations Alliance of Civilizations
  • Jorge Urias, Jorge Urias Studio
  • Leon Joseph, Actor
  • Lilian Vicente, United Nations Counter-Terrorism Office
  • Liyuan Xiao, UNICEF
  • Marina Calderon Chacon, Pfizer Inc.
  • Michell Soares, Yara Internacional
  • Molly Donahue, United Nations Global Compact
  • Paloma Haschke-Joseph, United Nations Alliance of Civilizations
  • Rebekah Fisk, The Paley Center for Media
  • Regina Casale, Educator
  • Rinor Jani, Pathways To Peace
  • Rosalía Galán, United Nations Alliance of Civilizations
  • Sarah Markiewicz, Consultant
  • Yun Liang, United Nations Alliance of Civilizations