Jacques Attali, A. Michael Spence, Riccardo Petrella: prominent speakers coming to the 2012 Summit!

More than 20 highly-esteemed speakers from around the world have already confirmed their participation in the 2012 Summit, including Jacques Attali, Michael Spence, Riccardo Petrella, Dominic Barton and Felice Scalvini. Many distinguished speakers have also been confirmed for Imagine 2012, the official pre-Summit event.

They include Elinor Ostrom, co-recipient of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. The announcement was made by the three hosts of the International Summit of Cooperatives: Dame Pauline Green, President of the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA), Monique F. Leroux, Chair of the Board, President and CEO of Desjardins Group, and Dr. J. Colin Dodds, President of St. Mary’s University.

“This preliminary list of prominent speakers confirms the level of excitement this event is generating around the world. Over 130 speakers are expected, making the International Summit of Cooperatives the event not to be missed in 2012, which has been declared the International Year of Cooperatives by the United Nations (UN),” said the co-hosts.

Economist and author Jacques Attali will participate in a round table entitled, “A new role to play – Thinking differently, thinking cooperatively,” intended to get Summit participants to imagine the future of cooperatives. Currently President of PlaNet Finance in France, Mr. Attali is an Honorary Member of the Council of State and was Special Adviser to the President of the French Republic from 1981 to 1991.

A. Michael Spence, recipient of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, will present the Summit’s opening session, examining the economic and financial challenges facing the cooperative and mutualist community. He is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and Professor Emeritus in the Faculty of Business at Stanford University. Economist, political scientist and alter-globalist Riccardo Petrella will set the stage by addressing the theme of the Summit, “The Amazing Power of Cooperatives.”

Mr. Petrella has a doctorate in Sociology and Political Science from the University of Florence, Italy, and is Secretary-General of the International Committee for the Global Water Contract. Managing Director of McKinsey & Company, Dominic Barton will present the results of the first of six studies to be revealed during the Summit.

This study looks at the global trends, issues and challenges facing cooperatives and mutuals today. Felice Scalvini is Vice-President (Europe) of the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA). Mr. Scalvini will participate in a round table entitled, “A new role to play – Thinking differently, thinking cooperatively.”

The preliminary list of renowned speakers confirmed for the 2012 Summit also includes (in alphabetical order): Jean-Louis Bancel, President, Groupe Crédit Coopératif (France) Kathy Bardswick, President and CEO, The Co-operators Group (Canada) Leonardo Delgado, General Manager, FEDECOVERA (Guatemala) Dr. Eudes de Freitas Aquino, President, Unimed do Brasil (Brazil) Fortunatas Dirgincius, Chairman of the Board and CEO, Lithuanian Central Credit Union (Lithuania) Paul W. Hazen, Executive Director, U.S. Overseas Cooperative Development Council (United States) and former President and CEO, National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA) Colin Heavyside, Director – Chairman, Capricorn Society Limited (Australia) Martin Lowery, Executive Vice President, External Affairs, The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (United States) Peter Marks, Chief Executive, The Co-operative Group, (Great Britain) Alpha Ouédraogo, General Manager, Confédération des institutions financières (CIF) – West Africa (Burkina Faso) Antoinette C. Roxas, Youth Sector Representative, MSU-IIT Multi-Purpose Cooperative, Philippines Each speaker, in their own unique way, will address the Summit’s ambitious goal: to identify the major business issues facing cooperatives and mutuals and offer solutions that will promote their development and performance, while propelling the cooperative and mutualist business model onto the world stage.

IMAGINE 2012, the international conference on co-operative economics and the official pre-Summit event, will also be hosting a number of world-renowned figures, including: Elinor Ostrom, the first woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences (in 2009) for her analysis of economic governance and the collective management of common property, will be one of the Imagine 2012 speakers.

An economist and political scientist, Ms. Ostrom is also a Distinguished Professor at Indiana University and Arthur F. Bentley Professor Emeritus of Political Sciences (United States) Thomas Homer-Dixon, Centre for International Governance Innovation Chair of Global Systems, Balsilie School of International Affairs (Canada) Manfred Max-Neef, recipient of the Right Livelihood Award, Professor of Economics (Chile) Richard G. Wilkinson, Professor Emeritus, University of Nottingham Medical School and Honorary Professor, University College of London (Great Britain) Stefano Zamagni, Vice-Director, Bologna Center (Italy) Presented by St. Mary’s University, IMAGINE 2012 will bring together the leadership of the world’s major cooperatives and leading economic thinkers from around the world.

It will provide a forum in which they can explore a new approach to economic analysis and thought that offers people around the world renewed hope for an economy that meets people’s needs.