Perry World House at 10: Inaugural Annual Conference

Monday, November 9, 2026
9:45am – 5:00pm
register

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.

See the day’s schedule and register for keynote conversations below.

9:00 a.m. Breakfast and Registration

9:45 a.m. Introduction by John L. Jackson, Jr., Penn Provost and Richard Perry University Professor

10:00–11:00 am Keynote Conversation I on Climate Change

  • Introduction: Zeke Emanuel, Vice Provost for Global Initiatives
  • Keynote Speaker: Margot Wallström, former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden
  • 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

  • Introduction: Mark Trodden, Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences
  • Keynote Speaker: Tirana Hassan, CEO, Doctors Without Borders-USA
  • Keynote Speaker: Jeremy Konyndyk, President, Refugees International 
  • 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

  • Introduction: Erika James, Dean of the Wharton School
  • Keynote Speaker: Bill Kristol, Director, Defending Democracy Together, and Editor-at-Large, The Bulwark
  • 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

  • Introduction: Vijay Kumar, Nemirovsky Family Dean of Penn Engineering
  • Keynote Speaker: Kenneth J. Braithwaite, 77th Secretary of the U.S. Navy
  • Keynote Speaker: Kathleen Hicks, former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense
  • Moderator: Andrea Mitchell, Chief Washington correspondent and chief foreign affairs correspondent for NBC News, Penn Alumna

5:30–8:00 pm Reception