The Economist announces final lineup of speakers for the 2019 Open Future Festival on October 5th in Hong Kong, Manchester and Chicago

LONDON, Oct. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Economist, the newsweekly based in London with a uniquely global reach, is hosting its annual ideas summit, the Open Future Festival, on Saturday October 5th, in Hong Kong, Manchester and Chicago.

The day-long festival is a forum for fresh ideas on free speech, free trade and individual freedom, at a time when these values are under attack, and populism and authoritarianism are on the rise.  

Created in 2018, the Open Future initiative uses digital journalism, social media and live events to foster a global conversation on the challenges of the 21st century. It is focused on promoting a dialogue across the ideological spectrum and is aimed at a young audience in particular.

In addition to the in-person gathering, the event will be live-streamed from all three cities. Viewers can watch the livestream and submit questions to the event moderators here: www.economist.com/openfuturelive

Speakers for the Hong Kong Open Future Festival starting at 6pm HKT include:

• Joshua Wong (secretary-general, Demosisto)
• Regina Ip (Member of the Executive Council and Legislative Council of Hong Kong) 
• Bonnie Leung Wing-Man (Former Vice Convenor, Civil Human Rights Front) 
• RonnyTong (Senior counsel and politician)
• Antony Dapiran (Lawyer and author, City of Protest: A Recent History of Dissent in Hong Kong) 
• Neha Dixit (Independent journalist)
• Shaun Rein (Founder and Managing Director, China Market Research Group) 
• Brian Fong Chi-hang (Associate professor and director, The Academy of Hong Kong Studies at The Education University of Hong Kong)
• Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit (Leader of Future Forward Party, Thailand) 
• Nurul Izzah Anwar (Member of parliament, Permatang Pauh, Malaysia) 
• Daniel Fung (Founding chair, Cambridge Global Conversations)
• Arbind Singh (Founder and coordinator, National Association of Street Vendors of India)  
• Sokeel Park (South Korea Country Director, Liberty in North Korea)
• Victor Mallet (Paris bureau chief, Financial Times (livestream from Manchester)
• Sudhir Thomas Vadaketh (Author, Floating on a Malayan Breeze: Travels in Malaysia and Singapore) 
• Tim Wilson (Member, Australian House of Representatives)

Speakers for the Manchester Open Future Festival starting at 11am BST include:

• Jim O'Neill (Economist and former British treasury minister)
• Richard Ratcliffe (Husband of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe)
• Nimco Ali (Writer and co-founder, the Five Foundation)
• Grace Blakeley (Economic commentator, New Statesman)
• Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (author)
• Sam Gyimah (Former Universities and Science Minister)
• Natasha Devon (Mental health campaigner)
• Hannah Sell (Deputy general secretary, Socialist Party)
• Victor Mallet (Paris bureau chief, Financial Times)
• Hoesung Lee (Chair, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change)
• Lisa Nandy (Labour MP for Wigan, United Kingdom)
• Patrick Collison (Chief executive officer and co-founder, Stripe)
• Will Stronge (Co-director, Autonomy)
• Rachel Hugh (Co-founder, The Vurger Co)
• Daniel Hulme (Chief executive officer, Satalia)
• Marcus Gilroy-Ware (Writer and theorist)
• Noah Carl (Sociologist)
• Tom Tugendhat (Conservative MP for Tonbridge and Malling, United Kingdom)
• Guy Standing (Co-founder, Basic Income Earth Network)
• Caroline Casey (Founder, Binc)
• Abdul Quddous Arif (President, Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association)
• Jsky, Host (Naked Beach)
• Joseph Sternberg (Journalist and author)
• Ellen Jones (Award-winning campaigner)

Speakers for the Chicago Open Future Festival starting at 10:50am CDT include:

• Mellody Hobson (President of Ariel Investments)
• Raghuram Rajan (Professor of Finance, University of Chicago Booth School of Business)
• Amani al-Khatahtbeh (Founder and editor-in-chief, MuslimGirl.com)
• Gabrielle Giffords (Former congresswoman and founder, Giffords)
• Valerie Jarrett (American businesswoman and former government official)
• Susan Bro (Mother of Heather Heyer and co-Founder, the Heather Heyer Foundation)
• Alexandria Villasenor (Climate activist)
• Patrick Collison (Chief executive officer and co-founder, Stripe)
• Katherine Maher (Chief executive officer, Wikimedia Foundation)
• Andrew Keen (author of numerous books on technology and regulation)
• Nadine Strossen (Civil liberties activist and professor, New York Law School)
• Karen Okonkwo (Co-founder, TONL)
• Bria Smith (Youth activist)
• Marcel McClinton (Co-organizer, March For Our Lives Houston)
• Waleed Shahid (Spokesperson, Justice Democrats)
• Meghan Milloy (Co-founder and executive director, Republican Women for Progress)
• Ryan Fournier (Co-Chairman, Students for Trump and Turning Point Action)
• Luigi Zingales (Professor of entrepreneurship and finance, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business)
• Suzanne Nossel (Chief executive officer, PEN America)
• Bhaskar Sunkara (Founder and editor, Jacobin)
• Peter Ambler (Executive Director, Giffords)
• Philip Alston (Special Rapporteur, Office of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights)
• Maj Toure (Solutionary hip hop artist and 2nd amendment activist)
• Samuel Sinyangwe (Co-founder, Mapping Police Violence)
• Tom Pritzker (Executive Chairman of Hyatt Hotels and Chairman and CEO of The Pritzker Organization)

The Economist encourages people from all walks of life to attend the Open Future Festival 2019 and take part in the conversation. Find out more and/or purchase tickets here:

Hong Kong Open Future Festival
Manchester Open Future Festival 
Chicago Open Future Festival 

If you are a journalist who would like to apply for press accreditation, please contact:
[email protected] for Hong Kong / [email protected] for Manchester / [email protected] for Chicago

About The Economist 
With a growing global audience and a reputation for insightful analysis and perspective on every aspect of world events, The Economist is one of the most widely recognised and well-read current-affairs publications in the world. In addition to the weekly print and digital editions and website, The Economist publishes Espresso, a daily news app, Global Business Review, a bilingual English-Chinese product and 1843 magazine. Economist Radio produces several podcasts a week and Economist Films produces short- and long-form video. The Economist maintains robust social communities on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Medium and other social networks. A recipient of many editorial and marketing awards, The Economist was named the most trusted news source by the Trusting News Project Report in 2017.

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