NCVO Annual Conference 2012 - Keynote speakers

Keynote speakers

Welcome

Martyn Lewis CBE, Chair, NCVO

Martyn Lewis is the Chair of NCVO. His past career is an unusual blend of the media, charity and business worlds. He spent 32 years as a television journalist, presenting every mainstream national news programme on BBC and ITV.

He has been involved in the voluntary sector for 27 years. His other charity work includes; Founder and chairman of YouthNet, Chairman of the Awards Committee of the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, Chairman and co-founder of Families of the Fallen, Trustee of the Windsor Leadership Trust, President of United Response, Deputy Chair of the Lord Mayor of London’s Dragon Awards and Vice-President of all three main national hospice charities.

State of the sector address

Sir Stuart Etherington, Chief Executive, NCVO

Sir Stuart Etherington is the chief executive of NCVO. Prior to this role he was chief executive of the Royal National Institute for Deaf People. He is pro-chancellor of Greenwich University, a council member of the Institute of Employment Studies, an advisory group member for the Policy Centre at the British Academy and Lord Mayor’s Trust Initiative, and a member of the Economic and Social Committee of the European Union. Stuart was knighted in 2010 for services to the voluntary sector which has included; serving on the board of trustees for Business in the Community; chairing the BBC Appeals Advisory Committee, Guidestar UK and CIVICUS Europe; and taking on the role of Treasurer for CIVICUS, a global civil society organisation.

His Government appointments have included the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit. He has also served on the Cabinet Office Performance and Innovation Unit’s Advisory Board on the Voluntary Sector and HM Treasury’s Cross Cutting Review on the role of the Voluntary Sector.

Keynote: Political developments

Danny Alexander MP, Chief Secretary to the Treasury

In 2005 Danny Alexander was elected as MP for the newly created seat of Inverness, Nairn, and Badenoch & Strathspey and joined the Liberal Democrats' shadow Work and Pensions team. In July 2007 he was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, holding the post until June 2008. He gave this up to concentrate on a new role as Chief of Staff to Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg and to co-ordinate the preparation of the Liberal Democrat election manifesto for 2010.  

Danny was re-elected in the 2010 General Election with an increased majority of 8,765. In the days after the result Danny led the Liberal Democrat team in negotiations which resulted in the formation of a Coalition Government with the Conservative Party. He played a key role in drawing up the detailed programme for government  and was initially appointed Secretary of State for Scotland. Following the resignation of David Laws, he was promoted to become Chief Secretary to the Treasury. Danny was appointed to the Privy Council in May 2010. 

Keynote: thoughts and inspirations from the Arab Spring movement

Ziad Abdel Samad, Chief Executive, the Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND)

Ziad Abdel Samad is the Executive Director of the Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND), based in Beirut, since 1999. Mr. Abdel Samad is a member of the following: the coordination committee of the Civil Campaign for Electoral Reforms (CCER), Co-Founder of the National Euromed Platform, UNDP CSO Advisory Committee to the Administrator and the advisory board of the Economic and Social Commission of West Asia (ESCWA), the advisory council of the International Center for Non-Profit Law (ICNL), the global facilitation team of the Better Aid network, the Coordination Team of the Open Forum on CSO effectiveness, and of Asia Advisory group of the Reality of Aidthe Lebanese Negotiating Committee for the accession in the WTO.

ANND brings together 30 NGOs and nine national networks from 12 Arab countries, active in the fields of social development, human rights, gender, and the environment. The Network, established in 1997, focuses on developing the capacity of Arab civil society organisations and promoting democracy, human rights, participation, and good governance in civil society and among governments. It has been an active participant in a number of United Nations conferences, WTO negotiations, and the World Social Forums. 

Dr Lamia Abusedra, Head of International Cooperation Department at the Libyan Ministry of Culture

Lamia Abusedra will discuss the moment she went out onto Al Mahkama Square to march for her freedom, and how from the grassroots, she was able to organise NGOs so that food and water could be provided to those displaced by the turbulent fighting during the civil war in Libya.

She has since pushed the revolution forward to end Qaddafi’s regime by setting up the Libyan NGO’s Coalition that consists of civil society groups, the New Local Association (AlTawasl) which addresses many issues concerning youth, women and children in Libya and has become Head of the International Affairs Office at the Ministry of Culture and Civil Society in Libya.

Drinks reception

Address by Nick Hurd MP, Minister for Civil Society

Nick Hurd was elected as the Member of Parliament for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner in May 2010, having previously served as the MP for Ruislip-Northwood since 2005.

Since entering Parliament, Nick has specialised in environmental issues, serving on the Environment Audit Committee which scrutinises the effectiveness of the Government’s policy towards the environment. He was on the Board of the Conservative Party’s Quality of Life Policy Commission, chairing the Climate Change group (2005-2007), and served on the Joint Parliamentary Committee that scrutinised the draft Climate Change Bill.

In 2006, Nick successfully took through Parliament a Private Members Bill, the Sustainable Communities Act, which was supported by over ninety national organisations. He was awarded the PRASEG Parliamentarian of the Year Award in 2007 in recognition of his work on the Act.

Nick served as an Opposition Whip and member of the Shadow teams for Justice, Communities, and Local Government from 2007 to 2008.
In October 2008, he was invited by David Cameron to become Shadow Minister for Charities, Social Enterprise and Volunteering.

He has also served on Cross Party enquiries into the adequacy of epilepsy services and the link between childhood leukaemia and high voltage power lines, and on several Bill Committees including the Criminal Justice Bill; Housing and Regeneration Bill: and NHS Redress Bill. He is an officer of the All Party Parliamentary Groups for Small Business; Penal Reform; and Brazil.

In addition to helping thousands of individual constituents with their issues, Nick has led campaigns to keep cancer services at Mt Vernon; to fight the proposed move of Harefield Hospital; to limit over-development in the area; and to oppose the third runway at Heathrow.

He is currently a Governor of Coteford Junior School and Trustee of the Hillingdon Partnership Trust.

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