One Young World’s 8th annual summit: young leaders for positive change

Audencia alumna and IMM 2016 class ambassador Vanessa Benitez was selected to be Arjowiggins’ delegate at the One Young World’s 8th annual summit. “I am immensely proud” she says and has been enjoying four days of debates on peace and reconciliation during One Young World’s first summit to take place in Latin America.

The 4-day summit began on 4th October in Bogotá with an address by the Colombian President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Juan Manuel Santos.
The opening ceremony was attended by three other Nobel Peace Laureates:
 

• Tawakkol Karman, Yemeni human rights activist and founder of “Women Journalists Without Chains”
• Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary-General
• Muhammad Yunus, social entrepreneur and founder of the Grameen Bank

"I am most passionate about the City Marketing Phenomenon." Vanessa says. She carried out a study on how branding and marketing a city can influence positive change. She chose to evaluate the competitive identity of Cali, one of the biggest cities in Colombia, which like many other Colombian cities, was once ruled by high rates of crime, drug trafficking and domestic war. She says that Cali is changing its image for good, mainly by focusing on its musical heritage. Vanessa hopes that her study will encourage others to think about how one of the most violent and isolated places on the planet can find peace through culture.

 
Next year's summit will be held in the Netherlands.