REPORT – 2020 VIRTUAL SUMMIT BROUGHT TO YOU BY... CONTENTS Executive Summary ............................................................ 1 Speakers – Our World Class Talent ......................................... 2 Key Metrics ......................................................................... 4 Media Coverage Highlights ..................................................... 5 Feedback From Attendees ..................................................... 6 Gathering In Person?! ............................................................ 7 A Few Speaker Insights ......................................................... 8 Key Themes & Focus Areas ................................................ 9 Programme & Experience ....................................................... 10 The Virtual Event Platform ...................................................... 11 Workshops & Breakouts ......................................................... 12 The Festival Marketplace ........................................................ 14 Partners & Supporters ........................................................ 15 About Inspiring Stories ........................................................... 16 The Team Behind It ................................................................ 17 Finances ................................................................................ 18 Learning & Recommendations ........................................... 19 Can You Help Us Grow This? ................................................. 21 PAGE B EXECUTIVE SUMMARY At Inspiring Stories, we love a good challenge. some really powerful and unexpected outcomes. Nothing quite prepared us for the whirlwind that We had young people in refugee camps in Rwanda would follow. We transformed Festival for the getting up at 4AM to tune in. We’ve had reports of Future into a virtual summit – #FFTFLive, which ‘life-changing’, and of course people coming away was designed and delivered from scratch within from the experience with new found connections, three months. We curated a programme focused inspiration, knowledge and ideas. While the true around four major themes with both global and local impact and ripple effect of the Festival experience is relevance – climate, equality, economy and hope. always difficult to articulate, the feedback has been Kia ora, and warm Pacific greetings! very positive. We jumped on calls with people and organisations The planning for the Festival for the Future started all around the world to learn more about how their We want to express our deepest gratitude and straight off the back of last year’s in-person event, lives and work had been impacted by COVID, to acknowledge our partners and supporters, who with this year, 2020, being our 10th annual Festival. hear their vision for the future, and see if there might have truly gone above and beyond in working with Various groups planned to travel to New Zealand, be an opportunity to work together. The response us through this extremely challenging time. With all venues were booked, pop-up and satellite events was incredible, and at #FFTFLive we were joined the complexity and uncertainty that COVID brings, were being planned, the Minister of Finance was due by people from 57 countries around the world – all one thing is certain – there has never been a more to host us at Parliament – and then COVID hit. driven to make a difference for our future. important time to re-imagine and re-build our world. He waka eke noa – we are all in this together. COVID has turned our world upside down. All of Our amazing speakers and contributors ranged from us have been impacted. When New Zealand went world class entrepreneurs and leaders of business On behalf of our team at Inspiring Stories and into lockdown and the ban on public events and and government, to young people leading change in Festival for the Future, thank you!! gatherings was announced, we really only had two grassroots communities – the diversity and strength options – postpone the Festival until who knows of people involved was incredible. when, or try and figure out how to take it online. Either option came with huge uncertainty, and our While there were challenges in transforming the updated financial forecast did not look good. Festival into an online experience, there were also Guy Ryan Sonia Pearson Founder, FFTF Manager, FFTF PAGE 1 David Galipeau Louise Mabulo Jamie Tuuta Bernadette Meehan Tong Yee Claudia Batten Next Generation Technologies Entrepreneur, The Cacao Project Chair of Tourism New Zealand The Obama Foundation CEO, The Thought Collective Technology Entrepreneur 50SPEAKERS+ A GLIMPSE OF OUR Sonya Renee Taylor Shay Wright Maxine Burkett Benson Saulo Helianti Hilman Award-winning artist & activist Co-founder, Te Whare Hukahuka WORLD CLASS TALENT Institute for Climate & Peace Investing for inclusion CEO of Javara Daniel Flynn Pat Dwyer Karime Kuri Rinesh Sharma Tamatha Paul Raf Manji Co-founder, Thankyou The Purpose Business Robotics, IOT, Smart Cities Founder, Smart Farms Fiji Wellington City Councillor Investing for Climate Futures Florence Van Dyke Laina Greene Brianne West Sissi Chao Shamubeel Eaqub Anna Kominik Co-founder, Chia Sisters Investing for Impact CEO & Founder, Ethique CEO & Founder, REMAKEHub Author and Economist Autonomous Flying Vehicles Guy Ryan Alice Canton Arizona Leger Vicky Robertson Brianna Fruean Anna Guenther Founder, Festival for the Future Award-winning Theatre Artist Human Rights Masters Candidate Ministry for the Environment Pacific Climate Warriors PledgeMe & Crowdfunding 50SPEAKERS+ A GLIMPSE OF OUR Mary Haddock-Staniland Shaquille Shortland Bariz Shah & Saba Afrasyabi Paul Smith Rohini Kohli Champion for Diversity Indigenous Wisdom WORLD CLASS TALENT Empowering Afghanistan Future Directors Institute UNDP Climate Adaptation Lead Okirano Tilaia Maya Soetoro-Ng Mikhara Ramsing Brad Olson Manita Ray Nathalie Whitaker Creating Inclusive Communities Institute for Climate & Peace LGBTIQA+ communities Senior Economist, Infometrics Investing with a gender lens Toha – Investing for Impact Rosalie Nelson Shruthi Vijayakumar Natasha Lewis Julia Whaipooti Yolanda Joab-Mori Laura O’Connell Rapira Callaghan Innovation Global Shaper, WEF Ministry for the Environment Social Justice Lawyer Community Action for Climate Collective action for change KEY METRICS 1100+ 400+ ATTENDEES SCHOLARSHIP Our scholarship efforts helped to increase access for more than 400 attendees both in New Zealand and abroad. 50+COUNTRIES REPRESENTED ACROSS SIX DIFFERENT CONTINENTS Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Cambodia, Cameroon, 9.7/10 China, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Honduras, Hong Kong, LIKELY TO RECOMMEND India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mexico, Mongolia, Myanmar, Namibia, On average, the attendees who completed the Nepal, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Niue, Pakistan, Paraguay, Philippines, Portugal, Rwanda, event survey rated their likelihood to recommend Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Africa, South Korea, South Sudan, Sri Lanka Sweden, Festival 9.7 out of 10. Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Uganda, UK, USA, Vanuatu, Zambia. TOP NZ REGIONS AGE ATTENDEE TYPE 30% – Auckland 25 = Average 24% – Wellington 12 = Youngest 56% 11% – Northland 80 = Oldest Professional EVERY REGION 9% – Bay of Plenty NZ 8% – Canterbury % REPRESENTED Student44 4% – Manawatu-Whanganui 4% – Otago 2% – Waikato 2% – West Coast PAGE 4 MEDIA COVERAGE HIGHLIGHTS 1.6M+ ESTIMATED MEDIA 15STORIES REACH ACROSS NZ’S MAJOR BROADCASTERS Maxine Burkett from the Institute Bariz Shah and Saba Afrasyabi with Jesse of Climate and Peace on TVNZ Breakfast. Mulligan on RNZ. Rez Gardi on The AM Show with Duncan Garner. Guy Ryan on TVNZ Breakfast with Hayley Holt & Matt McLean Maya Soetero-Ng on RNZ with Katherine Ryan. PAGE 5 FEEDBACK FROM ATTENDEES I attended my first Festival for the Future back There are no words to simply express our It was an inspiring, thought-provoking and in 2014, and was lucky to be able to attend the gratitude. It was fun, exciting and rewarding empowering experience with too many special following two years as well, with each event to see this summit change lives in so many moments to share but I will leave you with a being a source of inspiration, motivation and ways. To put it into context – Patrick, from a quote from the incredible Maya Soetoro-Ng on hope. In 2020 the Festival went digital, and it’s refugee camp in Uganda, would wake up at climate change action: been an incredible experience. 4.00am to attend, and then go off to share his “All of us have a role to play and a responsibility learnings with other youth in refugee camps. An to do what we can. We have to re-frame the It is difficult to articulate the impact of an event experience of a lifetime. Thank you! daily choices we make and look at the systems like Festival for the Future and to summarise Esmerelda Lo Tam, Scholarship Partner, and the ways we can impact them. But we also what I’ve learnt, but what I do know for sure is Pacific & Youth Advocate, EI8HT SPORTS have to ensure we are demanding that people that this moment in time that we are all living of colour, refugees, people in the global South through is an incredible opportunity to enact are not suffering.” radical change. My first ever festival was back in 2016 before Emma Appleton, Colmar Brunton Ellen Lear, Content Marketing Specialist at I began my tertiary education. My eyes