A merchant banker turned social activist, Michael Norton has devoted the past 30 years to running voluntary organisations, picking up an OBE on the way for services to charity.
He transformed the charity world in the UK by setting up the Directory of Social Change and has initiated a raft of interesting and effective projects worldwide. These include: a banking system for South Asian street children; village publishing and libraries in India; the unLTD foundation for social entrepreneurs; the Centre for Innovation in Voluntary Action (CIVA) to promote innovation and new ideas for voluntary action; the Youthbank scheme to give young people the chance to donate money to local causes; and an international summer school for young activists from over 40 countries, Young People Change the World!
Meera is a freelance journalist and works on various charitable projects. Together with a group of young British Indians, she has set up an organisation called Connect India, which aims to connect British Indians with India and to explore their identity. The first project, Indicorps, is a year-long competitive fellowship in India, in which British and American Indians commit themselves to innovative grassroots projects.
Meera is also currently organising a charity bike ride in Uganda this September, which will raise money for two Ugandan charities.
Alberto works as a Development Manager at UnLtd, a charitable company that manages a £100 Million endowment that enables to resource social entrepreneurs through grants and consultancy support. Alberto focuses mainly on supporting young social entrepreneurs and Internet-driven initiatives, and on strategies to develop and build social networks amongst social entrepreneurs.
Previously based in Toronto, Alberto acted as Special Projects Coordinator at TakingITGlobal, developing & coordinating partnerships and collaborative projects with UN agencies, international organizations, grassroots NGOs, the public and private sectors, including with UNESCO, the Canadian Government and Microsoft, especially focusing on youth engagement through the Internet and creative expression. He also facilitated communications for the UN Youth Caucus for the World Summit on the Information Society.
He has written extensively, and spoken at a dozen conferences about youth engagement, the Internet and social networks, including the World Summit on the Digital Divide, the Second World Urban Forum, the Asian Regional Conference on the Information Society, UN World Summit on the Information Society and the International Chamber of Congress (ICC) World Congress.