Clooney, Kianni Named to BBC's 100 Women of 2023 List

04 Dec 2023

APB is excited and proud to share that two of our most popular speakers, Amal Clooney and Sophia Kianni, were recently named to the BBC’s list of 100 inspiring and influential women from around the world for 2023.

Clooney is a barrister who specializes in international law and human rights. She represents clients before international courts including the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights. Alongside her casework, she provides advice to governments and individuals on legal issues in her areas of expertise. 

Clooney frequently represents victims of mass atrocities, including genocide and sexual violence. She has acted in many landmark human rights cases in recent years including the first trial in the world in which a member of ISIS was convicted of genocide and the first case alleging complicity in crimes against humanity by a company that funded the terror group. She is involved in a case alleging genocide in Myanmar before the International Court of Justice and has represented victims of crimes against humanity in Darfur at the International Criminal Court. 

In 2016 she and her husband George Clooney established the Clooney Foundation for Justice. Their goal is to wage justice to create a world where human rights are protected and no one is above the law. The organization gathers evidence of mass human rights abuses, provides free legal support to victims and works to ensure that perpetrators are held to account. CFJ now operates in more than 40 countries: investigating war crimes in Ukraine, monitoring sham trials targeting women and journalists, and fighting back against a global trend of authoritarianism that seeks to punish those who speak truth to power. Its latest initiative, Waging Justice for Women, uses strategic litigation to reform discriminatory laws and increase accountability for gender-based abuse.

Clooney is an Adjunct Professor at Columbia Law School, where she co-teaches the International Law course and is co-author (with Professor Philippa Webb) of the award-winning 2020 legal textbook The Right to a Fair Trial in International Law. 

Kianni is an Iranian-American activist studying science, technology and society at Stanford University. She is the founder and executive director of Climate Cardinals, an international nonprofit with 9,000 volunteers in 40-plus countries working to translate climate information into over 100 languages. She represents the U.S. as the youngest member of the inaugural United Nations Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change. She sits on boards and advisory councils for The New York Times, World Economic Forum, Web Summit, Inkey List, Iris Project, JUV Consulting, Ashoka and American Lung Association. 

Kianni has amassed a following of over 200,000 across social media platforms and her work has been featured in news outlets including Forbes, CNN, Vogue, Business Insider, BBC, NPR, ELLE, TIME Magazine, The Guardian, NBC, and even on the front page of The Washington Post. She was previously a fellow with PBS NewsHour and has written for news outlets such as The Washington Post, MTV News, Cosmopolitan and Teen Vogue. She is a prolific public speaker and has spoken at universities across the world including Columbia University, UC Berkeley, Johns Hopkins, Cambridge University and Harvard University. She won the TED Global Idea competition and her debut TED Talk has 1.5-plus million views. 

She has been named VICE Media's youngest Human of the Year, a National Geographic Young Explorer, among Business Insider’s Climate Action 30, one of Teen Vogue's 21 under 21 and a Forbes 30 under 30 honoree. 

These two passionate leaders are known for their natural storytelling abilities and knack for connecting with audiences in their compelling and powerful keynotes. Sparking vibrant discussion with their valuable insights, Clooney and Kianni continue to ignite change. Consider bringing one of them to your next event!