Women’s leadership summit at UN focuses on capital, justice and future economy

Global CSR Foundation event held during CSW70 brought leaders from finance, media, law, education, technology and civil society to New York for talks on the SDGs and women’s economic power

Women leaders from finance, law, media, technology, education and civil society gathered in New York for a summit focused on capital access, legal justice and the role of women in the future economy.

The Global Women Leadership Summit & Impact Award Ceremony was held on March 18, 2026 at the Delegates Dining Room at the United Nations as an NGO CSW70 Forum Parallel Event.

The event, organised by the Global CSR Foundation, was held under the theme “Advancing the SDGs Toward 2030”.

It brought together speakers from international organisations, government, academia, finance, entrepreneurship, media, technology, education and civil society.

The main themes were legal and financial justice, capital access and investment power, and women leading the future economy.

The summit opened with remarks from Angela R. M., Director-General of the World Women Organization, and H.E. Ann Marie Davis, spouse of the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, who joined online.

Other opening speakers included Eliot Minchenberg, Director of the Liaison Office in New York and UNESCO Representative to the United Nations, Jing Zhao Cesarone, Chair of the UN WWO Global Women Leadership Summit Founder and CEO of Global CSR Foundation, and Thomas Patrick Gehl, General Counsel of World Women Organization and board member of Global CSR Foundation.

Cathy Guo, Co-Chair of the Leadership Committee at Global CSR Foundation, hosted the summit.

The keynote programme included speakers from law, artificial intelligence, education, investment and media.

They included Denise Scotto, a practising attorney and policy adviser and former Vice Chair of NGO CSW New York, Sarah Chardonnens, an AI and human learning researcher and author of The Learning Revolution, Xiaoyan Chi, Executive Director and Senior Vice-President of Phoenix New Media and Deputy Director of the Management Committee of Phoenix Satellite Television Group, and Gloria Ai, Founder of iAsk Media & Capital.

The summit also featured three panel discussions.

The first, “Global Women Leadership: Advancing the SDGs Toward 2030”, was moderated by Jing Zhao Cesarone and featured Dr Padmini Murthy, Rose Cardarelli, Kristina Micheva, Cathy Allara Latiwa and Dr Lara Paparo.

The second, “Capital Access & Investment Power”, was moderated by Max Song and included Annika Anderson, Hai Tiet, Lu Zhou, Corinne Goble and Amy Y. Zhang.

And the third, “Women Leading Future Economy”, was moderated by Rebecca Fanning and brought together Dimple Malkani, Hanya Hu, Rosalind Panda and Dr Jenny Fang.

The afternoon session moved into the UNWWO Award Ceremony and the GCSRF Global Impact Award Ceremony, recognising figures and organisations working in women’s empowerment, innovation, sustainability and international cooperation.

UNWWO award winners included H.E. Mrs Ann Marie Davis, Dr Padmini Murthy, Sarah Chardonnens and Xiaoyan Chi, who received the Global Women Leadership Award.

Gloria Ai received the Global Investment Impact Award, while Grace Chen received the Women’s Brand Leadership Award.

Other UNWWO recipients included Rosalind Panda with the Women Innovation Achievement Award, Mingming Wang from Thunder International Group with the Corporate Social Responsibility Award, Amy Zhang with the Outstanding Woman Philanthropy Award, Hanya Hu with the Women’s Cultural Impact Award, Dr Lara Paparo with the Education Impact Award, and Lin Yuan from Teeni.AI with the Global Technology Innovation Award.

Global CSR Foundation award winners included Lei Li and Yanling Ren for the Global Corporate Social Responsibility Leadership Award.

Shenzhen Xunce Technology Co., Ltd. received the Global Technology Innovation Award, Guichen Zhao received the Global Cultural Impact Award, Xiaolan Yue received the Global Digital Innovation Leadership Award and Yue “Vicky” Zhang received the Global Youth Leadership Award.

The event was also supported by Phoenix Satellite TV as strategic media partner.

Sponsors and partners listed by the organisers included HerPower AI, Xunce, Teeni.AI, iAsk Media & Capital, Grace Chen, Mulan Club, Oqulus Tech LLC, Arista AI, Glow Up Tech, ZhongruiZhitong, WEI, AIRA, BHAF, ERA Moment, Deep AI, LiquidOS, Manaknight, HVM Communications and Yeshe.

Organisers said the summit was intended to support practical action on the Sustainable Development Goals by bringing together leaders across sectors and generations.

The event concluded with a call for institutions, businesses, governments and communities to support inclusive leadership and accelerate action towards the SDGs by 2030.

READ MORE: EU warns women face 50-year wait for equality as Brussels targets deepfakes, pay gaps and political exclusion. Women in the EU face a 50-year wait for full equality unless progress accelerates, according to Brussels, which has launched a new strategy targeting deepfakes, pay gaps, healthcare bias and exclusion from public life.

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_{Main image: Jing Zhao Cesarone speaks at the Global Women Leadership Summit & Impact Award Ceremony at the United Nations, where leaders discussed legal and financial justice, capital access, women’s leadership and progress towards the SDGs. Credit: Global CSR Foundation.}