Innovation advances to action when top thinkers have the opportunity to meet and share ideas. Dedicated to advancing human progress through idea-sharing, The Economist has embarked on an event series to bring together best-in-class intellectuals from around the world to discuss and debate the most important ideas of our time. The inaugural event, Innovation: Fresh thinking for the ideas economy, is set for March 23-24 in Berkeley, CA.

Created as a multi-part, multimedia forum designed to fuse creativity with action, this event will expand and possibly overturn established thinking about what innovation is, where it comes from, and how to make it work. Speakers include senior-level executives from business, governments, non-profits, and universities and is open to attendees that believe in the power of innovation to transform their businesses, their lives, their futures, and their planet.  

“Attendees will experience hands-on design, strategy, and problem solving with some of today’s leading industry leaders and innovators. Some will leave the event with tangible ideas for how to disrupt their industries, and ideas for their next breakthrough product or company,” said Vijay Vaitheeswaran, Global Correspondent for The Economist, and event chairperson.

Dozens of top global innovators will join Vaitheeswaran and a group of The Economist journalists as speakers, including Jared Diamond, author of “Guns, Germs and Steel,” futurists Ray Kurzweil and Paul Saffo, leading social entrepreneurs Larry Brilliant formerly of Google.org and now president of Skoll Urgent Threats Fund, and Jacqueline Novogratz, founder of Acumen Fund.

NASVF is proud to be one of the participating sponsors of the event. For more information or to register, go to http://ideas.economist.com