Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, is known worldwide for her voice defending human rights in Africa and for her fight against hunger. She has been crucial in developing ecosystems underpinning human health, wellbeing, livelihoods, jobs, and sustainable growth. In all her roles, from Nigerian Minister of Environment to the fifth Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Amina J. Mohammed has dedicated her life to solving poverty, guaranteeing more education and protecting the natural environment. To this end she has deployed her listening abilities to ensure that balanced and fair decisions will enhance people’s lives.

Anat Saragusti is a notable Israeli journalist and social activist. Saragusti’s entire career is testimony to her listening capabilities. It is these that led her to a journalistic achievement early on in her career and a milestone in the history of Israeli journalism and freedom of speech—the first Israeli interview with Yasser Arafat. Ever since, Saragusti listens and translates her listening to action in the form of war photography, documentary filmmaking, and activism in the areas of civil rights and social justice for women, minorities, and Palestinians.

Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany, has dedicated her life to politics, assuming a humanitarian leadership, with full respect for human rights and better living conditions on a sustainable planet. Because she genuinely cares about peoples’ voices, as the President of the European Council, she fought to bring Europe into unity and to become a place where living means security, justice, and democracy. In foreign policy Merkel has emphasized international cooperation, strengthening transatlantic economic relations, playing a crucial role in managing the global financial crises, and solving the European debt crisis.

Danielle Ofri, who possesses outstanding listening skills to people and their needs, is one of the foremost voices in the medical world today, shining light on healthcare and speaking passionately about the doctor-patient relationship through her writings, Ted Talks and presentations. She was selected for Best American Essays (twice), Best American Science Writing, The McGovern Award from the American Medical Writers Association, and the 2020 National Humanism in Medicine Medal from the Gold Foundation.

Dilma Vana Rousseff, first woman President of Brazil, made history defending Brazilian democracy, gender equity, eradication of racism, and socio-economic conditions. Under her presidency, Brazilian society listened to social movements, treated women with dignity, supported families, respected children and elderly people’s rights and supported education. She challenged the status quo and improved justice, healthcare, and security nationally, and internationally. Victim of torture and conspiracy, she showed herself to be a brave, honest, and sensible person, who dared to listen to the multitude of voices of the Brazilian people and beyond.

Fatou Bensouda, a Gambian Lawyer, was the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, a legal adviser, and a trial attorney at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. She also served as the Minister of Justice and the Attorney General of Gambia; and through the implementation of independent and impartial hearings, investigations, and prosecutions of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression, Bensouda showed exceptional courage in listening skills understanding and caring for victims, fighting for justice for men and women.

Gagandeep Kang, researcher, best seller author, leading Indian medical doctor, and public policy and health system expert, is a Professor in the Department of Gastrointestinal Sciences at the Christian Medical College, Vellore, India. Previously she was executive director of the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, Faridabad. As a global listener, she offered to the world solutions to viral infections in children, sanitation, and water safety. She was the recipient of several prestigious awards, and in 2019, she became the first Indian woman to be elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society. She is a key contributor to rotavirus epidemiology and vaccinology in India which saved millions of children.

Graça Castanho, professor at the University of the Azores, Portugal, is an international innovative education leader, author, activist, researcher, and public servant with exceptional listening skills that inspire her into action. Rooted in her bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral, and two postdoctoral degrees (from Harvard and Lesley University, USA), she built up an extraordinary career as a Projects’ designer, the Government of the Azores Head of the Communities, and the Education Counsellor at the Embassy of Portugal in Washington DC, demonstrating strong commitment to education and the well-being of so many in Europe, Africa, and the Americas.

Jacinda Kate Laurell Arden, a role model of active listening and supporting human rights, is currently the New Zealand Prime Minister after being reelected in 2020. Considered by Forbes list as one of the most powerful women in the world in battling the global pandemic and viewed as one of the best politicians in modern times, praised and endorsed worldwide, she has demonstrated outstanding listening skills through the aftermath of the Christchurch mosque shooting and directing the country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jill Biden, a caring education leader and a committed college professor at Northern Virginia Community College, USA, is the current First Lady of the USA. During her life, she pioneered social and humanitarian initiatives and advocated for community colleges, military families, refugees, immigrants, children’s rights, and the education of women and girls. Through her actions in the USA and abroad; she advocated for empowerment and human dignity for every one and has shown that indeed she is an exceptional listening woman that inspires true leadership.

Linda Eneix is a leading researcher worldwide, in the field of listening, studying ancestral phenomena of communication through listening practices from the prehistoric era that help to understand the human journey to western civilization. Her innovative studies on megaliths, music, and the mind allow her to listen to experts from diverse fields as they listen to each other. She discovered that even the most ancient ritual and ceremonial spaces were created with good acoustics characteristics, flooding people´s brains with endorphins and impelling them to listen.

The skill to listen to oneself is one of the most precious gifts for a musician. And if it is deep, it becomes proportional to listening to others and the world around us. This has been the main demand the extraordinary Italian pianist Maria Tipo made of herself. This virtue has allowed the international audience and her selected group of disciples to learn from her listening the infinite range of nuances of musical language. This is only possible to people who have created silence, to hear and penetrate the souls of composers and their own inner self with art and enthusiasm. Tipo represents a clear example of a listener to the highest messages contained in a musical score, giving voice and eloquence to it. She is also a model of coherence in the teaching of the forgotten art of listening as a vital element for human beings.

Melissa L. Beall spent her entire academic career finding better ways to teach listening and then sharing her knowledge of the complexities of the listening process. Her listening classes were very popular as are the workshops she presents for schools and businesses. She has presented convention sessions, keynote speeches, and plenary sessions throughout the world. Some of her unique experiences include conducting curriculum week-long summer workshops for and with teachers in Charlotte Amalia, U.S. Virgin Islands. In these workshops, Dr. Beall provided activities, exercises, and ideas teachers can adapt to and for students and/or colleagues their own classrooms. In short, Dr. Beall is deeply involved in all things listening: research, teaching, and promotion. Professor Beall promotes listening across the globe.

Michele Nealon, President of the Chicago School of Professional Psychology, has shown leadership in her profession and in her extensive humanitarian work, which has had a global impact. Nealon’s unique leadership perspective as a licensed psychologist and CEO also prioritizes human-centered connection and collaboration grounded in the values of service and inclusion. Her qualities as a listener lead her to emphasize the importance of seeking out and understanding all perspectives. Dr. Nealon skillfully promotes the importance of listening in speeches she gives and through blogs she publishes in the national media and on her university website. Nealon’s career success is a classic example of a trailblazer with all the qualities of an exceptional listener.

Naomi Oreskes is a critical listener, and a listener who listens to know how to challenge those who deny science, and particularly climate science. She is well known for her use of historical scholarship to take on climate change deniers. Oreskes advocates for values-driven science, and science reportage in her new book, “Why Trust Science?” reviewed in the Harvard Gazette. She was named the Henry Charles Lea Professor of the History of Science. This honor is a fitting recognition for a defender of the pursuit of scientific knowledge in our times. Oreskes was also prominent at Davos, Switzerland (January, 2018), where she moderated sessions on “Climate, Energy, and Technology.” She also moderated a session titled, “Climate’s Two Degrees of Separation” where former Vice President and environmental activist Al Gore was one of the panelists. In 2018 she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in History of Science, Technology, & Economics.

Patricia Davidson, became the Vice Chancellor of Wollongong University, Austrália, after serving as the Dean of Nursing at Johns Hopkins University, USA. She is a global leader in nursing, health care, and advocacy, highly respected for the excellence of her studies and outstanding listening skills by the people in her organization, peers, and patients. Recently she received a Consortium of Universities for Global Health Distinguished Leader Award, and currently serves on the International Council on Women’s Health Issues and on the Board of Health Care Services for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in the United States. Patricia is a top leader in the field of Listening in Healthcare.

Renee Fleming, whose recognitions include seventeen Grammy nominations, four Grammy awards, the National Medal of Arts Award, the Chevalier de al Legion d’Honneuer, and performer at Nobel Prize ceremonies and the Super Bowl, is an unparalleled lyric soprano who epitomizes the art of both performing and listening. Whether on the stages of the world’s most famous opera houses or performing on concert stages with singers, accompanists, or orchestras, her ability to listen to her collaborators makes her among the most outstanding musicians of our time. In addition to her world-renowned musical artistry, her many years of dedicated humanitarian charity work demonstrate her ability to compassionately listen to the needs of others and respond with an abundance of empathy and support. She is an excellent listener, and because of her musical and listening talents, audiences around the globe love to listen to her.

An Iranian-German painter,Shahin de Heart’s abstract-figurative paintings capture our attention for many reasons. She views herself as a listening bridge between the Orient and Occident, East and West, and classical and modern genres of art. Herein lies the dilemma of the postmodern world: How can cultures be transversed successfully when both traditional and modern paradigms are often perceived as opposites? The answer: By effective listening. We surely agree. In her pursuit of bridging people and cultures, she finds the key lies in finding commonalities in such universal archetypes as the primordial mother earth and the ancient continental drift to promote international cooperation. Through cooperative action to replenish clean water, restore the fragile ozone layers, and promote health for endangered species, she expresses hope using images that build bridges to bring people together again. Through her evocative art Shahin proclaims a powerful message to the world to seek healing and restoration. To her, listening becomes art.

Sister Helen Prejean is a Catholic Sister of St. Joseph who has devoted her life’s work to the abolition of the death penalty. She has served as spiritual advisor to several death row inmates and through this work listening to the inmates, she was inspired to share their stories and the story of the death penalty in America. Her book, Dead Man Walking, brought issues of the death penalty to the public eye and was made into a movie, a play, and an opera. Her other books are The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions, published in 2004; and, River of Fire: My Spiritual Journey, published in 2019. She continues to speak, listen, and work against the death penalty. According to her website, “Sister Helen continues her work, dividing her time between educating the public, campaigning against the death penalty, counselling individual death row prisoners, and working with murder victims’ family members.” She is 82 years old.

Sonia Valdivia is a sustainability leader worldwide. She has worked and led the scientific community from different parts of the world to be more familiar in measuring the sustainability performance of products, services, and organization towards a more sustainable production. She has inspired and led organizations and researches in assessing the three pillars of sustainability, improving performances, and finding consensus on trade-offs. Moderating and leading discussions toward consensus on the topic of sustainability makes her one of the scientific references in sustainability in the industrial and scientific world. Her skill as a listener and promoter of listening makes her ability to reach the goal of sustainability a reality. Her role listening to the needs of the planet makes her critical to the global environment.

Tetsuko Kuroyanagi, a hugely popular actress, media personality, and author in Japan, is also well-known for her humanitarian work as a UNICEF Ambassador aimed at aiding vulnerable children. Her first book Totto-chan: The Little Girl at the Window which quickly became Japan’s greatest of bestselling works, centers on a progressive schoolmaster who excels at the art of listening. It is this gift of his that makes Totto-chan, a troubled first-grader from another school, feel right at home in her new school. The book is now translated into 35 languages. The schoolmaster actually was a real person who taught Kuroyanagi and who became her template for the ideal educator. Inspired by his exceptional caring as a teacher and her UNICEF work, Kuroyanagi established the Totto Foundation, dedicated to the education of the hearing-impaired. The consummate conversationalist, honed by her hosting a record-setting talk show that saw her interview guests that included Queen Elizabeth II and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, she could confidently involve herself in hot spots across the globe, earning her in 1987 the first UNICEF Child Survival Award. For her humanitarian work, she was also a recipient in 2003 of the Order of the Sacred Treasure, the highest civilian award by the Emperor of Japan.

Thuli Madonsela describes her role as Public Protector to the Venda chief’s paternal aunt known as the makhadzi, a non-political figure who “gives the people a voice while giving the traditional leader a conscience.” She was one of the contributors in drafting the constitution of South Africa and she is responsible for the “Secure in Comfort” report (report on state spending) and the “State Capture” report (revealing governmental corruption). In order to be able to fulfil these roles, she had to listen to a variety of points of view and assess fairly what she heard, while giving a voice to people who are usually not listened to. Some of these people were vulnerable due to their positions as informants. She took a massive risk to her safety and her career by entertaining their testimony. She made sure that the nation heard the testimony, despite corrupt politicians and their cronies threatening her life. She currently holds the position of Chair in Social Justice at Stellenbosch University.

Ursula Van der Leyen is the first woman President of the European Commission, elected in 2019, and a prominent geopolitician and physician from Germany. Her caring global vision and her effectiveness in communication as an active listener and speaker enhances her impact and popularity in promoting resilience, understanding, partnership, trust, and global well-being. In addressing the pandemic, she listened and pioneered policies that went global beyond the European boundaries. She indeed is making a difference in the world.

Yihong Gao has contributed significantly in her research in English teaching and learning and multi cultural activities at Peking University in China and the world. Besides her academic achievements, she has been engaged in volunteer social services in psychological consulting and listening in hospice care with her verified skills of listening, which has helped hundreds of students and patients go through their dark days. She is an outstanding listener on campus and a great socio-linguist in the world as Vice President (2003-2008) and President (2008-2010) of the Chinese Sociolinguistic Society, Vice President of China English Teaching Research Association (2007-2017), Deputy Secretary-General and Secretary-General of China Intercultural Communication Research Association (1995-2003) and a Member of the Professional Committee of Life and Death Science and Life and Death Education of Beijing Cancer Society (2019- ).

Zuraidah Mohd Don is a prominent academic at the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, and has done distinguished work at the Malaysian Ministry of Education in English teaching policies and research. Her accomplishments have contributed to changes in education in Asia, especially the university’s “third mission” to the local community in early education. Her research is centered on language and listening and the implications for education and students. As a professor she has listened to many different voices in accordance with five principles: Practicality, Relevance, Quality Assurance, Viability for Stakeholders, and Equity. These ensure the necessary support for education and students from less privileged backgrounds.