Keynote speakers

Adjiedj Bakas (Dutch trendwatcher and author)

Adjiedj Bakas (1963) has been identifying economic, demographic, environmental, spiritual and security trends as his core business throughout his working life. He has lived in Europe for more than 28 years however, he is of Indian origin and was raised in Latin-America. In his book “The Future of Faith” he shows how economic trends run parallel to spiritual trends. He predicts the emergence of the “Personal God” created by and for every individual, which fits in with peoples’ growing spiritual awareness.

Jan Peter Balkenende (Former Prime Minister of the Netherlands 2002-2010)

 Jan Peter Balkenende (1956) is a Dutch politician of the party Christian Democratic Appeal. He began his career on the staff of the research institute of the CDA and as a city councilman in Amstelveen. In that period he received his PhD with a thesis on "Administrative regulation and social organisations", a work strongly inspired by the Communitarian ideas of Amitai Etzioni. He later became an extraordinary professor of Christian-Social Thought at the Free University of Amsterdam. He was the Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 22 July 2002 until 14 October 2010, having led four coalition governments, cabinets Balkenende I, II, III and IV, none of which served a full four-year term. He is now a partner at professional services firm Ernst & Young.

Rabbi Stephen Lewis Fuchs (President of the World Union for Progressive Judaism)

Rabbi Stephen Lewis Fuchs is President of the World Union for Progressive Judaism which strengthens Jewish life by connecting Jews to one another and to Israel in 47 countries around the world. Prior to joining the WUPJ, in July of 2011 Rabbi Fuchs was the Senior Rabbi of Congregation Beth Israel, a synagogue founded in 1843 with a current membership of nearly 1000 families. Rabbi Fuchs is a dynamic leader who has undertaken major social campaigns for nearly 40 years and fostered dialogue and understanding. Rabbi Fuchs has also spoken out from the pulpit, in public lectures, on TV and in the press about the harmful impact on young people of the proliferation of graphic violence in movies, video games and TV programs.

Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner (Movement Rabbi, The Movement for Reform Judaism UK)

Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner has been appointed as the Movement for Reform Judaism's first movement rabbi, a post that places her as its official rabbinic spokesperson in the national arena. Rabbi Janner-Klausner is a well-known national broadcaster, featuring regularly on BBC Radio 4's flagship Today programme's Thought for the Day and BBC1's Sunday morning debate show The Big Question.

Rabbi Dr Deborah Kahn-Harris (Principal, Leo Baeck College London)

Rabbi Dr Deborah Kahn-Harris took up the position of Principal of the Leo Baeck College in September 2011 and she also lectures in Bible there. She was ordained at Leo Baeck College in 1996. She has worked as Director of Student and Young Adult Work for the Reform Synagogues of Great Britain (now Movement for Reform Judaism) and assistant rabbi at Temple Beth Israel, Melbourne, Australia. She also worked for 6 years as part of the rabbinic team at Sha'arei Tsedek North London Reform Synagogue and taught for a year and half at SOAS as the Teaching Fellow in Judaism. Rabbi Kahn-Harris holds a PhD in feminist biblical criticism in the Department of Biblical Studies at the University of Sheffield.

Dominique Moïsi (International geopolitical and social commentator)

Dominique Moïsi (1946) is a French Political Scientist and writer. He was a co-founder and is a senior advisor of the Paris-based Institut Français des Relations Internationales (IFRI), Pierre Keller Visiting Professor at Harvard University, and the chairholder for Geopolitics at the College of Europe in Natolin. Moïsi regularly contributes op-ed articles and essays to the Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, the Project Syndicate as well as Die Welt and Der Standard.

Rabbi Menno ten Brink (Progressive Jewish Community of Amsterdam)

Rabbi Menno ten Brink (1958) is the Rabbi of the Progressive Jewish Congregation (LJG) of Amsterdam. Menno ten Brink is Coordinator of the Assembly of Rabbis of the Union for Progressive Judaism in the Netherlands and the Dutch Beth Din Tsedek. He holds a MA in Law (University of Amsterdam) and Jewish Education. He graduated at Leo Baeck College, London, in 1993. Rabbi Menno ten Brink has been chazzan in several congregations in the Netherlands and the first Progressive Jewish Chaplain to the Dutch Forces for more than 12 years. He initiated the first Dialogue committee of the LJG Amsterdam, is active in interfaith dialogue and was one of the initiators of the Jewish Moroccan Network Amsterdam. Rabbi Ten Brink is member of the Executive of the Anne Frank Foundation and one of the vice-presidents of the EUPJ.