A formally approved United Nations side event bringing together global leaders, innovators, and community builders to confront the most urgent question facing SDG progress.
About This Event
With less than four years remaining, SDG progress is stalled not by resource gaps alone — but by a structural failure: the absence of integrated systems combining technological access, human readiness, and cross-sector coordination.
This officially approved UN HLPF 2026 side event presents a living, multi-stakeholder model — already in motion across North America, Latin America, Europe, the Arab region, and Africa. It is not a theoretical discussion. It is a direct and practical response to one of the most persistent structural gaps in current SDG implementation.
Program & Speakers
A globally recognized leader at the intersection of commerce, diplomacy, and sustainable development. His keynote will frame the human infrastructure gap — the structural failure at the heart of stalled SDG progress — and set the tone for all that follows.
Energy systems innovator focused on clean energy access as a driver of inclusive development — exploring how infrastructure equity determines who participates in the digital economy and who gets left out.
Consultant Public Health Physician and Mandela Washington Fellow who has led health education initiatives reaching 100,000+ families. A leading voice on women's health, health equity, and the human infrastructure required for SDG progress.
Senior academic leader shaping the future of global design education and AI literacy. Her work bridges institutional learning systems with the Global Digital Compact — building the educational infrastructure that SDG progress requires.
A 15-year-old Chilean author and youth activist focused on justice, children's rights, and meaningful participation. Author of "The Reality of Prison" — based on research conducted within the Chilean prison system. The youngest person to address the Chilean Supreme Court and a four-time UN interventionist, Issaiah brings a generational voice to global discussions where youth perspectives are too often absent.
A distinguished diplomat and global governance leader bringing the African Union voice to the conversation on AI, partnership, and accountability. Her presence connects the global policy framework to the lived reality of communities the SDGs are designed to reach.
Social entrepreneurship leader building systems that identify and invest in young change-makers globally. The Resolution Project's model — backing leaders before they have credentials — embodies the human infrastructure approach this event champions.
ESG integration, digital transformation, and climate entrepreneurship specialist at the intersection of regional policy and global development. Research Associate at the American University of Beirut, advancing inclusive economic growth across the Arab region.
Rooted in the Work is built around a simple idea: relationships generate revenue, revenue creates reinvestment, and reinvestment expands access. Working with communities impacted by incarceration, poverty, and systemic exclusion, Vidya's question is not how we build better technology — it is how we build the human infrastructure that allows more people to benefit from it.
Facilitators
A healer, artist, and system-builder who has spent decades proving that healing is the infrastructure everything else is built on. Holds the room for Panel 1 with a rare combination of authority and humanity.
CPA and financial services executive with expertise in hedge fund operations. TeHsing translates complex financial structures into actionable, equity-centered guidance — with a deep commitment to empowerment and sustainable financial well-being.
Board-certified Critical Care nurse and global health leader, cross-sector credentialed across four continents. Grace advances Health-In-All-Policy and has facilitated bilateral exchanges and advocacy with UN-affiliated organizations worldwide.
Judi Snell is an Economist and Collaborative AI Advocate, and the Founder of WOYA, a New York–based nonprofit advancing AI-powered small-business development, financial equity, and mental-wellness innovation in underserved communities. She is also the CEO of Mommentis Consultants, driving small business training, AI adoption, and innovation. She leads the Collaborative AI Group (CAiG) and has contributed to Social Watch's UN MDG Country Reports and ECOWAS sustainable-development frameworks. In September 2025, she participated in the historic UN Launch of the Global Dialogue on AI Governance — established to shape inclusive and human-centered approaches to emerging technologies.
Agenda
A tightly produced program moving from context to action — with no filler, no padding, and no wasted seat at the table.
This is a formally approved United Nations side event. Registration is free. Your seat at this table is waiting.
Official UN HLPF 2026 · July 2026 · Date TBC · Virtual
A growing coalition of organizations across 5 regions committed to multi-stakeholder action on the 2030 Agenda.
Co-organize, sponsor, or amplify — organizations from 5 regions driving the 2030 Agenda forward.
Presenting Organizations & Partners
A UN-accredited NGO advancing equity, AI literacy, non-clinical mental wellness, and human-centered community building across North America, Africa, and beyond. WOYA drives integrated solutions with a throughline of AI adoption and small business empowerment.
woyacentral.org woyacentral.comA women-led movement co-shaping AI governance, building inclusive AI products, and advancing equitable AI policy globally. CAiG positions women as architects — not afterthoughts — of the AI era, and serves as the policy and advocacy arm of the WOYA ecosystem.
caig.woyacentral.com"The Union of Arab Chambers removes barriers to economic participation by connecting businesses, chambers, and policymakers across the Arab region, enabling inclusive growth, innovation, and cross-border partnerships."
uac-org.orgSociety of Nurse Scientists, Innovators, Entrepreneurs & Leaders. Advancing nursing innovation at the intersection of healthcare, technology, and global policy — with UN-level representation and cross-sector advocacy worldwide.
sonsiel.orgA Nigerian nonprofit advancing equitable healthcare access for women and underserved communities. Led by Dr. Matilda Kerry, the Foundation has reached more than 100,000 families through health education, cancer screening, and community engagement.
georgekerrylifefoundation.orgFrom the Coalition
Coalition partners are drafting thought pieces on AI, human infrastructure, and the 2030 Agenda. Each piece will be released on LinkedIn — follow the conversation as it unfolds.
How women-led organizations are closing the gap between global policy and community-level AI adoption — and why human infrastructure is the missing link in SDG implementation.
The decisions being made about AI governance right now will shape the next century. CAiG makes the case for why women must be at the table — not as observers, but as architects.
How the Union of Arab Chambers is positioning digital transformation and AI readiness as the next frontier of regional economic integration and SDG partnership.
Nurse scientists and innovators are uniquely positioned to build the human infrastructure that AI-enabled healthcare requires. SONSIEL's perspective on what SDG 3 demands of us now.
The George Kerry Life Foundation on how community-led health education is the foundation that technology cannot replace — and what AI must be built on top of, not instead of.
From the Founders Masterclass Series: how small business owners are navigating the AI transition, what infrastructure they need to succeed, and what "efficiency" actually means for the entrepreneur on the ground.
Articles release progressively — follow each organization on LinkedIn for updates
Follow Judi Snell on LinkedInAbout Us
Founded by Judith Snell, WOYA is a UN-accredited NGO and the connective thread across a growing ecosystem of change. Our throughline is AI adoption, small business training and launch, driving efficiency, and building compassionate, non-judgmental spaces for motivation and community. We operate across North America, Africa, Latin America, and the Arab region — bridging the gap between policy and people, and between the promise of technology and the humans who need to use it.
The Collaborative AI Group is a women-led movement co-shaping AI governance, building inclusive AI products, and creating networks of women who understand that the decisions being made about AI right now will define the next century. Incubated by WOYA, CAiG is the policy, advocacy, and community intelligence arm of the WOYA ecosystem — and a formal actor in international AI governance spaces. We are learning, growing, and building — with humans at the center of every process.
Past Events
From Doha to Seville to New York, WOYA has consistently brought multi-stakeholder, human-centered solutions to the world's most important policy conversations.
WOYA led a Solutions Session convening a global coalition on gender-aligned collaborative AI and systemic solutions for resilient economies and inclusive justice. Livestreamed across four continents.
WOYA presented at FFD4 on blueprints for financial resilience and rewiring the economics of inclusion through gender-aligned collaborative AI and systemic solutions.
WOYA convened the Coalition for Change in a live dialogue on collaborative AI, multi-stakeholder accountability, and building the systems the 2030 Agenda requires.
Judi Snell participated in the historic UN Launch of the Global Dialogue on AI Governance — convened by the UN Secretary-General to shape inclusive and human-centered approaches to emerging technologies globally.