Prince Harry, Theaster Gates To Appear At Obama Foundation Global Summit In Chicago

By Stephen Gossett in News on Oct 12, 2017 5:55PM

President Barack Obama meets with Prince Harry in the Oval Office of the White House October 28, 2015 in Washington, DC. / Getty Images / Photo: Win McNamee

We're still not entirely sure exactly what to expect when Barack Obama returns to Chicago later this month and launches his inaugural, two-day global summit, but today we got a better picture. The Obama Foundation announced on Thursday a slate of speakers and facilitators who will appear, including Prince Harry, former Prime Minister of Italy Matteo Renzi and Chicago-based artist/community builder Theaster Gates.

Prince Harry is slated to appear on Oct. 31, Day 1 of the Obama Foundation Summit.

Here's the roster of participants, as announced so far:
- Prince Henry of Wales
- Matteo Renzi - Former Prime Minister of Itay
- Whitney Kimball Coe - Director of the National Rural Assembly
- Hamdi Ulukaya - humanitarian and Founder of Chobani;
- Bahia Shebab - artist
- Brian Alexander - journalist and author
- Tod Williams and Billie Tsien - Obama Presidential Center architects
- Gabriella Gomez-Mont - Laboratorio para la Ciudad
- Eric Liu, CEO of Citizen University;
- Elizabeth Alexander - poet and author;
- Theaster Gates - artist.

The summit takes place from Oct. 31 through Nov. 1. Its focus is "to exchange ideas, explore creative solutions to common problems, and experience civic art, technology, and music from around the world," according to the Foundation. Former president Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama will both be in attendance.

Obama announced the summit in September, along with three new initiatives, including a two-year fellowship for "organizers, inventors, artists, entrepreneurs, journalists" and others.