BY KAREN BOSSICK
As many as 250 global leaders and innovators are gathering in Sun Valley to take part in the Fourth Annual Sun Valley Forum on Resilience.
The forum organized by the Sun Valley institute will be held Tuesday, July 31, through Friday, Aug. 3, at Ketchum’s Limelight Hotel.
This year’s forum has as its theme, “Turning Risk Into Opportunity: Vision, Courage & Innovation” and will feature leaders and innovators from government, corporations, academia, media and social advocacy talking about how they’re solving some of the world’s most complex challenges.
“This year our task is ever more urgent,” said Aimee Christensen, founder of the Sun Valley Forum and Sun Valley Institute. “The World Economic Forum’s 2018 Global Risks report, ‘Fractures, Fears & Failures,’ found that three of our top five risks likely to happen in the next 10 years are environment related: Extreme weather events, natural disasters and the failure to mitigate and adapt to climate change. And yet the opportunities to build prosperous, secure, thriving communities and economies have never been greater.”
The forum will seek to initiate conversation about strategies that can address some of those problems and opportunities in the sectors of energy, food, technology, communications, policy and investment.
Speakers include Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin, who will talk about economic development in a rural area of Kentucky that had to figure out a way out of the collapse of the coal industry. Also, skier Body Levin of Protect our Winters, extreme social entrepreneurs like Daniel Dart and chef Mark Brand who are working with refugees in Gaza and the homeless in Vancouver, and Sam Arons of Lyft, who will talk about the future of mobility.
“Rolling Stone’s” Jeff Goodell will address the disaster in Puerto Rico. And Barney Swan, who just completed a trek across Antarctica with his father Robert Swan, will tell of the adventure.
The presenting sponsor of the forum is Cypress Creek Renewables, the nation’s largest solar energy development company. Other sponsors include BNP Paribas/Bank of the West.
“The Forum gets better and better. It’s a unique gathering of thought leaders, change makers and educators, all ready to take action,” said Julie Shafer, head of philanthropy and purpose investment at BNP/Paribas/Bank of the West.
The forum begins at 1 p.m. Tuesday, July 31 and continues the next two days with forum sessions, receptions and dinners. It concludes on Friday, Aug. 3—a day of outdoor activities capped by the 5Point Film Festival.
Tickets are being offered at a variety of levels to ensure local community participation, said Christensen. And scholarship requests are welcome.
For information, visit www.sunvalleyforum.com.