Michelle Obama and Julia Roberts to visit Vietnam and Malaysia to empower young women
- The star of hit movie Pretty Woman and the former first lady will take part in a summit convened by the Obama Foundation to promote education in the Asia-Pacific
- Obama has previously recruited the likes of David Beckham, Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway and Natalie Portman for the Girls Opportunity Alliance
Michelle Obama has previously joined forces with the likes of David Beckham, Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Natalie Portman and John Legend to promote the Girls Opportunity Alliance, which is part of the Obamas’ foundation.
“In Malaysia, Mrs Obama and Ms Roberts will share reflections about their trip to Vietnam, as well as lessons from their own leadership journeys and their path-breaking careers,” the foundation’s website said.
The foundation’s programme will feature 200 leaders from 33 countries for a range of talks and workshops.
Dissa Ahdanisa is one of the 18 Indonesians invited to the summit. She founded Fingertalk, a social programme that works with the deaf community and people with other disabilities.
“I would also like to meet like-minded people from different parts of the world, learn about what they do, why and how they do it, to hopefully collaborate to create a much bigger impact in the future,” she said, according to a statement.
Prodita Sabarini, the executive editor of The Conversation Indonesia and former journalist at The Jakarta Post, said she was thrilled to be selected.
Students from mainland China are the best in the world, survey finds
“Growing up, the leaders I saw were male, along with their authoritarian and dominating styles,” she said in a statement. “We need more diversity in leadership positions.”
The former first lady will appear at a separate event on December 14, discussing aspects of her public and private life that shaped her, as well as reflections from her memoir, Becoming.
