Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who led her country through a devastating mass shooting, will attend Harvard University on a temporary basis later this year, Kennedy School Dean Douglas Elmendorf said Tuesday.
Ardern, left, is a global icon and a An inspiration to women around the world, has been appointed to a dual fellowship at the Harvard Kennedy School. He is a 2023 Angelopoulos Global Public Leaders Fellow and will serve as a Houser Leader at the school’s Center for Public Leadership beginning this fall.
“Jacinda Ardern has shown the world strong and compassionate political leadership,” Elmendorf said in a statement, adding that Ardern “will bring important insights to our students and shape important conversations about public policy choices facing leaders at all levels.”
Ardern, who was just 37 when she became prime minister in 2017, shocked New Zealanders when she announced in January. Step down from the role Over 5 years later because he no longer had “enough in the tank” to do it justice. He faced political pressure at home for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which was initially widely praised but later criticized by opponents of the order and rule.
He said he sees the opportunity at Harvard not only as an opportunity to share his experiences with others, but also to learn.
“As leaders, there is often little time for reflection, but reflection is critical if we are to properly support the next generation of leaders.”
Fiona Goodall – World Rugby via World Rugby/Getty Images
Ardern’s time at the University of Cambridge, Massachusetts, will also include serving as the first Tech Governance Leadership Fellow at the school’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society.
The center was a key partner as New Zealand worked to counter violent extremism online after a white supremacist shooter. Killed 51 people At two mosques in the city of Christchurch in 2019, Ardern said. The gunman live-streamed the killing on Facebook for 17 minutes before taking the video down.
Two months after the shooting, Ardern initiated a Christchurch call with French President Emmanuel Macron. The initiative aims to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online.
More than 50 countries have joined the initiative, including the US, Britain, Germany and South Korea, as well as tech companies such as Facebook parent Meta, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, YouTube, Zoom and Twitter.
“The Center has been an incredibly important partner as we build a movement to call Christchurch to tackle online violent extremism,” Ardern said, adding that the fellowship will not only be an opportunity to work collaboratively with the Centre’s research community, but also Addressing challenges around the growth of generative AI tools.
It’s rare for a head of state to dive deeply into a complex and fast-moving digital policy issue, said Jonathan Zitren, co-founder of the Berkman Klein Center.
“Jacinda Ardern’s hard-won expertise – including her ability to bring together diverse individuals and organizations – will be invaluable as we all search for some effective solutions to the deepest online problems,” he said in a statement.
Ardern said she planned to return to New Zealand after the fellowship.