Honoring Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and Celebrating 10 Years of the World Leader for Peace and Security Award (2015–2025) and Launching the AIWS Digital Asset Standards Initiative (AIWS-DASI)

📍 November 3–4, 2025 | Harvard University Faculty Club & Loeb House, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Day 1 — November 3, 2025 | 11:30 AM – 5:30 PM (EST)

Venue: Harvard University Faculty Club, 20 Quincy Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Theme: Honoring Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar — 2025 World Leader for Peace and Security Award Recipient

Agenda

11:30 AM – 1:30 PM | World Leader Spirit Lunch

A private lunch celebrating global leadership, peace, and humanity in the AI Age.
Hosted by the Boston Global Forum in honor of Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and the 10 years of the World Leader for Peace and Security Award.
Venue: Harvard University Faculty Club

2:00 -2:30 PM | Interview with Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

• Boston Global Forum video-interviews this year’s awards recipient

2:30 – 2:45 PM | Welcome and Opening Remarks
• Professor David Silbersweig, Harvard Medical School, Board Member, Boston Global Forum

2:45 – 2:55 PM | Film Premiere
“Ten Years of the World Leader for Peace and Security Award (2015–2025)”
Produced by AIWS Film Park — presented by Quynh Nham, Special Assistant to the BGF Chairman

2:55 – 4:00 PM | Honoring the 2025 World Leader for Peace and Security Award
• Honoring Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Founder of The Art of Living Foundation (video presentation), introduced by Professor David Silbersweig
• Remarks of Honor and Presentation — Governor Michael Dukakis, Co-Founder and Chair,  and Mr. Nguyen Anh Tuan, Co-Founder, Co-Chair and CEO, Boston Global Forum
• Acceptance Address and Distinguished Lecture — Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
• Congratulatory Messages from distinguished leaders and thinkers
• Discussion with the World Leader for Peace and Security, Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Moderator: Professor David Silbersweig, Harvard Medical School

4:00 – 5:30 PM | World Leader Spirit Symposium: Special Commemoration — 10 Years of the Award (2015–2025)

4:00 – 4:30 PM
• Ten Years of Leadership for Peace and Humanity (2015–2025)
• Keynote Remarks — A Decade of the World Leader for Peace and Security Award, Yasuhide Nakayama, Former State Minister of Japan, BGF Representative in Japan
• How ADM and AIWS Can Shape Peace in the Age of AI — Vibhav Kant Upadhyay, Chairman, India Center Foundation, BGF Executive Board Member
• Distinguished Solutions to Realize AIWS Government 24/7 — Professor Alex Pentland, MIT

Launching AIWS Esteemed Digital Assets of the World Leader for Peace and Security Award Recipients (2015–2025):
Shinzo Abe (Japan), Angela Merkel (Germany), Ban Ki-moon, Toomas Hendrik Ilves (Estonia), Sauli Niinistö (Finland),
Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, Ursula von der Leyen, Andreas Norlén, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the People of Ukraine,
Amma (Mata Amritanandamayi), Emmanuel Macron (France), Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.

4:30 – 5:00 PM | New Programs of the World Leader for Peace and Security Award
Moderator: Professor David Silbersweig
Focus: World Leader Laureates for Humanity
• World Leader for Peace and Security Award Recipients as the Core of the BGF–AIWS Family: Introducing the World Leader Spirit — Ramu Damodaran, Founding and First Chief, United Nations Academic Impact
• The Shinzo Abe Film and Shinzo Abe Digital Assets of the AIWS Film Park — Nguyen Anh Tuan, Yasuhide Nakayama, and Vibhav Kant Upadhyay
• AIWS Music for Humanity: Concert of the Soul — Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

5:00 – 5:25 PM | From War and Rivalry to Strategic Partnership: 30 Years of U.S.–Vietnam Relations
Discussion of the book “The AI World Society: A 30-Year U.S.–Vietnam Partnership from Nha Trang to Boston (1995–2025)”
By Nguyen Anh Tuan, Harvard Professor Thomas Patterson, Ramu Damodaran, and Bui Thi Minh Hang, Editor-in-Chief, Tri Thuc Publishing House, Vietnam

5:25 – 5:30 PM | Closing Remarks
Celebrating 250 Years of U.S. Independence in 2026 – The Role of the U.S. and BGF World Leaders in the Age of AI
— Mr. Nguyen Anh Tuan, Co-Founder, Co-Chair, and CEO, Boston Global Forum

Day 2 — November 4, 2025 | 8:15 AM – 12:00 PM (EST)

Venue: Harvard University Loeb House, 17 Quincy Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Theme: AIWS Digital Asset Standards Initiative (AIWS-DASI)
Subtheme: Defining Ethical, Quality, and Human-Centered Value in Digital Assets

8:30 – 8:45 AM | Welcome Guests
• Professor Thomas Patterson, Harvard University; Co-Founder, Boston Global Forum

8:45 – 9:00 AM | Opening Session: Ethics and Governance of AI and Digital Assets
• Mr. Nguyen Anh Tuan, Co-Founder, Co-Chair, and CEO, Boston Global Forum
• Professor Nazli Choucri, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Liam Maxwell, Director of Government Transformation, Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Topic: Building a foundation of ethical, transparent, and human-centered governance frameworks for AI and digital assets — aligning innovation with global peace, trust, and sustainability.

9:00 – 10:15 AM | Keynote and Panel Discussion: AI Ethics in Finance and Digital Assets
• Keynote: Kanetsugu Mike, Chairman, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG Bank)

Panelists:

• Professor Tarun Khanna, Harvard Business School
• Elisabeth Moreno, Former Minister, France
• Cansu Canca, AI Ethics Leader
• Alvaro Rodriguez, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, IGNIA

Moderator: Professor Thomas Patterson, Harvard Kennedy School

10:15 – 10:30 AM | Coffee Break & Networking

• 10:30 – 11:45 AM | The AIWS Digital Asset Standards Initiative (AIWS-DASI) and Issuing AIWS Esteemed Digital Assets
  Keynote: Joseph Jye-Cherng Lyu, Chairman, International Economic Cooperation Association; Former Finance Minister of Taiwan, and Yasuhide Nakayama, Former State Minister, Japan

Panelists:

• Professor Alex Pentland, MIT; BGF Board Member
• Glen Weyl, Lead, Microsoft Research; Founder and Chair, Plurality Institute
• Vibhav Kant Upadhyay, Chairman, India Center Foundation
• Jeff Saviano, Senior Lecturer, MIT Sloan School of Management; Harvard Safra Ethics Center Research Appointment

Moderator: Professor Thomas Patterson, Harvard Kennedy School

• Launch of the AIWS Digital Asset Standards Board (ADASB) and roadmap for the BGF–AIWS Charter on Digital Asset Ethics and Value (2026)

11:45 AM | Concluding Remarks
• Mr. Nguyen Anh Tuan, Co-Founder, Co-Chair, and CEO, Boston Global Forum