Dame Jacinda Ardern to give Yale University's graduation ceremony address
Photo:
RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Former Prime Minister Dame Jacinda Ardern has been announced as Yale University's 2025 Class Day speaker.
In a statement, the US Ivy League University said Dame Jacinda was widely praised for her inclusive and empathetic approach to leadership during her term as New Zealand prime minister from 2017 to 2023.
Ardern championed women's empowerment and led the country in navigating significant challenges, including the 2019 Christchurch terror attack, a volcanic eruption, and a global pandemic, the Yale statement said.
"With a people-first approach grounded in kindness, she helped New Zealand achieve one of the lowest losses of life during the pandemic among developed nations; led an administration in which New Zealand reached a historic 50 percent representation of women in parliament and on government-appointed boards; and secured historic international trade agreements. Ardern is also the second woman in history to have given birth while leading a country," the university said.
"Today, Ardern is an active advocate for climate action, serving on the board of The Earthshot Prize and as a distinguished fellow at Conservation International, helping provide solutions to climate change and environmental challenges.
It noted she served as Angelopoulos Global Public Leaders Fellow at the Hauser Leader Center for Public Leadership and as a senior fellow of the Women and Public Policy Program both at Harvard University, and mentioned her work as patron of the Christchurch Call to Eliminate Violent Extremism Online which she created in 2019.
Class Day celebrates Yale's graduating class with a programme of student performances, awards, and long-held traditions. This year's ceremony will be on 18 May.
"To have a visiting dignitary on our campus is always an exciting moment, but for our graduates to hear from this particular world leader - someone who embodies empathy and excellence, character and commitment, innovation and inclusion - will be special indeed. I look forward to listening alongside the Class of 2025 as she shares her wisdom and perspective with us," Yale College Dean Pericles Lewis said.
Dame Jacinda said it was deeply humbling to be this year's speaker.
"Not only for the privilege of spending time with a new generation of leaders who will shape the future of their communities and countries - but because they will also change what leadership itself will look like," she said.
Previous Class Day speakers include former US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
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