Oby Ezekwesili, Alek Wek, Diane von Furstenberg, Donna Karen & More at the 7th Annual “Women In The World” Summit | Opening Night

The Women in the World’s 7^th Annual Summit kicked off yesterday with the Opening Night.

The three-day Women in the World Summit, held at New York City’s Lincoln Center, presents powerful new female role models whose personal stories illuminate the most pressing international issues. They range from CEOs and world leaders to artists, activists, peacemakers, and firebrand dissidents. The Summit’s vivid journalistic narratives, high-impact video, and fast-paced staging have made it the premier platform to showcase women of impact. Increasingly, Women in the World also includes the participation, onstage and in the audience, of men who champion women.

This year’s participants include Nigeria’s Oby Ezekwesili, Meryl Streep, Former First Lady Laura Bush, Barbara Pierce Bush, First Lady of Afghanistan Rula Ghani, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde, Diane von Furstenberg, University of Cambridge Professor Mary Beard OBE, actor, writer and producer Mindy Kaling, United Nations World Food Programme Executive Director Ertharin Cousin, Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards, photojournalist and author Lynsey Addario, journalist Tom Friedman, activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Savannah Guthrie, New America Foundation President Anne-Marie Slaughter, Iranian journalist Masih Alinejad, Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security Executive Director Melanne Verveer, and Fox News anchor and journalist Megyn Kelly.

The full day programming holds today (April 7) and on April 8 there is a Morning/Afternoon programing.

See photos from the opening night below.

Photo Credit: Getty Images/Jemal Countess