Our Common Humanity in the Information Age. Principles and Values for Development

Stephen Schlesinger, Historian, New School University
Stephen Schlesinger has served as the Director of the World Policy Institute at the Ne w 
School from 1997-2006 and was publisher of and contributor to the quarterly magazine, 
The World Policy Journal. Mr. Schlesinger received his BA from Harvard University and 
his JD from Harvard Law School. In the early 1970s, he edited and published The New 
Democrat Magazine. Thereafter he spent four years as a staff writer at Time Magazine. 
For twelve years, he served as New York State Governor Mario Cuomo’s speechwriter 
and foreign policy advisor. In the mid 1990s, he worked at the United Nations at Habitat, 
the agency dealing with global cities.
He is the author of three books, including Act of Creation: The Founding of The United 
Nations for which he won the 2004 Harry S. Truman Book Award; Bitter Fruit: The 
Story of the U.S. Coup in Guatemala (with Stephen Kinzer) cited as one of the New York 
Times’ “notable books” for 1982; and The New Reformers. He is a specialist on the 
foreign policy of the Clinton and Bush Administrations. He is a frequent contributor to 
magazines and newspapers, including The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The 
Nation Magazine, and The New York Observer. In 1978, he was a finalist for the National 
Magazine Award. He has appeared on CNN, Fox TV, NBC, NPR and other media 
outlets. 
Franziska Seel, MDG Program Advisor, TakingITGl obal 
Franziska Seel is MDG Program Advisor of TakingITGlobal, a Canada-based youth 
association, which runs the world's most popular online community for young people. In 
2005, Ms. Seel worked as Youth Editor for the United Nations Millennium Campaign 
and coordinated TakingITGlobal's Millennium Development Goals program, which 
inspired thousands of young people worldwide to raise awareness about the MDGs and 
actively contribute to their achievement. 
Before joining TakingITGlobal's team in Toronto, Ms. Seel had been involved in various 
youth organizations promoting and strengthening youth participation in decision-making 

---

Annexes | 199
and working on youth development projects. In 2001, she was delegate of the German 
National Youth Council to the United Nations World Youth Forum in Dakar, Senegal and 
from 2003-2005 an active member of the World Summit on the Information Society 
Youth Caucus. Franziska Seel is a national of Germany.