Shamil Idriss talks about taboos, fostering cross-cultural understanding and the power of new media.  Shamil is Chief Executive Officer of Soliya, a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering young people to use new media tools to advance social change and improve cross-cultural understanding within and between their societies.  In 2005 he was appointed by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan as Deputy Director of the Alliance of Civilizations.  He served on the Steering Committee of the World Economic Forum’s Council of 100 Leaders and as COO of Search for Common Ground, a global conflict resolution organization. He is a member of the WEF’s Young Global Leaders and of the ASMA Society’s Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow.  (New York, NY)