35
36
37
67
FORTUNE.COM // MAY.1.19
AS MANY GOVERNMENTS SLIDE TOWARD AUTOCRACY and nationalism, Canada has been loud and
clear in its call for liberal democracy and the rule-based international order. The main
source of its full-throated defense is Freeland, Canada’s fierce, hardworking minister of
foreign affairs. A journalist turned politician, Freeland has been outspoken in promoting
human rights; she was key to Canada’s passing legislation in 2017 that allows for sanc-
tions against bad actors. (The government has since leveled them against individuals in
Russia, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Myanmar, and Sudan.) Her tough negotiating skills were
instrumental in securing Canada’s first-ever trade agreement with the EU, and last year,
in hammering out the “new NAFTA” with the U.S. and Mexico. She won over U.S. Trade
Representative Robert Lighthizer, her negotiating rival, who told the Washington Post he
considers Freeland “a good friend,” and added, “She did an amazing job for Canada.”
In Nepal, some 15,000
girls a year are kid-
napped and trafficked
into sex work, often in
neighboring India. In
1992, when she was 14,
Danuwar became one
of them. Rescued after
four years in a brothel,
she banded with other
survivors to found
Shakti Samuha (“Group
of Power,” in Hindi). The
organization provides
shelter and counseling
to trafficking victims
and has helped more
than 20,000 women.
Planeta Oceano aims
to educate entire
communities, from
preschoolers up to
business owners, about
marine ecology, in
hopes that they’ll take
the initiative to protect
endangered species.
“It’s not top-down; it’s
about acting together,”
Forsberg says. The ap-
proach has helped pro-
tect sea turtles, rays,
and sharks in Ecuador
and Forsberg’s native
Peru; she’s now bring-
ing a digital curriculum
to U.S. schools.
sunita danuwar
Executive Director,
Shakti Samuha
kerstin forsberg
Founder/Chair,
Planeta Oceano
MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, CANADA
35
:^ F
RA
NÇ
OI
S^ S
CH
AE
R^ —
RO
LE
X;^
36
:^ F
RA
NC
IS^
R^ M
AL
AS
IG
—E
PA
/S
HU
TT
ER
ST
OC
K;^
37
:^ R
ED
UX
PHOTOGRAPH BY MARKIAN LOZOWCHUK
