Penny Abeywardena

Activist, Brainstormer, Business adviser, Change Agent, Concerned citizen, Connector, Entrepreneur, Idea generator, Parent, Policy maker, Public servant, World traveler

I’ve spent more than twenty years in diplomacy, philanthropy, and global institutions, working across social justice, women’s and children’s rights, and sustainability. The common thread: soft power. I consider it a superpower for reimagining public goods. Rather than compelling compliance or increasing spending, soft power surfaces hidden value, clarifies common goals, and gets diverse stakeholders to move together. I’m the Founder and CEO of Soft Power Strategies, a Forbes Leadership columnist, and author of SMART POWER: Lead with Influence, Persuade with Purpose, and Create Change That Lasts (Harmony/Penguin Random House, 2027). I host Power Play: Soft Power Unpacked, produced with NYU’s McSilver Institute. Previously, I served as New York City’s Commissioner for International Affairs, the first woman of color in that role. My work has been recognized by the United Nations, the World Economic Forum, and the French American Foundation, among others. I’m a TED Fellow, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and a Knight of France’s National Order of Merit.

cities sustainable development goals multilateralism girls and women's empowerment social change philanthropy laughter partnerships quality education addressing violence against girls and women collaboration

The people who have always been underestimated built the only skills AI can’t replace. As machines take over information work, the irreducible human advantage is what happens in rooms between people: trust, judgment, influence, and the ability to change what’s possible through showing up. Presence is not attendance. Attendance is showing up. Presence is mattering. And the gap between the two is where careers, deals, movements, and legacies are decided. Yet the people with the most to gain from being in the room are often the ones retreating from it, choosing invisibility at the exact moment their skills have become the scarcest resource in any organization. This is the central argument of my forthcoming book, SMART POWER: Lead with Influence, Persuade with Purpose, and Create Change That Lasts (Harmony/Penguin Random House, 2027), and the foundation of my Forbes Leadership series, “The Power of Presence.” The premise is simple: soft power is a superpower, and the people who learned to read rooms, build trust without authority, and move others through persuasion rather than position did so because they had no other option. That training is now the most valuable skill set in the economy. A machine can do what you do. A machine cannot do what you are.

Diplomacy, International Affairs, leadership, Partnerships, Philanthropy, Politics, Sustainable Development Goals, Women's Empowerment