LILY COLE

Known for:

Supermodel, Actress and Social Entrepreneur

Topics:

SOCIAL BUSINESS

SUSTAINABILITY

ETHICAL CONSUMERISM AND FASHION

THE GIFT ECONOMY

IMPOSSIBLE.COM

Lily Cole

Lily Cole (b. Devon, 1987) is a fashion model, actress and social entrepreneur. An advocate for socio-political and environmental issues, she has employed technology, writing, filmmaking and public speaking as means to build awareness and encourage dialogue. Cole was awarded a First Class Bachelor of Arts in History of Art from the University of Cambridge in 2011, and recently presented a six-part TV series on contemporary art for Sky Arts. Two years ago, she began developing impossible.com, a social network that encourages users to exchange skills and services for free in the hope of encouraging a peer-to-peer gift economy. Cole has spoken at The World Economic Forum’s meeting in Davos (2013), Google’s Zeitgeist conference (2012) and Wired (2012), is an affiliate at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University, and holds an Honorary Degree for her contribution to humanitarian and environmental causes from Glasgow Caledonian University. She writes often for national and international press. ‘Impossible Utopias’, originally submitted as the thesis for her undergraduate degree, is Cole’s first book.