214 young leaders from 66 countries honoured for leadership and service to society; 109 are women- Half of the YGL Class of 2014 comes from the private sector and half from the public sector
Geneva, Switzerland, 11 March 2014 – The World Economic Forum announced today the new members selected to join the Forum of Young Global Leaders. The 214 exceptional young individuals have been recognized for their achievements and contribution to society.
The Young Global Leaders (YGLs) come from diverse backgrounds and bring a range of expertise to the community from across the world. Over 50% of the new intake are women, half come from the private sector and half from the public sector, including academia, arts and culture, civil society, government, media and not-for-profit organizations.
“The YGL Community assembles the world’s most outstanding next-generation leaders who have a proven record of extraordinary achievement and helps them further develop in their leadership journey,” said David Aikman, Managing Director and Head of New Champions at the World Economic Forum.
“The community provides its members with a peer network that challenges them to not only domore, but to be more. Being part of the YGL community is a transformational experience, where leaders turn their personal success into global significance and positive impact in their countries, industries and areas of expertise,” he said.
The YGL Class of 2014 includes 49 individuals from East Asia, 46 from Europe, 17 from Latin America, 18 from the Middle East and North Africa, 48 from North America, 17 from South Asia and 19 from sub-Saharan Africa.
This year’s class includes:
- Farhan Akhtar, India, film director, screenwriter and actor
- Julia Bacha, Brazil, award-winning filmmaker, peace campaigner and creative director at Just Vision
- Leah Busque, USA, founder of TaskRabbit, a mobile marketplace where users can outsource small jobs to others in their neighbourhood
- Brooke Ellison, USA, stem cell research advocate, public speaker and the subject of an award-winning movie
- Nicolas Shea Carey, Chile, founder of Cumplo, a peer-to-peer lending business, and Start-Up Chile, a government-supported incubation programme
- Liu Qiangdong, People’s Republic of China, founder and Chief Executive Officer of 360buy.com, China’s second-largest online retailer by transaction volume, and one of the country’s best known e-commerce entrepreneurs
- Michael Macharia, Kenya, founder of Seven Seas Technologies, a leading East African ITC provider
- Sabeen Mahmud, civil rights activist, founder of Peace Niche and T2F, and creator of Pakistan’s first hackathon
- Rania al-Mashat, Egypt, Sub-Governor for Monetary Policy at the Central Bank of Egypt
- Vania Masias, Peru, ballerina and founding director of Angeles D1, which provides dance training to underprivileged children
- Karl-Johan Persson, Sweden, President and Chief Executive Officer of fashion company Hennes & Mauritz (H&M)
- Hosain Rahman, USA, founder of Jawbone, one of the largest venture capital-backed consumer electronics companies in the world
- Charlize Theron, South Africa, Oscar-winning actress and founder of the Africa Outreach Project
- Ken Tun, Myanmar, Chief Executive Officer of Parami Energy, with interests in oil, gas, energy, construction and finance
- Natalia Vodianova, Russia, model and founder of children’s charity the Naked Heart Foundation
- Hayley Warren, Australia, Chief Executive Officer of Halo Medical Devices; invented a device that uses lasers to measure a patient’s range of movement
The full list of new YGLs can be downloaded here: http://widgets.weforum.org/ygl-2014
The YGL Class of 2014 was drawn from a pool of over 2,000 candidates who were evaluated by Heidrick & Struggles and screened by a selection committee chaired by H.M. Queen Rania Al Abdullah of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Candidates were evaluated according to specific criteria including their proven track record and commitment to society.
Previous YGLs include: Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy, Documentary Filmmaker, Pakistan; Marissa Mayer, Chief Executive Officer of Yahoo, USA; Osayi Alile Oruene, Executive Director, Fate Foundation, Nigeria; Larry Page, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Google, USA; Luis Guillermo Plata, Chief Executive Officer of the Cornerstone Group and former Minister of Trade, Industry and Tourism, Columbia; Naoko Yamazaki, astronaut and mission specialist on the crew of STS-131 Discovery, Japan; and Zhou Xun, actress and Goodwill Ambassador, United Nations Development Programme, People’s Republic of China.
The YGL Community has more than 900 active members, representing every region of the world. The YGLs convene at an annual summit, held this year in Beijing and Tianjin, the People’s Republic of China, in September.