Forum of Young Global Leaders, or Young Global Leaders (YGL), was created by

Klaus Schwab Klaus Martin Schwab (; born 30 March 1938) is a German engineer, economist and founder of the World Economic Forum (WEF). He has acted as the WEF's chairman since founding the organisation in 1971. Life Schwab was born to Eugen Wilhelm Schw ...

, founder of the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...

. The YGL, a non-profit organization managed from

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

, Switzerland, is under the supervision of the Swiss government.

History

The program was founded by

of the

in 1993 under the name “Global Leaders for Tomorrow” and was renamed to Young Global Leaders in 2004. Schwab created the group with $1 million won from the

Dan David Prize The Dan David Prize is a major international award that recognizes and supports outstanding contributions to the study of history and other disciplines that shed light on the human past. It awards nine prizes of $300,000 each year to outstanding ...

, and the inaugural 2005 class comprised 237 young leaders.

Reception

BusinessWeek ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American weekly business magazine published fifty times a year. Since 2009, the magazine is owned by New York City-based Bloomberg L.P. The magazine debuted in New York City ...

s Bruce Nussbaum describes the Young Global Leaders as "the most exclusive private social network in the world", while the organization itself describes the selected leaders as representing "the voice for the future and the hopes of the next generation".

Selection process

Representing 70 different nations, Young Global Leaders are nominated by alumni to serve six-year terms and are subject to veto during the selection process. Candidates must be younger than 38 years old at the time of acceptance (meaning active YGLs are 44 and younger), and highly accomplished in their fields. Over the years, there have been many hundreds of honorees, including several popular celebrities, alongside recognized high achievers and innovators in politics, business, academia, media, and the arts. Michelle Rempel, a Canadian Conservative politician, says she found out she had been selected as a Young Global Leader in 2016 with an email that she thought was a spam, and described a 2017 meeting as "no different in feel from an academic conference, if a bit more global in nature and with more high-profile politicians and CEOs in attendance."

Leaders' projects

In 2007, Young Global Leaders initiated a program called Table for Two and aimed at preventing both

malnutrition Malnutrition occurs when an organism gets too few or too many nutrients, resulting in health problems. Specifically, it is "a deficiency, excess, or imbalance of energy, protein and other nutrients" which adversely affects the body's tissues a ...

in developing countries and

obesity Obesity is a medical condition, sometimes considered a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it may negatively affect health. People are classified as obese when their body mass index (BMI)—a person's we ...

in developed ones. In 2010, Young Global Leader

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and

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founder

Jimmy Wales Jimmy Donal Wales (born August 7, 1966), also known on Wikipedia by the pseudonym Jimbo, is an American-British Internet entrepreneur, webmaster, and former financial trader. He is a co-founder of the online non-profit encyclopedia Wikipedi ...

and Operation HOPE founder

John Hope Bryant John Hope Bryant (born February 6, 1966) is an American financial literacy entrepreneur and businessman. Bryant is the founder, chairman and chief executive officer of nonprofit Operation HOPE, chief executive officer of Bryant Group Ventures a ...

(another Young Global Leader) joined Karim Hajj, president of the

Casablanca Stock Exchange The Casablanca Stock Exchange ( ar, بورصة الدار البيضاء; french: La Bourse de Casablanca) is a stock exchange in Casablanca, Morocco. The Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE), which achieves one of the best performances in the region ...

, to form the Wikia-Operation HOPE Global Money Initiative, which translated a curriculum of personal financial empowerment into local North African dialects of French and

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

References

{{reflist

External links

Official website
Awards established in 2004 International awards Non-profit organisations based in Switzerland World Economic Forum