Who we are

The Young Global Leaders ® Community is an accelerator for a dynamic community of exceptional people with the vision, courage, and influence to drive positive change in the world.

Our growing membership of more than 1,400 members and alumni of 120 nationalities includes civic and business innovators, entrepreneurs, technology pioneers, educators, activists, artists, journalists, and more.

Aligned with the World Economic Forum’s mission, we seek to drive public-private co-operation in the global public interest. We are united by the belief that today’s pressing problems present an opportunity to build a better future across sectors and boundaries.

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Meet our members

Vera Daves de Sousa

Minister of Finance, Ministry of Finance of Angola, Angola

Vera Esperança dos Santos Daves de Sousa, was born in Luanda and has a degree in Economics from the Catholic University of Angola (UCAN). She is the first woman rising to the post of Minister of Finance in Angola. Before her appointment she was Secretary of State for Finance and Treasury. Her curriculum includes the Course on Banking Techniques and Practices by the Institute for Banking Training and Derivatives and Bond Markets Course in ICAP (Portugal). She started the career at Sonangol ESSA. After she worked at Banco Privado Atlântico as Head of Research and Products Office. From 2014 to 2016 she has the position of Executive Director of the Capital Market Commission (CMC) where became from September 2016 to October 2017 the Chairman of the Capital Market Commission. She was engaged in teaching Financial Markets at the Executive MBA promoted by the Catholic Business School Alliance and teacher of Public Finance and Economic Integration at Catholic University of Angola (UCAN) - Faculty of Economics. Vera Daves de Sousa also played the role of Economic commentator in various media. She was the co-author of a book on Public Finance. Her hobbies are dance, yoga and reading.

Christian Kroll

Professor of Sustainability, IU International University of Applied Sciences, Germany

Prof. Christian Kroll, PhD is a professor of sustainability, international thought-leader, much-cited expert and advisor. He was honoured as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum for his achievements. He authored scientific publications in leading outlets spanning several disciplines (e.g. Cambridge University Press, Ecological Economics, Nature Geoscience). Prof. Kroll lectures on sustainable development, sustainable finance (ESG), circular economy, and CSR at IU International University of Applied Sciences, and previously taught classes at the London School of Economics and Political Science, Hertie School of Governance in Berlin, and held positions at Jacobs University Bremen and Bertelsmann Stiftung. He gained a PhD from the London School of Economics and Political Science with a thesis entitled "Towards a Sociology of Happiness". He is the inventor of the first measurement tool for the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and today serves as the Scientific Co-Director of the SDG Index & Dashboards (www.sdgindex.org). His research has featured in national and international media such as BBC World News, Harvard Business Review, Washington Post, Le Monde, Die Zeit, ARD, Spiegel Online among others.

Barbara Garza

Country Manager and Director of Operations (2021-2023), Buenbit, Mexico

Barbara is a dynamic and visionary leader who has spearheaded impactful projects that prioritize inclusivity and innovation. Her extensive experience in multicultural settings has enabled her to gain valuable insights into diverse realities and needs, equipping her to tackle challenges with creativity and ingenuity. 

Throughout her career, Barbara has been passionate about driving change, promoting equality, and fostering innovation in a range of industries, including healthcare, ridesharing, food delivery, and crypto. She has held key roles in global startups, where she has made significant contributions to operations, strategy, and product development. 

Barbara earned a degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering from ITESM and a Certificate in Global Management from Grenoble Ecole de Management. She has been recognized as one of the 500 Latin Americans in 2022 by Bloomberg Línea, a prestigious honor awarded to only 54 Mexicans who are making significant contributions to business development and the economic landscape. In addition, she has been named one of the 50 Women of Impact in Latin America by Bloomberg Línea and has been included in Expansión's 30 promesas in Mexico, a list that recognizes young professionals under 40 who are making a meaningful impact in the business world.

Liam Sobey

Vice-President, Merchandising, Sobeys Inc., Canada

Nourishing families and communities is part of Liam's DNA. He is a value-driven leader with a passion to feed the world. He is Vice-President of Merchandising at Sobeys. Liam's drive to create impact can be seen through his involvement in countless food-drives throughout his career. Being an active member of his family business, Liam ascribes to its 113-year tradition of giving back to the community. His motivation to support fairness and equality among communities led him to be the only non-aboriginal executive member of NaMeRes, a not-for-profit group that supports Aboriginal men fighting homelessness and addiction in Canada. Liam is a member of his family firm's governance and business committees. He has founded two investment groups that help next-generation family members learn about the financial markets and the positive impact of investing responsibly for a sustainable future. Liam's passion for family and community has also led him to attend multiple family business seminars, including the Scone Project and the WEF Family Business Conference in Gstaad.

Caroline Malcolm

Global Head of Public Policy, Chainalysis, United Kingdom

Caroline leads the public policy team at Chainalysis, drawing on their unique data analytics and tools to work with clients from the public and private sectors to understand developments in digital asset markets and their intersect with global regulatory trends and requirements.

Caroline was previously the founding Head of the OECD's Global Blockchain Policy Centre, from 2018 to 2021, working on a diverse range of blockchain-related policy issues, such as fintech, competition policy, data governance, and supply chain transparency. In 2019, she co-led the Financial Stability Board’s workstream on decentralised fintech, and also established the OECD’s Blockchain Expert Policy Advisory Board, bringing together more than 100 experts from across the world in government, industry, academia and civil society. In 2020, Caroline was named a “Young Global Leader” by the World Economic Forum, and was a judge in the G20 techsprint hackathon. In 2022, she was a finalist in the Global Australian Awards.

Caroline's career began as a lawyer to the Australian government before she joined the OECD in 2010, to work on international tax transparency issues. She went on to set up the OECD-UNDP Tax Inspectors Without Borders initiative and then became the advisor to the OECD’s Head of Tax during the OECD/G20 BEPS (Base Erosion and Profit Shifting) Project. During this time, Caroline became more interested in the impact of emerging technologies on policy frameworks and began the first global study of the tax treatment of digital assets.

Daniel Ahn

Global Fellow, The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, USA

Dr. Daniel P. Ahn is the co-founder and CEO of Delfi Labs, which provides machine learning-driven financial risk management solutions for businesses. He is also a non-residential Global Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center.

Previously, he was Managing Director, the Chief U.S. Economist, and Head of Markets 360 – North America at BNP Paribas in New York. From 2014 to 2018, he was the Chief Economist at the U.S. Department of State, where he advised the Secretary of State and senior principals on a wide range of international economic and security topics, including global macroeconomic growth, economic warfare and sanctions, international trade, and energy and environmental issues.

Prior to entering public service in 2014, Dr. Ahn was the chief commodities economist at Citigroup in New York and also held senior positions at Citadel, Barclays Capital, and Lehman Brothers. He has also held research and teaching positions at Harvard University, the National Bureau of Economic Research, Columbia University, the Council on Foreign Relations, the International Monetary Fund, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, Georgetown University, and the U.S. Federal Reserve Board of Governors.

He is the author of multiple research articles, Congressional testimony, and a textbook, Principles of Commodity Economics and Finance with MIT Press.

He was featured in Forbes Magazine as one of 30 under 30 in Finance. He is the recipient of both the Superior Honor Award and the Meritorious Honor Award from the U.S. Department of State.

He completed his A.B. in economics and finance with honors from Princeton University, and his Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University.

Thomas Crowther

Professor, Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zurich, Switzerland

Thomas Crowther is a Welsh ecologist in the
department of Global Ecosystem Ecology at ETH
Zurich, where he founded Crowther Lab, an
interdisciplinary group of scientists studying global
ecosystems and generating knowledge to protect
biodiversity and address climate change. He serves
as chair of the advisory board of the UN Decade on
Ecosystem Restoration and chief scientific advisor
to the UN’s Trillion Trees Campaign.
Crowther is the founder of Restor, a science-based
open data platform that provides ecological
insights, transparency and connectivity to
conservation and restoration efforts across the
globe. Restor was named a finalist for the Royal
Foundation’s 2021 Earthshot Prize. Crowther serves on the advisory council
of WEF’s Trillion Trees initiative (1T.org).

Jonathan Fantini Porter

Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, Partnership for Central America, USA

Jonathan Fantini Porter is a government official and executive in the private and social sectors. He currently serves as CEO of the public-private Partnership for Central America and previously held leadership positions at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, The White House, U.S. Congress, and McKinsey & Company.

Under his tenure, the Partnership raised $4.2 billion in foreign direct investment, procurement, and lending in 18 months for projects in the region and delivered programs to 5 million individuals across environmental, social, and governance programs to address the economic roots of migration in frontier and emerging markets. The Partnership has been cited by the President of Microsoft, Administrator of USAID Samantha Power, and the President of the World Bank as a case study on how to mobilize private sector investments for public-private economic development partnerships.

Jonathan previously served as an Associate Partner at McKinsey & Company; advisor on national security and private sector engagement to the Presidential transition of Joe Biden; a White House advisor on transnational security during the Presidency of Barack Obama; as a senior congressional aide in the U.S. Congress; and Chief of Staff in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security where he oversaw management operations of a $6 billion homeland security budget supporting 22,000 personnel in 48 countries.

He was named a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum and has served on advisory bodies to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, World Economic Forum, Amnesty International, and as a consulting fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Jonathan is a graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and Georgetown University and was awarded an Eisenhower Fellowship. He speaks Spanish, French, and German.

Yousef Yousef

Chief Executive Officer, LG Sonic B.V., Netherlands

Yousef Yousef is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of LG Sonic, whose mission is to eliminate the use of chemicals in the water treatment industry by offering environmentally friendly solutions. Yousef is an innovator with an out-of-the box vision on water-quality management, big data-driven technologies and environmental monitoring. He is the winner of several water innovation and entrepreneurial awards such as Aquatech Innovation Award and Shell LiveWIRE. Yousef holds two patents on ultrasound technology combined with big data and membranes. He is also Chairman of the Dutch entrepreneurs’ community Green Growers, which invests in the development of circular products and sustainable technologies.