Community

The Forum of Young Global Leaders is a community of innovators from diverse backgrounds and experiences. Search current members and alumni by year awarded, sector or region.

Iliyana Tsanova

Chief Risk Officer, Deputy Director-General, Chief Risk Officer, DG Budget, European Commission, Belgium

Iliyana is Deputy Director-General and Chief Risk Officer at DG Budget of the European Commission. Prior to that, she was Deputy Managing Director of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), an EUR 26 billion-guarantee facility launched jointly by the European Commission and the European Investment Bank Group to boost and support investments in the European Union. She has over ten years of experience in development finance with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in London, UK. Iliyana has held several board positions in international infrastructure companies and investment funds. In 2013 and 2014, Iliyana was appointed Deputy Prime Minister in two consecutive caretaker governments in Bulgaria. She holds MSc in Finance from the University for National and World Economy, Bulgaria and a postgraduate diploma in Financial Management from George Washington University, USA.

Ken Tun

Chairman, Parami Energy Group of Companies, Myanmar

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Parami Energy Group of Companies, Myanmar.

Parami Energy is upstream local partner for Chevron .

The group operates LPG terminal and PARAMI LPG is first residential LPG brand in Myanmar where only 5% of households using LPG gas.

With the support of World Bank , Parami develops SE Asia largest Mini Grid to connect 7800 households powered by combination of Solar, battery and Diesel Generator

Ken Tun was recognized as philanthropist hero by the Forbes in 2017 for his effort to help support 1600 monastic rural schools that currently educating 300, 000 kids.

Ganzorig Ulziibayar

Chairman, Mandal Financial Group, Mongolia

Ganzo (Ganzorig Ulziibayar) is the founder and chairman of Mandal Financial Group, the largest insurance and capital markets group in Mongolia. Ganzo has been a member of the monetary policy committee of the Central Bank of Mongolia, an economic advisor to the President of Mongolia, and a director at the Mongolian Stock Exchange. Ganzo has held numerous senior executive positions within the banking sector and has been the CEO of Golomt Bank, the second-largest bank in Mongolia. He has published books on finance, sales, and management with a particular focus on productivity psychology and STRATEGY. Ganzorig operates the not-for-profit Ganzorig Business School and World Financial History Museum in Ulaanbaatar. The Museum holds some of the rarest historical artifacts of financial history. He is also the head of the Education Reform Movement NGO.

Silverius Oscar Unggul

Co-Founder and President, Telapak, Indonesia

Silverius Oscar Unggul co-founded Telapak Association with Ambrosius Ruwindrijarto in 2006. Ambrosius served as president from 2006 to 2012 and is now no longer a Telapak member. Silverius now serves as the president and is an expert on community engagement, risk mitigation and conflict resolution. Telapak transforms illegal loggers into sustainable famers through forest management, and destructive fisherman into sustainable fisherman through sustainable marine management. In collaboration with the private sector, he led Telapak to implement inclusive business on forestry, marine and tourism. Silverius was named as an Ashoka Fellow 2006, Conde Nast Traveler Environmental Award 2008, Young Global Leader 2009 and Skoll Awardee on Social Enterpreneur 2010.

Najat Vallaud-Belkacem

Director, France, The ONE Campaign, France

Former Minister for Women’s rights and then for Education. Director France of the One Campaign.

Silje Vallestad

Founding Curator and Alumni, Palo Alto Hub, Royal Commission for Riyadh City, USA

Silje Vallestad is an accomplished entrepreneur, innovation leader, VC advisor, and ecosystem builder. She has an extensive track record of building transformative projects from idea to operation, curating networks, and ecosystems to drive impact through innovation and thought leadership and cultivating practices to boost organizational innovation performance.

Her expertise has been built over almost three decades of hands-on experience marked by entrepreneurial pursuit and a sharp analytical but equally out-of-the-box mindset. From building tech companies out of Silicon Valley, to advising enterprises and government bodies on innovation, to organizing the largest Global Investor Summit in Norway, to venture building for established companies seeking to diversify their portfolio, Silje is a proven builder who delivers results fast. She develops holistic and out-of-the-box solutions creating sustainable impact.

Silje is a strong believer that “magic happens when the right people meet”, and that magic requires that barriers created by geography, disciplines, and ages are broken down; “the old ways will not create the needed new solutions to our global challenges”. To facilitate change Silje has continuously curated communities that engage young talent alongside global leaders; Nobel Laureates, Presidents and Royals, C-suite executives of the largest tech companies, leading entrepreneurs and academics, Hollywood celebrities and artists. For over 20 years Silje has built and activated networks that inspire new partnerships and projects that drive change.
Engraved in Silje’s ethos is a commitment to global impact, and her work has been widely recognized earning her recognition as a Young Global Leader (World Economic Forum), a Top 20 Nordic Thinker (Nordic Business Forum), Female Entrepreneur of the Year (Ministry of Trade and Industry), Female Entrepreneurship Ambassador (European Union) and winner of the Rosing Creativity Prize - to name a few.

Educationally, Silje is a cross-disciplinary lifelong learner. She moved to Wales at 16 to attend United World College together with 400 teens from over 100 countries, which sparked her passion for cultures, diplomacy, and religions. Her undergraduate degree mixed World Religions, with public administration and social economics, and her Master's focused on strategy, business, and public-private partnerships. Silje has throughout her career continually pursued executive programs in leadership, innovation, and sustainability at world-leading institutions such as Harvard, Yale, Oxford, and Stanford.

Hajo van Beijma

Founder, Atilax, Netherlands

Founder at Atilax: Executive Search for Tech Companies and Scale-Ups. Hajo is an entrepreneur who operates as an international leader in the field of technology and human behavior. Hajo combines commercial focus with user centered design principles growing projects and organizations from basic ideas to internationally scaled-up successful enterprises. Hajo's passion and purpose is building creative teams around new tech driven ideas with the goal of influencing people’s lives. Expertise in: Mobile tech, mobile payments, loyalty programs, content & technology, scale-ups, behavior change, international expansion, emerging markets, growth strategy, multi stakeholder partnerships & headhunting. Skills: Business development, closing deals, headhunting, pioneering, change management, leading virtual teams, strategic thinking, team-building, risk-taking, networking. Hajo is a member of the World Economic Forum group of Young Global Leaders since 2014 and has been trained at Harvard, Oxford, Singularity University, Insead, THNK and the University of Amsterdam. Hajo is the co-author of many publications on the use of mobile technologies in emerging markets and received a UN leadership award from the deputy Secretary General in 2014 for his work.

Ganzorig Vanchig

Chairperson, Down Syndrome Association Mongolia, Mongolia

Ganzorig Vanchig is the chairman of Down Syndrome Association Mongolia and founder of the Board at Bat Solution Partners, a business consulting firm specializing in strategy and communications. Ganzorig earned his Master’s degree in Electronic Business Management from the International University of Japan and Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Notre Dame Australia. He has been awarded the title of Mongolian Certified Management Consultant from the Mongolian Management Consultants’ Institute. As part of his social responsibility, Ganzorig is the Founder and Chairman of Young Professionals’ Group – Mentorship program as well as founding board Member of the Special Olympics Committee Mongolia, and Academy member of the Global Teacher Prize. Furthermore, he is a columnist at the leading news portal sites as well as a host of ‘Syndicate Talk with Vinzo’ multi-format talk show. Since 2017, he has held the position of President of the CEO Club Mongolia, which is one of the most respected and reputable business advocacy associations representing top Mongolia based business groups and companies.

Andrés A. van der Horst

General Manager, Fiduciarias Reservas, Dominican Republic

Andrés van der Horst Álvarez is Secretary of State, Founder and Executive Director of the National Competitiveness Council of the Dominican Republic. He has successfully engaged the public and private sector to develop a comprehensive competitiveness strategy for the Dominican Republic, resulting in the first National Competitiveness Plan of the Dominican Republic, praised by international organizations and donors such as the Inter-American Developing Bank and European Union. Under his leadership the DR has committed to initiatives such as the Country-Brand Strategy, the Business Climate Initiative with the IDB, and cluster development, consistently increasing the number of clusters in the DR since 2004. He has presented more than 10 policy reforms on competitiveness, resulting in the country's recognition as one of the top 10 reformers according to Doing Business 2009. An author and former negotiator for the Dominican Republic, Central America and the United States Free Trade Agreement, he has been invited as professor, lecturer and special guest speaker at over 100 international events.

Karien van Gennip

Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Social Affairs and Employment (2022-2024), Netherlands

Minister Van Gennip serves as the Minister of Social Affairs and Employment of the Netherlands since January 2022; and also as Deputy Prime Minister since September 2023. Her portfolio includes labour market policy, purchasing power, working conditions, labour migration, civic integration, labour market discrimination, childcare and child benefit schemes, international policy and inspection.

Equitable opportunities and inclusion have been a common thread throughout her career. Until January 2022 she served as the CEO of VGZ, the second largest health care insurer in the Netherlands. She has been board member of the OranjeFonds & INSEAD. Chair of the supervisory board of children’s charity SOS Kinderdorpen Nederland. Vice-chair of the supervisory board of emergency development charity Cordaid & the International Chamber of Commerce.

Van Gennip has broad experience in politics and business. After studying applied physics at the Technical University of Delft, followed by an MBA at INSEAD, she worked at management consultancy McKinsey & Company in Amsterdam and San Francisco. In 2002 she joined the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets. She was appointed State Secretary of Economic Affairs and Minister for Foreign Trade in 2003. In 2006 she became a member of parliament for the Christian Democrats. Van Gennip joined ING in 2008 and became CEO ING France in 2015.

Van Gennip is a Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau in the Netherlands and a Knight of the Legion of Honour in France. In her spare time she is a field hockey coach and enjoys running. She is married and has four daughters.

Coen van Oostrom

Founder and Chief Executive Officer, EDGE, Netherlands

Founder and Chief Executive Officer, EDGE, one of Europe’s largest commercial property developers and a global leader in tech-enabled sustainable building design for ambitious customers worldwide. Since founding the firm in 1997, has led the growth of EDGE (formerly OVG Real Estate) to its current scope with more than a million square meters of development across the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Germany and United States. Recently introduced EDGE Next: a sensor and data-driven platform that can optimize any office building’s performance, making it smarter, healthier, and more sustainable.

Mabel van Oranje

Chair, Girls Not Brides, United Kingdom

Mabel van Oranje is a serial entrepreneur for social change working globally to advance equality, freedom and justice. During the last decade, she played a catalytic role in the global movement to end child marriage, including the creation and growth of three entities central to efforts to support girls’ futures: Girls Not Brides, the Girls First Fund, and VOW for Girls. Mabel is currently a board member of Fondation Chanel, the Sigrid Rausing Trust, and VOW for Girls (Chair). She is also an advisor to Apolitical Academy Global, Co-Impact’s Gender Fund, Global Witness, and The Elders. Mabel is a global champion of Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage, and a co-founder and chair emeritus of the European Council on Foreign Relations.