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.

Nicolas Wertheimer

Co-Founder and Chief Sustainability Officer, Waterplan, Uruguay

Nicolás Wertheimer, a medical doctor and social water entrepreneur for almost a decade, is Founder of Proyecto Agua Segura, a Latin American consulting firm that provides access to safe water and hygiene training to over 300,000 people. Wertheimer has delivered 3,260 water projects in collaboration with Fortune 500 companies. As a Global Shaper of the World Economic Forum and member of the Youth Congress for Sustainable Americas, he has been recognized as a Forbes 30 Under 30 and a finalist for the Chivas Venture. Currently, he is Co-Founder of Waterplan, a climate platform that assists multinational companies in measuring, responding, reporting and monitoring climate water risk. Waterplan combines operational data and satellite imagery to assess water risk and offers tailored mitigation and adaptation solutions.

Gregorio Werthein

Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, Calwaro Capital, Argentina

Gregorio Werthein is CEO and Chairman of Calwaro Capital. Before he was Co-Chief Executive Officer Replay Acquisition Corp. He also served as a board member and an executive committee member of Transportadora de Gas del Sur SA (NYSE: TGS) from 2016 to 2020. Previously, he served as an Executive Managing Director of Werthein Group (2012 to 2019), and also as a board member of GNNW S.A., Experta ART and Cachay S.A. Mr. Gregorio Werthein received an undergraduate degree in Economics from the University of Buenos Aires in 2008, an MBA from Columbia Business School in 2011 and participated in the Program for Leadership Development at Harvard Business School in 2017. In addition, he is a former Olympic athlete, former president of the Argentine Equestrian Federation and currently board member of the Argentine Olympic Committee.

Christian Wessels

President and Co-Founder, Daystar Power Group, Nigeria

Founder and CEO of Sunray Ventures, which focuses as an Africa/Middle East Venture Builder on high-impact companies. Sunray currently scales up companies in renewable energy (Daystar Power), green logistics (Bisedge) and industrial services (Nordic Degrees). Promoter of sustainable economic growth in Africa through cleantech/circular economy initiatives. Endeavor Entrepreneur. Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum (class 2012).
MSc in Business Administration, University of Cologne. 20 years consulting and industry experience with a focus on Africa.

Raylene Whitford

Director, Canative Energy, Canada

Raylene Whitford is a Cree-Métis iskewew (woman) from Treaty 6 territory in Canada. The first in her family to graduate from university, Whitford began her career as a chartered accountant with KPMG in London. She has held leadership roles in various organizations around the world, including in a company listed on the London Stock Exchange, delivering a $40 billion capital efficiency project for an integrated energy company in the Middle East, and working with Indigenous businesses in Ecuador. In 2019, Whitford returned to Canada specifically to advance Indigenous participation in the energy transition. She is a member of the Canadian Sustainability Standards Board and Chairman of TC Energy's Indigenous Advisory Council. She is also Founder of INDIGI-X, a global exchange connecting Indigenous leaders in Canada, Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.

Silvia Wiesner

Consultant, Leadership Advisory, Egon Zehnder, Germany

Silvia Wiesner is active in Egon Zehnder’s Consumer Practice, leveraging her many years of marketing, sales, and general management experience in the consumer goods industry across various European markets to develop bold ideas and identify ideal solutions for clients. She excels at shaping visions and inspiring others, aided by her multicultural background and command of several languages. Silvia is also passionate about driving diversity, equity and inclusion on executive and board teams. Before joining Egon Zehnder, Silvia spent 17 years in marketing, sales, and general management roles at Unilever, most recently in Brussels as the Managing Director for Belgium and Luxembourg. Prior to that she was based in Hamburg where she held the position of General Manager and Vice President for Marketing in the food category in German-speaking countries.
Silvia earned a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Graz in Austria while spending an exchange year in the USA. She furthered her education with courses at Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge, INSEAD, and the Corporate Governance Institute. Outside work, Silvia drives gender equity in decision-making roles in Europe as a member of the executive committee of European Women on Boards and has been identified by BeyondGenderAgenda as “one of the top 100 women for diversity” in Germany and selected as a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum. She also belongs to the LEAD Europe network, the Club of European Female Entrepreneurs, and the Corporate Governance Institute in addition to mentoring for the EMEA Fellowship Program of the Marketing Academy and nushu Female Business and providing strategic advice to IMAGINE (cofounded by Paul Polman).

Ted Wiley

Co-Founder and President, Form Energy Inc, USA

Ted Wiley is the Co-founder and President of Form Energy (formerly Baseload Renewables), a startup company developing ultra-low cost, long duration energy storage to enable a 100% renewable energy future. Previously, Ted was president and of McDonough Innovation, a consulting and product development company focused on helping companies implement cradle to cradle and circular economy principles developed by William McDonough. Prior to McDonough Innovation Ted was a co-founder of and head of product at Aquion Energy, a start-up that manufactures sustainable, cost-effective batteries for stationary energy storage applications. Prior to Aquion, Wiley was a Senior Associate at Hudson Clean Energy Partners where he worked on biofuels and solar investments. Before Hudson, he served as a captain in the US Army. As a platoon leader for the 1-23 Infantry Battalion, he spent a year in Iraq leading combat missions and helping to organize the country's first free elections. Wiley earned a BSc in Physics at Seattle University and an MBA from Harvard Business School with concentrations in clean technology entrepreneurship.

will.i.am

Founder and President, i.am Angel Foundation, USA

Creative innovator, Futurist, entertainer, producer, technology investor, and Founder & CEO, FYI.AI. Member: World Economic Forum Fourth Industrial Revolution Advisory Committee. Honorary Fellow, Institutions of Engineering and Technology. Recipient: James C. Morgan Global Humanitarian Award (2023), TIME 100 IMPACT Award (2022), seven Grammy Awards; Emmy; CLIO; World Economic Forum Crystal Award (2016).

As an advocate for STEAM education, started i.am Angel Foundation, which uses project-based learning modules to deliver STEAM education for at-risk youth via dedicated STEM Academy preparatory schools, after-school tutoring and enrichment activities within the US. At-risk students participate in project-based learning modules for robotics, coding, app development, geographic information system mapping, and study Mandarin Chinese. The i.am Angel Foundation recently teamed with the Los Angeles Unified School District, America's second-largest state-run public school system to offer robotics clubs as an official after-school activity, with capacity to serve 12,000+students. Keeping child safety and protection at the forefront in the US as pertains to school and community shootings that urgently require gun safety law reform, Co-Executive Producer, "Parkland Rising", a documentary film about the students and families that survived a mass school shooting and their journey as advocates for US gun safety reform. Interests: promoting the health and planetary benefits of a plant-based (Vegan) diet; alternative energy-powered cars.

Adebola Williams

Co-Founder, RED for Africa, Nigeria

Adebola WILLIAMS is a Global strategist and communication expert popularly known for his exploits in Political Consulting. He has been recognised by Forbes and CNN as the man who galvanised youth voting blocs across Africa to elect a trifecta of presidents with two currently in office; Ghanas President Nana Akuffo Ado and Senegals President MackySall

Passionate about the media , youth and Africas prosperity through story telling Adebola is founder and Chairman of AW Network, an investment firm focused on Media, Film and Technology changing Africas narrative with movie, music, product at a time.

He is founder of leading Media Group RED, Founder of StateCraft Inc, The Future Awards Africa, amongst other thriving brands.

He wrote his second book African Power Girls (a gift to his God daughters ) as an ally for gender equity and balance.

Kiah Williams

Co-Founder and Managing Director, Supporting Initiatives to Redistribute Unused Medicine - SIRUM, USA

Kiah Williams is Co-Founder and Managing Director of SIRUM, a non-profit social enterprise that drives the future of healthcare by connecting people with surplus medications. Prior to SIRUM, Williams helped create the Alliance Healthcare Initiative, a public-private partnership spearheaded by the American Heart Association and Clinton Foundation that engaged Fortune 500 companies to expand healthcare benefits for 2 million children. Her work at SIRUM has been recognized by Forbes 30-Under-30 and Marie Claire's America's 50 Most Influential Women. She earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from Stanford University.

Lisa Witter

Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Apolitical, Germany

Lisa Witter is a serial political and policy entrepreneur. She’s the co-founder of Apolitical, a global peer-to-peer learning platform, used by 180k+ public servants in 170 countries and was named one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies in the World. She's the CEO of the Apolitical Foundation whose mission is to support the next generation of trusted and transformation politicians. They have recently released Better Leaders, Better Democracies: Mapping the Organizations Shaping 21st Century Politicians. She’s a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, co-chairs the Forum’s Council on Agile Governance. She is a former public servant with deep experience in gender and behavioral science and has founded numerous political leadership incubators over the last 25 years. She was awarded the 2020 Creative Bureaucracy Award and named a BMW Foundation Futurity Fellow in 2022. Lisa co-authored, with Lisa Chen, The She Spot: Why Women are the Market for Changing the World and How to Reach Them. She loves wearing dresses, her childhood nickname was ‘Animal’ from the sports fields, and dreams of being a stand-up comedian (but might not be funny enough).

Brian A. Wong

Chairman, RADII Media, Hong Kong SAR, China

BA, Swarthmore College; MA Cert, Johns Hopkins (SAIS)-Nanjing U Center; MBA, Wharton School. Managing Director, Seacliff Partners; Founder/Chairman, RADII Media; Author, The Tao of Alibaba. Formerly: Vice President, Global Initiatives, Alibaba Group; Special Assistant to Chairman for Int'l Affairs; Vice President, Global Sales, Alibaba Group; Director, McGraw-Hill Companies; Special Assistant to San Francisco Mayor. WEF Young Global Leader; China Fellow, Aspen Institute; Former Member, Wharton School Executive Alumni Board, Member, Swarthmore College Board of Managers; Vice Chair, 1990 Institute; Member, Committee of 100 Board.

Gareth Wong

Head, Group Strategy and Projects; Head, Indonesia Urban, Sembcorp Industries Ltd, Singapore

Gareth is currently Head, Group Strategy & Projects in SembCorp Industries Pte Ltd. Seated in the office of the Group President & CEO, Gareth is responsible for streamlining the Group’s strategic plans and key initiatives as a leading energy and urban solutions provider. He is also concurrently the Head of the Group's industrial & urban developments portfolio in Indonesia.

Headquartered in Singapore, Sembcorp is a Temasek Portfolio Company and a global expert in energy transition and sustainable development. Sembcorp has a balanced energy portfolio of ~20.5GW, with 13GW of renewable capacity comprising solar, wind and battery energy storage systems. The company also has a proven track record of transforming raw land into sustainable urban developments, with a project portfolio spanning over 14,000 hectares across Asia.

Prior to joining SembCorp, Gareth was the Founding CEO of Mitbana Pte Ltd, a joint-venture fund management company of Mitsubishi Corporation and Surbana Jurong.

Gareth is a member of the WEF’s Forum of Young Global Leaders. He also sits on the Executive Committee of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) in Singapore and is a member of the Urban Land Authority’s (URA) International Panel of Experts.

Gareth holds a BSc. in Economics (First Class Hons, Dean’s List) from University College London, and a MSc. in Political Science from Columbia University in the City of New York