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.

Mariana Vasconcelos

Chief Executive Officer, Agrosmart, Brazil

Mariana Vasconcelos is the Chief Executive Officer of Agrosmart, a technology pioneer alumni of the World Economic Forum and serves as an advisory board member at Thought For Food, Fundação Espaço ECO (BASF) and Instituto Interamericano de Cooperação para a Agricultura (IICA). She is a climate activist and an expert in digital agriculture, considered one of the most influential people in Latin America by Bloomberg Linea. An advocate for gender equality, she was recognized by Globant with a "Women That Build" award in the game-changer category. With a business background and degrees from UNIFEI, LSE and Singularity University, she was also recognized as an Innovator under 35 by MIT Technology Review, Forbes 30 Under 30 Brasil and Fast Company world's 100 Most Creative in Business.

Dominic Wadongo

Chief Risk Officer, Smartcash Payment Service Bank, Nigeria

Dominic Wadongo is the Group Head of Operational Risk at Equity Group Holdings, overseeing operational risk management across Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. He is also in charge of driving the operational risk management in non-banking subsidiaries, which include Equity Investment Bank, Equity Insurance, Equity Group Foundation and Finserve. The scope encompasses driving the integrated operational risk management framework covering operational risk, IT and cyber risk, business continuity management, fraud risk, data privacy and protection, and security. Previously, Wadongo was Acting Chief Risk Officer and Head of Enterprise Risk at the National Bank of Kenya, where he ensured an effective risk management framework covering key risk areas in the company. Before joining National Bank of Kenya, Dominic started his career at Standard Chartered Bank of Kenya (SCBK) in 2007 where he worked for six years. He was the Senior Operational Risk Officer, in Global Shared Services Centre Africa. He graduated from the University of Nairobi with an MBA in 2015. He also has a BSc in Wildlife Management from Moi University. Wadongo is currently pursuing professional certifications in operational risk management (PRMIA) and Certified Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC). He is also a member of the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP).

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.

Yuito Yamada

Partner, McKinsey & Company, Japan

Yuito Yamada is a Partner at McKinsey & Company, serving as Asia’s co-leader and Japan’s leader for McKinsey Sustainability, the firm’s global client service platform to help all industry sectors achieve net zero emissions by 2050. In this role, his influence and activities span topics as broad as sustainability transformation, portfolio decarbonization, and green business globalization, particularly in support of the Global Energy & Materials practice (covering players in the power, chemicals, materials, and agriculture sectors), the Financial & Banking practice (serving the world’s largest financial institutions on sustainability topics) and the Public Sector practice. After an adolescence that spanned Singapore, New York, and London, Yuito returned to Japan to pursue a bachelor’s degree in economics from Keio University. He has also a Masters degree from the University of Cambridge in Sustainability Leadership from CISL (Cambridge Institute of Sustainability Leadership).

Luhui Yan

Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Carbonstop, People's Republic of China

Luhui Yan, Founder and CEO of Carbonstop, Master of Science in Computer Science at Oxford University, Expert Reviewer of the UNIPCC, Representative of China at UNFCCC Climate Change Conference for eight consecutive years, Deputy Secretary General of China Low Carbon Economic Committee. As China’s first carbon management software and consulting service provider, Carbonstop was founded in March 2011 by Luhui Yan. In the past ten years, leading Carbonstop, Mr. Yan has provided carbon management software and consulting solutions for over 1,000 enterprises and organizations, including 100 Fortune global 500 companies and top global organizations, such as Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, JD, KFC, Zara, Chanel, SKP, Vanke, Starbucks, ByteDance, Meituan, Hillhouse, China National Offshore Oil Corporation, China Coal, etc. In the Internet field, Luhui Yan led the project “Green Packaging and Logistics” and “Ant Forest” for Alibaba.

Yeoh Keong Hann

Executive Director, YTL Power International Berhad, Malaysia

Yeoh Keong Hann is a third-generation Malaysian business leader passionate about the transformative power of combining technology and entrepreneurial spirit, as well as the influence and values of family businesses in building a more inclusive and sustainably-focused society. He is Executive Director of YTL Power International Berhad, one of South-East Asia's largest infrastructure and energy companies, leading the group's operation and setting the vision of its new business and digital venture arms. He led the team that set up Geneco, Singapore's second-largest provider of retail electricity. Yeoh is also a General Partner of the SEA Frontier Fund where he invests in and mentors the next generation of game-changing startups in South-East Asia. He is a member of the Board of Wessex Water in the United Kingdom and of YTL PowerSeraya in Singapore. Yeoh is a graduate of the University of Oxford.

Yousef Yousef

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

Yousef Yousef, with two decades at LG Sonic, has significantly impacted the green technology sector by advancing water quality systems and driving the company's global expansion to over 50 countries. His strategic vision has propelled LG Sonic from a nascent startup to an industry benchmark, earning worldwide recognition for environmental excellence.

As a leader, Yousef also spearheads a green-tech scale-up initiative with 500+ members, dedicated to merging the innovative energies of green startups with the robust resources of established companies. This role highlights his belief in collaborative, sustainable growth as a catalyst for environmental innovation.

Yousef's expertise extends to strategic roles, including his significant position in the board of the the European Innovation Council, a 10 billion euro EU fund. In this capacity, he influences the confluence of technology and eco-sustainability, shaping policy and guiding the tech industry's future. This role allows him to play a pivotal part in deploying substantial resources towards fostering breakthrough technologies and innovative solutions across Europe.

Boju Zhang

Secretary General, Friends of Nature, People's Republic of China

Boju Zhang is secretary general of Ginkgo Foundation, who invests in young social entrepreneurs in China, helping them achieve great personal and career breakthroughs.
He is also a board member and Former CEO of Friends of Nature (FON) , the first green NGO in China, work to ensure the rights of all people to clean air, clean water and safe food. He develops and carries out strategies for FON programs on Environmental Public Interest Litigation, Policy Advocacy, Information Disclosure and Public Participation.

In recent 8 years, Boju and FON Team have filed 50 environmental public interest lawsuits, to protect biodiversity and human health, and promote renewable energy and combat climate change. Among them, the public interest litigation case of protecting Green Peacock was elected as the top 10 biodiversity protection cases in the world at the world environmental justice conference in 2021.

In recent years, Boju has found seven non-profit organizations and social enterprises in China, such as China Zero Waste Alliance which is the nationwide action network on solid waste management, and Gaia Nature School which is the leading social enterprise on environmental education.

Boju is the board member of the Environmental Public Relations and Strategic Communications Institute of China Environment Protection Ministry. He was the youth advisor for United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP).

Boju graduated from Beijing Jiaotong University and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He won the Ray Dalio Scholarship and pursued Executive Leaders in Philanthropy program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Zheng Jinxing

Division Head, Professor, Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, People's Republic of China

Zheng Jinxing is a professor and Head of Department at Institute of Plasma Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, where he has devised better ways to model the use of powerful superconducting magnets for controlling plasma at extreme temperatures, which is a major advance for fusion-based energy. He has presided over China’s National Key R&D Programme, the National Natural Science Foundation of China and other projects. He involves in the research work of China Fusion Engineering Test Reactor (CFETR) project, which is the world’s largest fusion experiment project-International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), The Facility for Laboratory Reconnection Experiments (FLARE) in USA and Nuclotron-based Ion Collider Facility (NICA) in Russia and so on. He also served as Vice-Chairman of the Tooling Branch of the Youth Innovation Promotion Association of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Member of the Electrical Theory and New Technology Committee of the Chinese Society of Electrical Engineering, and The Transnational Committee (TNC) Member of IEEE Nuclear and Plasma Science Society. Zheng has won various awards in technology innovation (such as MIT TR35 Global 2021) and has published more than 60 SCI/EI papers and authorized more than 30 invention patents.

Aiken Zou Shasha

Founder and Chief Executive Officer, AHA Entertainment (Shanghai) Co., Ltd, People's Republic of China

Aiken Zou Shasha, the founder and current CEO of AHA Entertainment, is a renowned producer in the Chinese animation industry. She has successfully produced the highly acclaimed Netflix original animated series "Scissor Seven". Additionally, she serves as the Director of China Audiovisual and Digital Publishing Association and has been recognized as a Young Innovative Talent by the National Radio and Television Network Audiovisual Industry. Aiken also holds the position of industry mentor for Animation Major at Communication University of China's Animation and Digital Art School. Furthermore, she is a member of Beijing Youth Federation, serving as Deputy Secretary-General in their Press, Publication, and New Media sector Working Committee. In addition to her roles within these organizations, Aiken also holds the position of Vice President at Shanghai Network Audiovisual Industry Association.

In April 2022, Aiken was honored with being selected as a "Young Global Leader" by the World Economic Forum. Later in November that same year, she received further recognition from Boao Youth Development Conference where she was awarded with the honorary title of "2022 Boao Young Leaders and Young Creators".

As a talented producer dedicated to her craft, Aiken has made “Scissor Seven” into China's first-ever Netflix original animated work. The show has been dubbed in multiple languages including Chinese, English, Spanish French,and Japanese while offering subtitles in 29 different languages. It has gained immense popularity worldwide with viewership spanning across 190 countries and regions. Through her content creation efforts on a global scale, Aiken aims to convey stories centered around love and inclusion while breaking down barriers, misunderstandings, and prejudices among young people worldwide.