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.

Ricardo Weder

Founder and Chief Executive Officer, JUSTO, INC., Mexico

Ricardo Weder is an entrepreneur and promotor of the technological ecosystem in Mexico and Latin America.
He is the Founder and CEO of Jüsto, a company that seeks to transform the Retail and Consumer Industry in LATAM through technology and fair practices; with operations in Brazil, Peru and more than 300M USD received in investment.
Previously, he was the COO and Global President of Cabify. There, he was a key player in its growth and expansion strategy, from having a small operation to becoming a tech Unicorn valued at 1.4B USD with presence throughout Latin America, in more than 120 cities.
He is an independent Board Member of Principal Financial Group in Mexico; part of the investment committee of Nazca, the leading Venture Capital in Mexico; a member of the advisory board of Engen and Tip, as well as of various technology startups. He is also an Angel Investor in more than 30 startups and one of the first investors in 5 unicorns.
In 2021 he was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and was previously a member of its expert network and a founding member of its Global Vanguards Community. In 2020 he was selected as an Endeavor Entrepreneur and in 2021 recognized as a member of its Outliers community.
In his professional career, he has collaborated with companies in the Financial Sector such as HSBC, J.P. Morgan and PWC.
Born in Mexico, he is an Industrial Engineer from the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, and has an MBA from the University of Mannheim, Germany, with a stay at the CUHK University of Hong Kong. In addition, he is certified by Endeavor's Innovation and Growth program at Stanford University

Beatrice Weder di Mauro

President, Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), United Kingdom

President, CEPR, the leading European network of economists; Distinguished Fellow, Emerging Markets Institute, INSEAD; Professor of International Economics, Graduate Institute in Geneva (from Jan. 2019). Has held the Chair for International Macroeconomics at the University of Mainz in Germany and visiting positions at Harvard University, the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations University in Tokyo and INSEAD in Singapore. Was a member of the German Council of Economic Experts for eight years and has provided high-level policy advice to European governments, the European Commission, international organizations and central banks. Has served as non-executive director on the boards of leading companies in banking, development finance, pharmaceuticals, technology and insurance globally. Member of the Board: Bombardier, Bosch and UBS.

Wei Ying

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

Prior to Déjà Vu, Ying Wei was the head of marketing at Xianyu, China's largest C2C secondhand platform at Alibaba (NYSE: BABA), and Zhihu (Nasdaq: ZH), China's largest social network platform dedicated to questioning and answering. With rich experience in marketing practices, she has always been a super lover of secondhand goods. Ying Wei deeply believes in the power of such scalable and profitable second-hand businesses, hoping to realize a higher utilization rate of social resources through a "business-for-good" way. Recycling offers people a new way to purchase good-quality products at lower prices instead of cheap fake ones. Meanwhile, it makes a significant environmental impact in protecting our earth, especially since the fashion industry is the 2nd largest polluter in the world. In the past five years, the books and clothes recycled by Déjà Vu have achieved over 85,000 tons of carbon reduction. In the future, Déjà Vu seeks to expand its recycling categories, from books and clothes to all consumer goods, offering a new life for each pre-loved item.

Wen Bo

Member, Scientific Committee, Air and Water Conservation Fund, National Geographic Society, People's Republic of China

Rainforest Foundation Norway, China Advisor, China Country Director, CDP, 2021 and 2019, Program Director, Air and Water Conservation Fund, National Geographic Society, 2012-2016, Senior Fellow of Pacific Environment , China Coordinator, Global Greengrants Fund(2001-2011). He graduated from the China School of Journalism in Beijing and Zhongnan University in Changsha, Hunan province, and earned his Master's degree in International Relations at KDI School of International Policy and Management in Seoul, South Korea. He attended a United Nations University certificate course on Climate, Energy and Food Security in 2009. Asia Society Asia 21 Fellow; PEW Fellow in Marine Conservation.

Christian Wenk

Senior Physician, Emergency Ward, Clinic St Anna, Switzerland

Despite a life-threatening bicycle accident in 2000 that left him as a paraplegic, Christian Wenk went on to complete his medical studies and became a Senior Physician in the Emergency Ward of Clinic St Anna in Switzerland, specializing in internal and emergency medicine. He is also an accomplished triathlete and is the winner of Paralympic gold medals as the Swiss handcycling head coach. In addition, Wenk is a musician who plays the piano thanks to a sophisticated pedals system. He has recorded a number of CDs and performs regularly for charity. He also gives inspiration talks throughout Switzerland, acting as an ambassador for inclusion and dignity.

Adam Werbach

Head of Digital and Unscripted, Kapital Entertainment, USA

Adam Werbach is a media sustainability leader working at the intersection of technology, business and politics. He recently joined Kapital Entertainment as head of Digital and Unscripted Television and is creating shows across major networks and streamers. Previously, he developed the sustainable shopping customer experience as the Global Lead for Sustainable Shopping at Amazon.com. After a YGL journey, he founded Trove (formerly Yerdle), the re-commerce company that manages resale for Patagonia, Nordstrom's, Eileen Fisher, Arc'Teryx, and REI. He previously founded Act Now, which was acquired by Saatchi & Saatchi and the Publicis Groupe, after he helped Walmart launch its sustainability efforts. At age 23, Werbach was elected President of the Sierra Club, the oldest and largest grassroots environmental organization in the US, after helping pass the legislation to create Death Valley and Joshua Tree National Parks in California. He spent almost ten years producing an indie-rock documentary film entitled "This is Noise Pop," which was named one of the top five music documentaries of the year by Rolling Stone Magazine, even though it was only shown once. Werbach lives between San Francisco and Bolinas, California with his wife Lyn and their three kids, Mila, Pearl and Simon.

Nicolas Wertheimer

Co-Founder and Chief Sustainability Officer, Waterplan, Uruguay

Co-Founder @Waterplan first SaaS Climate water risk platform accelerating the transition to a water-secure world.

+10 years in the water sector. Started as the founder @ProyectoAguaSegura, a Certified B Corporation that grants vulnerable communities access to safe drinking water. As a social startup, we have reached more than 200k people, and implemented over 3260 water projects in Latin America, with successful business indicators, together with multinational Fortune 500 companies as clients for more than six years.

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.