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.
Birgit Skarstein
Birgit Skarstein is a Paralympic Champion, World Champion and world record holder in rowing, as well as an advocate for the value of an inclusive society and opportunities for people with disabilities. Skarstein’s background comes from political science, and her public service includes four years on the Committee of Finance in Oslo City Council and five years on the Norwegian Advisory Board of Biotechnology.
Skarstein is a six-time World Champion and holds 12 World Championship medals in rowing and Nordic skiing. She has competed in six Paralympic Games and was the Norwegian flag bearer in 2018. She is an elected member of the Athletes Commission for the International Paralympic Committee.
She is Co-Founder of the WE foundation, which promotes disability inclusion in sports, work life and social spheres. Skarstein also holds seats on several boards, and figures on TV, radio, podcasts and TEDx.
Skarstein currently chairs the Future Advisory Board of Reitan Retail, guiding responsible retail practices, lately working on sustainability.
Jens Martin Skibsted
1994, graduate, ESEC Film School, Paris; 1998, degree in Philosophy, Copenhagen University; 2000, degree in Project Management, University of California, Berkeley; 2011, degree in Cross Media Communication, Copenhagen University. Founder/Partner, Skibsted ID, KiBiSi, Manyone, design consultancies; Founder Ogojiii, African design innovation media. Founder, Biomega, bicycle and urban mobility company. Works collected by Cnap, MoMA, Designmuseum Danmark and SFMoMA; Former member of the Board: Danish Design Coucil (Chair), Design2innovate (Vice-Chair); Danish Design Center; Member of the board: Danfoss Foundation. Co-Author, Expand: Stretching the Future by Design, Instant Icon, Tilbage til Virkeligheden (Back To Reality). Author, blog column in Fast Company, Huffington Post, Core77. Recipient of awards: Wallpaper Design Award; I.D. Consumer Design; Red Dot Award, IF, Good Design Award; European 40 under 40. Member, World Economic Forum Global Future Council on Urban Mobility Transitions."
David Skilling
Dr David Skilling is the founding Director of Landfall Strategy Group, an economic and policy advisory firm based in the Netherlands and Singapore. David advises governments, companies, and financial institutions in Asia, the Middle East, and Europe on the impact of global macro, globalisation, and geopolitics, from a small advanced economy perspective. David writes regularly on global economic and political issues, including in a column in Singapore's Straits Times as well as in the Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, Project Syndicate, and Nikkei Asian Review. David has recently served as a Senior Advisor to the McKinsey Centre for Government; as Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Foreign Affairs & Trade in New Zealand; and as a Fellow at Singapore’s Civil Service College. Previously, David was an Associate Principal with McKinsey & Company in Singapore, as well as being a Senior Fellow with the McKinsey Global Institute. Prior to joining McKinsey at the start of 2009, David was the founding Chief Executive of the New Zealand Institute, a privately funded, non-partisan think-tank. Until 2003, he was a Principal Advisor at the New Zealand Treasury, where he worked primarily on economic growth issues. David has a PhD in Public Policy and a Master's in Public Policy from Harvard University, as well as a Master's of Commerce (Hons) in Economics from the University of Auckland.
Sanaa Souidi
Appointed Managing Director, Souidi is responsible for a team of 50 risk experts across two continents. As an excellent strategic thinker, she has positively influenced many of SwissRe's Risk Management Leadership Team's complex topics. She is also Ambassador for the work of the Fondation Marocaine de l'Etudiant (FME).
Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah
Chief Executive of New Economics Foundation and author of "Power to the People" (Hachette, 2024). Formerly CEO of Oxfam Great Britain; Secretary General, CIVICUS; Director, Royal Commonwealth Society; Interim Director, Commonwealth Foundation and Deputy Director, Institute for Public Policy Research (UK). Previously a member of UN High Level Panel on Humanitarian Financing, High Level Panel on Digital Cooperation and Lead Group of Scaling Up Nutrition. Trustee of Guy's and St Thomas' Foundation and The Conduit Foundation, and previously of Baring Foundation, Comic Relief and Ockenden International. Degrees, University of Sydney and Oxford University, Rhodes Scholar. Twitter @dhnnjyn
Mirjam Staub-Bisang
Dr. Mirjam Staub-Bisang is Head of BlackRock Switzerland, member of the EMEA Executive Committee and Senior Advisor to BlackRock Sustainable Investing. She currently serves as a non-executive director of the global shoe retailer Bata as well as the leading global business school INSEAD.
Prior to BlackRock, Mirjam Staub-Bisang co-founded and was formerly Managing Partner of Independent Capital Group AG an investment management firm focusing on sustainable investing based in Zurich. She served on the investment committees of pension funds and endowments and on the board of several several public and private companies, among which as chair of Profond Sammelstiftung, one of Switzerland’s leading multi-employer pension plans. Prior to these roles she held senior positions in asset management and private equity at Commerzbank and Swiss Life, Quadrant and was an investment banker at Merrill Lynch.
Mirjam Staub-Bisang holds a PhD in Law from the University of Zurich and an MBA from INSEAD. She authored the standard work “Sustainable Investing for Institutional Investors: Risks, Regulations, Strategies" (Wiley 2012) and co-authored the second edition of "Infrastructure as an Asset Class" (Wiley 2016). In 2009 she was elected a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum.
Mark Stoffels
Mark Stoffels is a senior global health tech executive. As Global Business Unit Leader and Senior Vice-President of Royal Philips’ Image Guided Therapy Systems, he is highly driven to improve global access to healthcare. Other roles at Royal Philips include Managing Director and Senior Vice-President Connected Care North America, Vice-President and General of Latin America, Country Manager Mexico, General Manager Health Systems Mexico and Strategic Marketing Director for Latin America. Stoffels is the author of "3 Billion Heart Beats", a novel on Buddhism which principles he works tirelessly to implement in his leadership style.
Gunhild Anker Stordalen
MD and PhD in Pathology/Orthopedic Surgery, University of Oslo. Founder and Chair, Stordalen Foundation. Founder & Executive Chair, EAT Foundation. Gunhild sits on several boards and advises on councils including the United Nation’s Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement Lead Group, the World Economic Forum (WEF) Stewardship Board on Food Systems, REQ Capital Advisory Board, the UNICEF’s Advisory Group, member of Africa Europe Women Leaders Network, and the international advisory board of the SRC. In addition, Gunhild is an ambassador for Friends of Ocean action, a member of the High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy (HLP) for the Blue Economy, A HELENA member, and a part of the International Leadership Committee for a Net Zero NHS.
In 2020, Gunhild was appointed to a a leading role at the UN Food Systems Summit 2021. She is the Chair of the Summit’s Action Track 2: Shifting to Healthy and Sustainable Consumption Patterns, with a wide mandate to build a broad, multistakeholder coalition around this key challenge and opportunity, and leveraging the EAT platform to the full.
Alexander Stubb
President of the Republic of Finland 2024-ongoing. PhD in International Politics, London School of Economics. Formerly: 2004-08, Member of the European Parliament; 2008-11, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland; 2008-14, Minister of Foreign Affairs; 2014-15, Prime Minister of Finland; 2015-16, Minister of Finance; Adviser to the President of the European Commission; Visiting Professor, College of Europe, Bruges; Counsellor and Researcher, Permanent Representation of Finland to the European Union; Researcher, Academy of Finland and Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Since March 2011, Member of the Finnish Parliament. Since June 2011, Minister for European Affairs and Foreign Trade of Finland. Since August 2017, Vice-President of the European Investment Bank. Has participated in several EU intergovernmental conferences as Member of the Finnish government's delegation. Has published 11 books and numerous academic articles on the European Union; regular columnist for several papers.
Andrea Stürmer
Andrea Stürmer is a senior executive at Zurich Insurance Group and serves as Chief Executive Officer of Zürich Versicherungs-Aktiengesellschaft in Vienna, Austria. She joined Zurich in 2007 and has since served as Chief Operating Officer for Business Insurance at the subsidiary Farmers Insurance Group and as the Strategic Assistant to the Zurich Group's Chief Executive Officer. She previously held various positions as finance and M&A professional at Zurich Insurance Group, Allianz and JPMorgan. Stürmer is Member of the Board of Zurich Reinsurance Company as well as of the Austrian Insurance Association. Stürmer is a sought-after public speaker on a wide range of topics including sustainability in the financial service sector, innovation and leadership. Stürmer holds a Master's degree from the London School of Economics as well as the Harvard Kennedy School. In 2012 she was nominated to the Forum of Young Global Leaders of the World Economic Forum.
Ludovic Subran
Ludovic Subran leads economic research at the largest insurer and investor in Europe. He has helped design public policies in over 30 countries and influences several organizations as a board member.
Paweł Surówka
CFA Charterholder, AMP from Harvard Business School, MA from Ecoles des Hautes des Sciences Sociales and Paris I Sorbonne, Undergraduate from LMU and HfPh Munich, Young Global Leader, Alumnus of the Robert Schumann Foundation for European Integration.
2006-2012 Financial Advisor with Merrill Lynch Bank of America, 2012-2014 Management Board Member, Head of Automotive at Boryszew SA, 2014-2016 Head of Investment and Corporate Banking Germany at PKO Bank Polski, opened first Polish Corporate Banking presence abroad
From 2016 to 2020 associated with PZU SA, Poland‘s biggest Financial Institution - served first as Chief Investment Officer, later CEO Life, since 2017 Group CEO of PZU Group. During that time also Chairman of the Board of Pekao SA Bank.
Since January 2022 CEO of Eurocash SA, one of Poland‘s biggest private corporations and one of the biggest Retail companies in CEE. Chairman of the Board of Frisco SA , Poland‘s biggest e-grocery company.
International and multicultural leader passionate about digital transformation across different sectors.