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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.

Matthew Katz

Global Head, Data Science, Blackstone Group, USA

Matthew Katz is a Senior Managing Director and the Global Head of Data Science for Blackstone. He leads Blackstone’s team of data scientists and in this capacity partners with management teams and operators to accelerate growth across Blackstone’s portfolio companies by leveraging data science. He and his team additionally work closely with Blackstone’s investment teams to provide a differentiated viewpoint through advanced analytics during the investment process.
Before joining Blackstone in 2015, Mr. Katz was a Vice President at Point72 Asset Management where he focused on data science and investing. He began his career at Credit Suisse.
Mr. Katz graduated with honors from Princeton University. He serves on the advisory board of Virginia Tech’s Academy of Data Science and is on the Blackstone Charitable Foundation Leadership Council.

Adam Lou

Chief Executive Officer, Lollipop Technology (Hangzhou) Co., Ltd, People's Republic of China

Adam Lou is the founder and CEO of Lollitech. Launched in 2015 with the mission improve women’s health worldwide, Lollitech has become one of China’s fastest-growing healthcare Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT) companies. The company has seen rapid growth in recent years, with over 20 million women users worldwide, sales over 3 million hardware devices per year. Prior to starting Lollitech, Lou has served in various roles in medical sales and marketing, including at the oncology divisions at Eli Lilly and Merck. He became the Top Sales of his business unit in 2011 and 2012, was named National Top Sales in 2012, and a two-time winner of the company’s CEO Award. He has a bachelor’s degree in molecular biology from Zhejiang University. January 2015, he founded Lollitech and currently serves as the Founder and CEO.

Anne-Laure Malauzat

Partner; Head, Europe, Middle East and Africa Social Impact Practice, Bain & Company, USA

Anne-Laure Malauzat is a Partner with Bain & Company in the Middle East. Based in Dubai, she is the firm’s regional Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) officer, and leads Bain’s Social Impact efforts in EMEA. Anne joined the firm in 2011 and, in 2020, became the youngest female Bain partner globally. Anne advises governments, philanthropists, and international organizations (such as UNHCR and Endeavor), focusing on education, economic development, and innovation. She has led the launch of multiple successful youth employment programmes in 5 MENA countries, and the design of the national Early Childhood Development strategy for a GCC country. She also works with private sector leaders in the retail space, supporting them in their growth, digitalization, and customer strategies. In addition, for the last decade she has served as mentor to start-ups and is a frequent speaker on topics related to gender equity, social impact, human capital development, retail, and innovation.

Anne holds an MA from Georgetown University and a dual Bachelor from Mount Holyoke College. She is an inducted member of the Phi Beta Kappa society, and a member of Georgetown’s MENA Board of Advisors.

Nasreen Ali Mohamed

Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Afrikapu Ltd, Kenya

Nasreen is a social tech-preneur passionate about technology and inclusion of low income households especially women and girls. She founded Afrikapu to give disadvantaged women and youth a voice through business growth and help them be ambassadors of advocacy issues affecting their communities.

Her zeal to alleviate poverty and give marginalized women a getaway to life-changing opportunities, led Nasreen to start Afrikapu to introduce real, tangible impact into the Global Handicraft industry and uplift the lives of underrepresented women and girls throughout Africa’s conservancies and informal sectors, a sector that makes up to 80% of Africa’s economy.

With presence in Kenya and United Kingdom, Afrikapu offers artisans a holistic integrated approach by providing them with handcrafting skills training, access to credit to start independent income generating activities, provide global market linkages for their eco-friendly handmade products, and an e-wallets gratuity system to further grow their savings and effectively invest in their life goals such as purchase of property, children's education, business expansion / diversification.

Afrikapu leverages blockchain technology to provide transparency in the process and a more personal artisan to consumer connection.

Nasreen’s work has been recognized globally, earning her multiple awards alongside leaders from reputable organizations and platforms whose members have gone on to become Nobel Prize recipients, heads of state, CEOs of Fortune 500 companies and Grammy Award winners.

Nasreen holds a Master of Science Degree from University of York, UK, an Executive Leadership certificate from Dartmouth College, USA , a Bachelors (Hons) Degree in Business Management from University of Sunderland, UK, an Advanced Diploma in Business and Law from Edith Cowan University, Australia.

Ali Mukhtar

Director, Fatima Fertilizer Company Ltd, Pakistan

Ali Mukhtar is Founder and CEO of Fatima Ventures, a prominent venture capital fund in Pakistan's start-up ecosystem. Under his leadership, Fatima Ventures has launched Pakistan's largest technology fund, Fatima Gobi Ventures, in partnership with Gobi Partners. Mukhtar has invested in leading technology start-ups, contributing to their growth and success. He is also Director of Fatima Group, overseeing group strategy and investments. As an active member of the Pakistani business community, Mukhtar holds advisory roles in organizations supporting entrepreneurs and innovation.

Alaa Murabit

Director, Global Policy, Advocacy and Communications, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, USA

A leading security, sustainable development, and global health expert, Dr. Alaa Murabit expertise shapes health and security strategies, policies and resources across 193 countries. Alaa is a UN Sustainable Development Goals Advocate appointed by the UN Secretary-General, the Director of Global Policy, Advocacy, and Communications at the Gates Foundation, and a UN High-Level Commissioner on Health, Employment, and Economic Growth.

At 21, Alaa founded Voice of Libyan Women, sparking a global dialogue on the influence of religious interpretations on women's leadership and security in conflict zones. Her TED Talk has garnered over seven million views, and the New York Times cited it as "defining the future of feminism." Her contributions to global security, health, gender, faith leadership, and sustainability have earned her prestigious recognitions, including the Canadian Meritorious Service Cross, the 2021 Harvard Radcliffe Fellowship, MIT Media Lab Fellow, the Nelson Mandela International Award, and New York Times Hero.

A medical doctor, Alaa is a 2022 World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, serves on the Malala Fund and Women for Women International boards and in her spare time, she moonlights as a personal assistant to her two toddlers.

Akiko Naka

CEO, Wantedly Inc, Japan

Akiko Naka is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Wantedly, a social networking service for professionals. Following its official launch in February 2012, Wantedly grew to 2.5 million monthly active users and 30,000 corporations. Wantedly has become the leading professional social networking service in Japan. Naka was the youngest female founder to take a company public in Japan.

Adwaita Nayar

Co-founder, Nykaa and CEO, Nykaa Fashion, Nykaa E-Retail Pvt. Ltd., India

Adwaita Nayar, an Indian businesswoman, has established herself as a leader in the retail industry. She is CEO of Nykaa Fashion and is Co-Founder of Nykaa, a leading lifestyle retailer in India. Before joining Nykaa in 2013, Nayar held positions at Morgan Stanley, Bain & Company, Citi and CARE Tanzania. She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA in Applied Math from Yale University.

Avital Saskia Niño de Rivera Cover

Co-Founder and Spokeswoman, Reinserta -Un Mexico A.C-, Mexico

Saskia is a Mexican-American national. She has a Master’s in Human Rights and Fundamental Principles and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. She is the President of the non-profit organization Reinserta, which she founded when she was 24 years old, in order to fight for a safer Mexico through its penitentiary system. Previously, she worked at the National Anti-Kidnap Coordination of the Mexican Secretariat of Government. In 2015, she led the creation of the “maternity in prison” section of the Criminal Execution Law, and was invited to create and work for the Social Responsibility Agenda 2015-2016. In 2014, Saskia participated in a number of workshops for the Mexican criminal system reform. Saskia was selected as a Mexican leader of the women’ s first generation of Raising Talent Women’ s Forum and as one of the 3,000 Ashoka Fellows. She was nominated for the Nelson Mandela – Graça Machel Innovation Awards 2016 and was named “Next Generation Leader” by Time Magazine. She was awarded with the UBS Visionaries 2016 prize, is recognized by Global Shapers and Women’ s Forum Rising Talent México, and is a Vital Voices Ambassador as of 2016. She received an American School Foundation Leadership award in 2006, was named an Ashoka Fellow in 2015, was named a Next Generation Leaders by TIME Magazine in 2015, and was selected by FORBES Magazine in 2016 as one of the TOP 100 powerful women. Saskia was selected as a 2019 Global Leadership Award Honoree and a VVLead Ambassador. Saskia works within the prisons and the country’s most dangerous neighborhoods in order to change the extremely rough environments that funnel Mexicans into crime.

Daniel Noboa Azín

President of Ecuador, Office of the President of Ecuador, Ecuador

Daniel Noboa, the youngest President in the republican history of Ecuador.
The President of the Republic, Daniel Noboa Azín, assumes the leadership of the National Government at the age of 35. He is the youngest president of republican Ecuador and of contemporary Latin America.
He studied Business Administration at New York University's Stern School of Business and has three international master's degrees: Business Administration at the Kellogg School of Management, Public Administration at Harvard Kennedy School, and Governance and Political Communication at George Washington University.
His professional experience began at the age of 18 with the creation of several companies, including DNA Entertainment Group, a real estate and logistics company dedicated to event organization. He also worked at Noboa Corporation, becoming the youngest Shipping Director in the company's history.
He was a legislator in the National Assembly. In his first candidacy for the Presidency of the Republic, he was elected on 15 October 2023 with 52.1% of the votes. Ecuadorians elected him to lead a democratic proposal that favors consensus and will concentrate its efforts on protecting dollarisation, reducing unemployment, boosting competitiveness, economic growth, and citizen security.
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Angela Oduor Lungati

Executive Director, Ushahidi, Kenya

Angela Oduor Lungati is a seasoned technologist, community builder and advocate of open-source software, driven by a profound commitment to leveraging technology for marginalized communities. With over a decade of experience in software development, global community engagement and non-profit organizational management, Lungati is Executive Director of Ushahidi, a leading Africa-led, non-profit technology company. Under her leadership, Ushahidi has undergone a strategic transformation, breaking down barriers to access and enhancing the platform's utilization, notably in the global COVID-19 response across 140 countries. Lungati’s influence extends to her role on the Board of Directors for Creative Commons and the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team. She is also Co-Founder of AkiraChix, a non-profit organization dedicated to nurturing generations of women using technology to drive innovations and solutions for Africa. She is a member of the World Economic Forum Global Future Council on Data Equity. Lungati’s multifaceted expertise and impactful initiatives position her as a trailblazer in the intersection of technology, community development and social impact.

Adriana Ortiz

President, National Handcraft Institute (IPA), Paraguay

Adriana Ortiz is a Paraguayan designer and entrepreneur who studied fashion design in Mexico and Spain. She has a degree in Psychology. She started working as an entrepreneur building her own commercial brand of feminine accessories and jewellery integrating craft design with contemporary design. In 2018, she was appointed President of the National Handcraft Institute (IPA). Her work focuses on promoting Paraguayan crafts through contemporary design practices that enable the strengthening of the value chains of artisanal production. This creates opportunities for fairer trade and better incomes for 20,000 artisans, of whom 70% are women. She is also leading the creation of "Safeguard Schools" for the protection of ancestral knowledge, mainly in rural communities. During her mandate, the first Paraguayan Artisan Fund was created to give financial support to civil society organizations working with indigenous communities to promote and develop indigenous crafts. The public policies promoted by IPA allowed for the creation of more than 70 new commercial units to sell Paraguayan crafts in national and international markets with a positive economic impact for many families in the country. Ortiz aims to contribute to a better future for the country and the world.