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.

Nima Elmi
Bachelor of Laws (Hons), King's College, London; Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice, Oxford; Master of Laws (Hons), Harvard Law School, UK Fulbright Scholar. Admitted to the Supreme Court of England and Wales as a Solicitor. Public international law and policy development expert focused on international relations from peacebuilding initiatives to the governance of emerging technologies. Nima has previously worked in investment banking, at the United Nations, for international law firms in London and the Middle East, and as an adviser and strategist to senior officials in Government in East Africa and at the African Union. She is an angel investor, public speaker, lecturer and thought leader on technology governance, and sits on the Boards of start-ups in the health and venture funding spaces. Nima has been recognised for her achievements by the UK Powerlist as a Rising Star in 2012 and selected to join the Forum of Young Global Leaders by the World Economic Forum in 2016.

Karen Fang
Karen Fang is Managing Director, Global Head of Sustainable
Finance at Bank of America. She works across Bank of America’s
eight lines of business to drive the implementation of its firm-wide
sustainable finance strategy and goal of mobilizing and deploying
$1.5 trillion in sustainable finance capital by 2030.
Karen is a member of Bank of America’s Management Committee,
Responsible Growth Council and Asian Leadership Council. She is
also a leader in global net zero and sustainable finance forums and
taskforces. She serves as co-chair of the Finance and Infrastructure
Taskforce for the B20 (the G20 member states’ official dialogue forum with the global business
community), as co-chair of the Blended Finance Taskforce for the UN Global Investors for
Sustainable Development Alliance and as a member of the G7 Just Energy Transition
Partnership, Sustainable Markets Initiative, World Economic Forum (WEF) Net Zero Transition
Steering Committee, U.S. Steering Council of 1t.org, Leadership Council of the Breakthrough
Energy Catalyst program and Climate Advisory Council to the Rockefeller Foundation. Karen
previously served as a national board member of LISC, one of the largest community
development financial institutions in the U.S.
Prior to joining Bank of America, Karen was a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs in New
York after holding senior positions in derivatives structuring, including at Merrill Lynch in
Tokyo and Deutsche Bank in London. She was named one of Fortune’s “40 under 40”and a
Young Global Leader by WEF. She is one of Crain’s New York Business’s 2024 & 2023 Notable
Leaders in Sustainability and 2022 Notable Women on Wall Street. Karen is a recipient of the
2021 American Banker Most Powerful Women Standout Award, 2021 Outstanding 50 Asian
Americans in Business Award and Business Insider’s 100 People Transforming Business Award
in 2020.
Karen holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Tokyo

Jonathan Fantini Porter
Jonathan Fantini Porter is a government official and executive in the private and social sectors. He currently serves as CEO of the public-private Partnership for Central America and previously held leadership positions at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, The White House, U.S. Congress, and McKinsey & Company.
Under his tenure, the Partnership raised $4.2 billion in foreign direct investment, procurement, and lending in 18 months for projects in the region and delivered programs to 5 million individuals across environmental, social, and governance programs to address the economic roots of migration in frontier and emerging markets. The Partnership has been cited by the President of Microsoft, Administrator of USAID Samantha Power, and the President of the World Bank as a case study on how to mobilize private sector investments for public-private economic development partnerships.
Jonathan previously served as an Associate Partner at McKinsey & Company; advisor on national security and private sector engagement to the Presidential transition of Joe Biden; a White House advisor on transnational security during the Presidency of Barack Obama; as a senior congressional aide in the U.S. Congress; and Chief of Staff in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security where he oversaw management operations of a $6 billion homeland security budget supporting 22,000 personnel in 48 countries.
He was named a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum and has served on advisory bodies to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, World Economic Forum, Amnesty International, and as a consulting fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
Jonathan is a graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and Georgetown University and was awarded an Eisenhower Fellowship. He speaks Spanish, French, and German.

Valerie Feldmann
Valerie is a Senior Vice President in Verizon Global Services with a focus on global location strategy and accelerated digitization and automation of service operations. Previously, Valerie served as COO in a cleantech start-up, as an Associate Partner in McKinsey's High Tech practice in New York and Beijing, as a policy advisor to the International Telecommunication Union, and as Adjunct Faculty at Free University Berlin. Valerie holds an M.Sc. in business management and a M.A. from University of Muenster, a Ph.D. from Free University Berlin, and an Executive Certificate in Technology and Operations Management from MIT.

Alvaro Fernández Ibáñez
Alvaro Fernandez runs SharpBrains, a market research and advisory firm tracking how neuroscience and neurotech can improve health and performance across the lifespan. A frequent public speaker, he has been quoted by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, Reuters, and Associated Press. Alvaro is the Editor-in-chief of a recent report on Pervasive Neurotechnology, and co-authored "The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness", translated into Spanish, Japanese, Polish, and Portuguese. He holds an MBA and MA in Education from Stanford University and a BA in Economics from Universidad de Deusto, in his native Spain. Previously he worked in McKinsey & Company, Bertelsmann and Ashoka: Innovators for the Public.

V. R. Ferose
V. R. Ferose is Managing Director of SAP Labs India, responsible for research and development based in India. He drives innovation, customer-focused initiatives and delivers operational efficiencies at SAP Labs facilities. At the age of 33, he was one of the youngest managing directors of a global multinational in India. Ferose is also a Member of the IT Vision Group of Karnataka and a Member of the Development Advisory Board of HOPE worldwide in India, and he is actively involved with multiple non-profits in the education, disability and social entrepreneurial space. Ferose is Co-Founder of the World Economic Forum's Global Shapers Karnataka Hub, with a vision of creating opportunities for youth in Karnataka. He graduated from the National Institute of Technology in Warangal, India, in 1997 with a degree in Computer Science and Engineering. He is a regular speaker in academia and several industry forums.

Rossanna Figuera
Rossanna is the CEO of Irreverent Brands, a group of socially focused enterprises in the food and sustainable apparel sectors.
Rossanna co-founded Wafels & Dinges in 2007 and currently serves as CEO. Under her leadership, the company grew from a single 1968 old Chevy truck into a regional multichannel organization with locations across the US and a strong social ethos, providing dignified and empowering work to hundreds of vulnerable individuals while creating magical moments for its customers and contributing to improving public spaces with its award-winning products which have been showcased extensively in national and international media outlets and have consistently ranked Best in Class.
Born and raised in Venezuela, she is devastated by the painful deterioration of her country. In 2016, she founded Perros y Vainas, a gastro-social venture that donates a portion of its earnings to organizations working to feed underprivileged children in Venezuela.
Rossanna is a neuroinclusion champion who helps build societies where humans of all brain types thrive, free from labels, discrimination, and limiting beliefs. Her latest venture, All Minds Count, seeks to eliminate stigmas around neurodiversity and help raise a generation of empowered and thriving neurodivergent kids.
Rossanna has crafted a fulfilling, non-traditional career path. In addition to her successes as an entrepreneur, she has been a career Diplomat from Venezuela to the United Nations, a banker on Wall Street, an executive recruiter for top investment banks worldwide, and an effective executive coach who can draw from her real-world experience to help leaders heal and thrive.

Aria Finger
Chief Executive Officer, DoSomething.org, the largest organization for young people and social change with 5 million+ members worldwide. Founder and President, DoSomething Strategic. Expertise in engaging and activating GenZ and Millennials worldwide. Specific focus on voter registration and government in the US for 2020 and beyond. Member of the Board: Change.org; Care for the Homeless. Adjunct Professor, New York University. Former Curator, Global Shapers New York City Hub and Young Global Leader (2016), World Economic Forum. Named to Crain's Business 40 under 40. BA in Economics and Political Science, Washington University, St Louis; Executive Program for Nonprofit Leaders, Stanford Business School.

Justin Finnegan
Justin Finnegan is Founding Managing Director of Bloomberg New Economy. Prior to joining Bloomberg, he held a number of positions including co-founder and Managing Director for Mountain Hazelnuts Group and later as a White House Fellow and Deputy at USAID for Feed the Future, the U.S. Government's Global Hunger and Food Security Initiative. Finnegan has more than 15 years of operating experience in Asia, speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese and served as a Fulbright and Trustman Scholar. He received his BA from Harvard University and an MBA from Stanford University and is a Young Global Leader at the World Economic Forum.

Marco Fiorese
Marco Fiorese is the co-founder of IVITA HEALTH Investment Group, a Holding Company in NY, USA focused on direct investments in Consumer Health. Companies include Spring Foods (better-for-you foods), Circle Health (virtual home-care), Atida Health (on-line pharmacy). He is “Curator” of the Family Business Community at the WEF. He is member of the board of the MET Opera in NY. He studied at Bocconi University (Italy) and Harvard Business School (USA).

Betsy Fischer Martin
Betsy Fischer Martin is an Emmy-winning journalist and TV news executive. Currently she is the Executive Director of the Women & Politics Institute at American University and a professor in the AU School of Public Affairs, She is also a member of the International Advisory Council of APCO Worldwide and founded her own consulting business, Fischer Martin Media, where she specializes in providing media training to corporate executives.
During her earlier career in television news, she was the Managing Editor of NBC News Political Programming, where she was responsible for the development and execution of network political coverage.
Before being promoted to the executive role at NBC News in 2013, Fischer Martin was the executive producer of the top-rated Sunday morning public affairs program, Meet the Press, for 11 years. Overall, her tenure with the program extended over 22 years, beginning as an internship during her senior year of college.
She serves on the Board of Directors of Washington’s International Women’s Forum and the National Press Club’s Journalism Institute. She is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
A native of New Orleans, Fischer Martin did her undergraduate and graduate work at American University in Washington, DC. She is a cum laude graduate of their School of Public Affairs and earned a master’s degree in Broadcast Journalism from the AU School of Communications.

Kristin J. Forbes
Kristin Forbes is the Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Professor of Management and Global Economics at MIT’s Sloan School of Management. She has regularly rotated between academia and senior policy positions. From 2014-2017 she was an External Member of the Monetary Policy Committee for the Bank of England. From 2003 to 2005 Forbes served as a Member of the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers and from 2001-2002 she was a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Quantitative Policy Analysis, Latin American and Caribbean Nations in the U.S. Treasury Department. She also was a Member of the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisers for the State of Massachusetts from 2009-2014.
In 2019, Forbes was named an Honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for services to British economic policy. She was previously honored as one of the top 25 economists under the age of 45 who are “shaping how we think about the global economy” (by Finance & Development, 2014) and as a "Young Global Leader" as part of the World Economic Forum at Davos. She is currently the Convener of the Bellagio Group, a research associate at the NBER and CEPR, and a member of the Aspen Economic Strategy Group and Council on Foreign Relations. She also serves in a number of advisory positions, such as on the Monetary Policy Advisory Panel of the New York Federal Reserve Bank and on the External Advisory Group of the Managing Director for the International Monetary Fund.
Forbes’ academic research addresses policy-related questions in international macroeconomics. Recent projects include work on exchange rate pass-through, capital flows, macroprudential regulation, financial crises, contagion, current account imbalances, capital controls, inflation dynamics, foreign investment, and tax holidays. Forbes has chaired research projects on the Global Financial Crisis, Global Linkages and International Financial Contagion. She has won numerous teaching awards and teaches one of the most popular classes at MIT's Sloan School. Before joining MIT, Forbes worked at the World Bank and Morgan Stanley. She received her PhD in Economics from MIT and graduated summa cum laude with highest honors from Williams College.