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.

Shi Zhe

Chief Digital Officer, Foxconn Technology Group (Hon Hai Precision), People's Republic of China

Zhe Shi is Chief Digital Officer at Foxconn Technology Group where he spearheads internal digital transformation and smart manufacturing initiatives. Prior to his role at Foxconn, he co-founded CyberInsight Tech Beijing. With a wealth of experience in both research and industry, he has collaborated with global leaders in transportation, renewable energy, automotive and more, developing intelligent solutions to address challenges. He has a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Cincinnati, specializing in Prognostics and Health Management.

Dina Shoman

Co-Founder, Verity, United Arab Emirates

Dina Shoman is the Co-founder of Verity, a UAE-based Fintech startup that provides a money management app and prepaid card to kids and teens ages 8 - 18, through which they learn to save, earn, spend, and give within a safe environment and controls that parents choose. This is Dina's 3rd financial literacy startup, having been Founder and CEO of Nahji, a financial education company in Amman, Jordan, and inherQuests, providing fun financial education products for girls K-5 in New York.

Dina served as Executive Vice President and Head of Branding at Arab Bank from 2006 to 2012, where she oversaw the bank's marketing, corporate communication, and sustainability departments. As a fourth generation member of one of the Arab world’s most prominent banking families, she was also a Member of the Board of Arab Bank plc, Arab Bank Switzerland, and Arab Bank Australia, and the Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation, as well as a number of reputable NGOs in Jordan, such as the Jordan River Foundation and INJAZ.

Dina was born and raised in Jordan and educated in the United States, holding a BS in Finance and an MBA with a concentration in Change Management from Bentley University. She has been widely recognized for her leadership as both an executive and an agent of change. In 2012, she was selected as a Young Global Leader (YGL) as well as a Member of the Global Agenda Council on Values by the World Economic Forum (WEF). In May of that year, she ranked as the third most powerful Arab business woman by Forbes Middle East magazine. A calculated risk taker fueled by adventure, Dina was part of the From the Lowest Point to the Highest Point for Cancer (LH4Cancer) Everest Base Camp team, climbing 17,500 feet in April 2013, as well as the LH4Cancer African team, climbing to Mount Kilimanjaro?s high camp in 2014. Both teams raised over $1.4M for the King Hussein Cancer Foundation (KHCF) in Jordan.

Mandla Sibeko

Founder, Seed Capital Ventures, South Africa

Mandla Sibeko set up his own investment business, Seed Capital Investments, through which he has various interests in the small business sector. Through this company, he has partaken in a number of related media, retail, property and e-procurement acquisitions, including becoming the owner of the Pick n Pay Family Supermarket in Kliptown, Soweto. He also holds a 40% stake in Icon SA, a partnership with a UK-based global stadium and City dressing company that branded the 2006 German FIFA World Cup. Mandla Sibeko ventured into the media industry by creating his own production company. In addition, Mr. Sibeko is a founding member of several investment initiatives focusing on the empowerment of young people, with key investments in food, retail, media and clothing industries. He also serves as a Non-Executive Director of Paarl Print and Paarl Print, Paarl Labs – the largest magazine and commercial printer in South Africa and part of Media 24 Group, Mandla serves as Director of the FNB Joburg Art Fair, the largest Art Fair in Africa.

Izkia Siches

Izkia Siches Pastén, MD, is a graduate of the Universidad de Chile Medical School and trained in internal medicine at the same university. She works in the Infectious Diseases Unit of the San Juan de Dios Hospital in Santiago de Chile since 2018, one of the most reputed Infectious Diseases units in Chile. She is also a member of the board of directors of the NGO "Médicos Sin Marca" which seeks to promote evidence-based clinical practice, free from pharmaceutical influences. In 2017, after a superlative performance as a student union representative, she assumed the Chilean College of Physicians' presidency, being the first woman in this position and recently reelected in 2020 for a second period. Nowadays, after the social outbreak in Chile in October 2019, she leads the most valued institution for the Chilean population in a convoluted country. Notably, she and the Human Rights department of the Chilean College of Physicians have denounced the use of kinetic impact projectiles by the police, which resulted in severe ocular trauma and permanent disability to thousands of Chileans during the social outbreak. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she has been advised by a reputed group of experts from different disciplines, being the voice of evidence-based recommendations and interventions that connect with common sense and most disadvantaged populations. Siches has been the counterweight of a government with one of the highest mortality and contagion rates. Today, she still works in the pandemic response and argues for health rights in her country's new constitution, about to be written in April 2021.

Asma Siddiki

Executive Director, Education, Diriyah Gate Company, Saudi Arabia

Asma Siddiki is Executive Director of Education at the Diriyah Foundation of the Diriyah Gate Development Authority in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Previously, she served at the Prince Mohammad bin Salman College of Business and Entrepreneurship in KAEC, Saudi Arabia, as the Interim Dean, as well as the Founding Dean for Student Affairs since 2016, to which positions she was seconded from her role as Senior Director for Special Projects at Emaar Economic City in KAEC.

Asma is also the Founder & ex-Chief Executive Officer of Oxbridge Learning Limited (previously Alpha1Education) that organizes Oxbridge Summers, a summer school program at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge in the United Kingdom. She is an Education Management Consultant and previously served as Director for Global Higher Education at the Huron Consulting Group in Dubai and Riyadh.

Her earlier roles include Associate Dean for Development and Director of Degree Programs at the Dubai School of Government and Vice-Dean at Effat University. Siddiki is currently on the Executive Committee of the Saudi British Society based in London.

She earned a DPhil from the University of Oxford, and was educated in Saudi Arabia, Switzerland and England.

Lutfey Siddiqi

Visiting Professor-in-Practice, London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom

Visiting Professor-in-Practice at London School of Economics. Adjunct Professor, National University of Singapore. Distinguished Fellow at Policy Research Institute, Bangladesh. Previously with UBS Investment Bank: Global Head of Emerging Markets, FX Rates & Credit (FRC), CFA Institute Executive Leadership Team; Advisory Board, LSE Systemic Risk Centre, LSE Inclusion Initiative, NUS Centre for Governance & Sustainability. Governing Board, UWC Atlantic. World Economic Forum Young Global leader, Global Futures Council; and Contributor to Risk, Finance, Inclusive Growth, Capital Markets. CFA Future of Finance, former Member, CFA Singapore Board, Governing Board of NCC London.

Susana Sierra

Chief Executive Officer, BH Compliance, USA

Susana Sierra is a global leader in the field of compliance and corporate governance, recognized for her influential work in promoting transparency, ethics, and good practices in the private sector.

Ms. Sierra is the CEO of BH Compliance. This company measures the effectiveness of existing corporate governance programs, allowing global companies to evaluate the efficacy of their good practices and identify gaps that can lead to white-collar crime and corruption. The platform also measures governance [G] policies to strengthen a company's ESG criteria.

In 2020, Ms. Sierra was recognized by the World Economic Forum (WEF) as a Young Global Leader (YGL), which aims to strengthen the leadership skills of influential professionals to advance a global sustainable future.

Between 2016 and 2022, she was a board member of the Chilean chapter of Transparency International, Chile Transparente, serving as President between 2020 and 2022; she was also Co-Chair of a high-level commission responsible for defining Transparency International's strategy for 2030.

She also has experience in the field of entrepreneurship. She founded the Independizate Foundation, a civil society organization that aims to provide methodological support to entrepreneurs in various fields, mostly professionals who have decided to work for themselves and require support in their business models in a competitive environment and demanding market.

Ms. Sierra sits on the boards of the Chilean-North American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham Chile) and the Financial & International Business Association (FIBA) in Miami. She is also a member of the Forbes Business Council.

Ms. Sierra's influence extends globally, as seen in her engagements as a speaker at prestigious events such as the #RISK London 2023, Nexus 2023, the Cities Summit of the Americas 2023, and the IX Summit of the Americas, among others.

Ms. Sierra's impact is acknowledged at national and international levels. She was recently recognized as CEO of the Year by The Women in Governance, Risk & Compliance, as well as the "Female Entrepreneur of the Year" Award by TITAN Awards Women in Business. Her outstanding leadership has been acknowledged three times with the "100 Mujeres Líderes" award in Chile. Furthermore, she received the "Hispanic Leadership Award" in the Business Award category from the South Florida Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in Miami, and in 2018, Ms. Sierra was honored with the "Women Who Make a Difference" award by the International Women Forum in the United States.

In the academic world, from 2014 to 2020, she was co-director of the Compliance and Corporate Best Practices Diploma at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (PUC). In addition, she is a professor of the MBA UC and other universities worldwide.

She is currently based in Miami.

Landry Signé

Senior Fellow, Global Economy and Development Program, Brookings Institution, USA

Professor Landry Signé is a world-renowned professor, award-winning author, innovative educator, distinguished futurist, and extraordinary global leader who has won over 80 prestigious awards and distinctions, with experience in top institutions such as Stanford University, the University of Oxford, the World Economic Forum, the Brookings Institution, Georgetown University, and the Thunderbird School of Global Management, and testimonies before the United States Senate, the U. S. House of Representatives, and the U.S. International Trade Commission.

He is widely recognized for his bold strategies bridging ideas and actions to solve some of the world’s most complex challenges while seizing opportunities related to the global political economy; global governance and multilateralism; the Fourth Industrial Revolution, emerging technology, and how they transform governments, industries, and societies; the future of technology policy; global business and emerging markets; and the political economy of development and Africa, building inclusive prosperity and sustainability worldwide.

He was named one of the World Economic Forum’s “top [50] foremost future-oriented leaders” in the world, a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader for “finding innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing issues,” one of the “100 Most Influential Africans in the world” and “Thought leader extraordinaire” by New Africa Magazine, one of the “most creative thinkers” (Carnegie Corporation of New York), and one of “Apolitical’s 100 Most Influential Academics in Government” in the world, among others.

He is Executive Director and Professor at the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Washington, DC, as well as Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, Distinguished Fellow at Stanford University, Executive Chairman of the Africa House, Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum’s Regional Action Group for Africa, and member of the Global Future Council on the Future of Technology Policy, among others. He is also a Senior Adviser to top global leaders (presidential, ministerial, and C-suite levels) and the author of numerous books published by the world’s #1 ranked academic press in the field (Cambridge University Press).

Judy Sikuza

Chief Executive Officer, The Mandela Rhodes Foundation, South Africa

Judy Sikuza, CEO of The Mandela Rhodes Foundation, is a fervent advocate of education and leadership as catalysts for positive change. With a background in organizational development, she navigates challenges in both the private and development sectors. Honoured as a Mail & Guardian Top 200 Young South African and an Archbishop Desmond Tutu Leadership Fellow, Sikuza’s leadership is acclaimed. Internationally sought-after for her expertise, she addresses prestigious events and contributes thought leadership on resilience, transformation and nation-building. With degrees from Nelson Mandela University and Columbia University, she blends academic excellence with practical experience, embodying a holistic approach to her impactful work.

Rohan Silva

Founder, Second Home, Australia

I'm founder and CEO of Second Home, a socially responsible business that supports entrepreneurship and job creation in cities around the world. Second Home has raised over £50 million in funding from some of the world's leading investors, including DST Global founder Yuri Milner, Tencent founder Martin Lau, Index Ventures, Atomico and the founders of Zoopla, M&C Saatchi and Endemol.

I was previously Senior Policy Adviser to British Prime Minister David Cameron, where he worked across all areas of policy, but was particularly passionate about enterprise, innovation and technology. He was responsible for developing key policies to improve the environment for enterprise in the UK, such as the Entrepreneur Visa, Entrepreneur Relief, angel investment tax breaks, and the Government's Open Data agenda.

In addition, I created the British Government's Tech City initiative, which supports the growth of the technology cluster in East London, and also instigated the Government's Life Science Strategy in 2011, as well as the follow-up strategy in 2012 focused on genomics and bioinformatics.

I'm also a Senior Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics, an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Art and a World Economic Forum ‘Young Global Leader’.

António Simões

Group Chief Executive Officer, Legal & General Group Plc, United Kingdom

António Simões is the Group CEO for Legal & General Group, his appointment to take effect on 1 January 2024.

Prior to joining Legal & General, António was the CEO of Santander Spain and Regional Head of Europe since April 2021 and September 2020, respectively.

Before joining Santander, António spent 13 years at HSBC in a series of executive positions in London and Hong Kong; starting with strategy and M&A and then moving to leading different businesses as UK/European CEO and finally, global CEO of private banking. Prior to that, he was a partner at McKinsey & Company working in financial services across several geographies.

António studied in Lisbon (Nova School of Business and Economics), Milan (Bocconi) and the United States (MBA from Columbia University). In 2009, he was appointed a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum (WEF) and a few years later completed a WEF leadership programme at Harvard Kennedy School. António was previously a member of the Practitioner Panel of the Financial Conduct Authority from July 2013 and was chair of the panel from August 2015 to August 2017. He was also a member of the Practitioner Panel of the Prudential Regulation Authority.

He is a vocal campaigner on youth unemployment issues and has been involved with the Prince’s Trust since 2012. He became a Trustee of Prince’s Trust International in 2018.

He is married and currently lives with his husband and two children between London and Madrid.

Bright Simons

President, mPedigree, Ghana

2006-13: Vice President, IMANI; 2013 - Present: Honorary Vice President, IMANI; 2009: Consultant, World Bank Africa Plan; 2012: Consultant, UNECA; 2009: United Nations Secretary-General's Innovation Working Group Taskforce on Maternal Health; Member, APHRC Board; Member, RED Media Board; 2018: George Mallinkrodt & Adrian Cheng Fellow, Harvard University; 2003: Fellow, UKPPARC; 2006: Fellow, Berlin Institute of Comparative Social Research; 2009: Fellow, TED; Fellow, Archbishop Tutu; 2009: Recipient, Tech Museum Laureate; 2016: Fortune Global 50 (World's Greatest Leaders); Aspen AGLN ALIWA & Braddock Fellow; 2019 Skoll Awardee; 2017 Tallberg Eliasson Global Leadership Prize Laureate.