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.

Suren Aloyan

Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Dasaran EdTech Company, Armenia

Suren is a social entrepreneur, the Founding President of Dasaran Ed-Tech Company, an Armenia-based software-as-a-service company providing innovative solutions in K12 education. In 2016 Dasaran was recognized as one of the best 5 innovative enterprises in the world by the UNDP. Suren brings more than 12 years of experience towards education system modernization through innovation and modern technologies, contributing to extensive data-driven policymaking, developing equal educational opportunities for all. Suren as a keynote speaker has delivered speeches for large auditoriums in different corners around the world – “Impact Investment and Innovation for SDGs” forum at the UN Headquarters in New York (USA), UNDP’s Social Good Summit in Switzerland, UNESCO MGIEP Conference in India, Global Education and Skills Forum in Dubai (UAE), RISE Tech conference in Hong Kong, World Bank’s Understanding Risk Forum in Mexico, UAE-Armenia Investment Forum in Abu Dhabi, et al. Suren has served as a chief expert in RA Ministry of Defence for 11 years and received Admiral Isakov Medal of Honour awarded on RA Level. Military rank is captain in reserve. Suren has received Golden Commemorative Medal, the Highest award of RA Ministry of Education Science, was honored with the High state award by the President of RA.

Mamuka Bakhtadze

Prime Minister of Georgia (2018 - 2019), Office of the Prime Minister of Georgia, Georgia

Since June 2018, Prime Minister of Georgia; has established a strong vision for the nation built on strengthening democracy, fostering a vibrant and sustainable economy, while investing in Georgia’s most valuable asset, its people; has helped advance Georgia’s integration into the EU and NATO; introduced a “Green Economy” agenda and “lean government” initiative that reduced the number of ministries from 14 to 11, and redirected budget expenditures to social programmes; launched a comprehensive reform programme to overhaul the country’s education system; pledged to allocate 6% of GDP to boost human capital development and empower sustainable economic growth. Formerly: Minister of Finance of Georgia; 2013-17, Chief Executive Officer, Georgian Railway, promoting Georgia’s interests in international projects, including Viking, ZUBR, and the South-West Corridor. Held leadership positions in the business sector, including Chief Executive Officer, Georgian International Energy Corporation; Member of the Supervisory Board, Georgian Industrial Group. MBA, INSEAD; Master’s in Business, Moscow State University; PhD and BA in Electromechanical Engineering, Georgian Technical University.

Ketevan Bochorishvili

Managing Partner, Business Georgia, Georgia

Ketevan Bochorishvili was vice-minister of Economy until 2017. Bochorishvili then became the first ever (and only, as of 2018) woman executive to take responsibility for management of over one-billion-dollar-worth private venture in Georgia - Anaklia City. Bochorishvili is recognized as a leading business environment reformer, a fighter of corruption and an innovator in terms of the provision of government services. Bochorishvili has contributed to a number of successful reforms and state projects targeting private sector development, simplifying bureaucracy and economic diversification. Her achievements were awarded with a Forbes Woman title in 2017.

Valeri Chekheria

Chief Executive Officer, Rooms Hotels, Georgia

Valeri has emerged as a key business leader in the region through his innovative approach to implementing modern business values to the Georgian community.

Under his leadership Adjara Group has built a diverse portfolio of internationally renowned hotels and trend-setting new entrepreneurial projects including a large-scale agricultural and farming development initiative in Eastern region of Georgia.

Valeri is a dedicated philanthropist involved in several charitable causes and leads the company’s CSR efforts. He is Chairman of the Board of the Global Compact Network Georgia as well as a board-member of the McLain Association Children.

Prior to taking leadership of the company in 2011 he served as Chief of Staff to the Minister of Economic Development and the Minister of Finance. Valeri graduated from Columbia University, School of International and Public Affairs, where he completed a Masters of Public Administration (MPA).

As a recognition of his achievements Valeri was nominated in 2018 by the World Economic Forum as a member of the Young Global Leaders’ program along with 100 of the world’s most promising, business leaders, public servants, technologists, social entrepreneurs and artists.

Nino Enukidze

Rector of Business and Technology University, Founder of Coding School for Women, Business and Technology University, Georgia

Nino Enukidze is Rector of Business and Technology University in Tbilisi, Georgia's Silicon Valley. With a decade of dedication to education and innovation, she has founded Georgia's largest Coding School for Women and the Sustainability Lab. Enukidze holds other positions, such as President of the Academic Consortium at the European Marketing and Management Association, Member of Advisory Council at the Committee of Education and Science at the Parliament of Georgia and Member of the Business Advisory Council at UNICEF Georgia. Her leadership has transformed Silicon Valley Tbilisi into a catalyst for Georgia's technological advancement, establishing the first Global Startup Foundation and facilitating membership in MIT's Martin Trust Center. Her work has earned global recognition, including being named among Architects of Tomorrow by Emerging Europe and the Strong Women in IT Global Edition's 200 Leaders, and delivering a keynote address at the UN CSW67 expert panel.

Andriy Kolodyuk

Founder and Managing Partner, AVentures Capital, Ukraine

Andrey Kolodyuk is a serial entrepreneur and venture capital investor, founder and managing Partner in AVentures Capital.
He started his entrepreneurial career in New York in 1992 and eventually has founded and built over 10 companies in IT, telecom, internet and media some with $1B in revenues.

In 2012 the new fund was launched — AVentures Capital, focused on early stage IT startups with the focus on global market with technology teams based in Ukraine and CEE. AVentures Capital portfolio consists of more then 20 companies such as Petcube, Augmented Pixels, nuPSYS, VoX, StarWind Software, TeamFusion, Spin.io,Ciklum and others.

In August 2014 Andrey has initiated a foundation of UVCA (Ukrainian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association) and in November, 2014 was selected as Chairman of the board still serving.

Andrey was elected as Young Global Leader (from Ukraine) of the World Economic Forum in 2008.

Zoya Lytvyn

Head, Osvitoria, Ukraine

Zoya Lytvyn is Founder of the Novopecherska School, which has a unique curriculum that combines national standards with international cutting-edge teaching techniques. All operational profits from the school are reinvested into Osvitoria NGO, a non-profit public organization founded by Lytvyn in 2013 to promote the development and education reform in Ukraine. Other educational initiatives she is involved in includes an online media training centre, which trains and develops teachers from throughout Ukraine for free, and launching the Global Teacher Prize Ukraine Award to enhance the prestige of the teaching profession. Lytvyn received a BA in Economics from the Kyiv Mohyla Academy and an MA in Journalism and Education Management. She is a member of the Aspen Institute Kyiv and the Supervisory Board of the UN Global Compact in Ukraine. In 2019, she was awarded TOP5 Woman Entrepreneur by UN initiative  “WE Empower” to acknowledge social entrepreneurs who are advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Alexander Rodnyansky

Economic Advisor to the President, Office of the President of Ukraine, Ukraine

Alexander Rodnyansky is a presidential advisor, a supervisory board member and chairman of the strategy and transformation committee of Ukraine's largest commercial bank (Oschadbank). He was the youngest ever chief economic adviser to the Prime Minister of Ukraine, and an associate professor of economics at the University of Cambridge (on public service leave since 2020). Rodnyansky is a research affiliate at the Centre for Economic Policy Research, a member of the Centre for Macroeconomics and a frequent referee for top economics journals, the recipient of multiple honours and awards, including the Cambridge Endowment for Research in Finance Fellowship, Princeton’s Fellowship of Woodrow Wilson Scholars, Princeton’s highest teaching citation (the Graduate School Teaching Award), Princeton's Towbes Prize for Outstanding Teaching, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Macro Financial Modeling Research Grant. Rodnyansky earned a Ph.D. in Economics from Princeton University, and an M.Sc. and B.Sc. in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

Olga Rudenko

Editor-in-Chief, The Kyiv Independent, Ukraine

Olga Rudenko is a Ukrainian journalist who worked for Kyiv Post before leaving to assist in the establishment of the Kyiv Independent in 2021, where she is the Editor-in-Chief. In 2022, Rudenko was featured on the front cover of Time magazine's May double issue, as one of its “Next Generation Leaders.”

Lara Setrakian

President, The Applied Policy Research Institute of Armenia, Armenia

Lara Setrakian is an Impact Partner at Fresco Capital and the Co-Founder of News Deeply, a new media company working to advancing coverage of complex global issues. Setrakian spent more than five years as a foreign correspondent, covering the Middle East for television, radio and digital platforms, for ABC News, Bloomberg Television, the International Herald Tribune and Monocle Magazine. She has since focused on the fusion of news and technology. Her first platform, Syria Deeply, launched in December 2012 to wide acclaim. TIME Magazine dubbed Syria Deeply “The Future of News”, Fast Company named her to its list of the “100 Most Creative People in Business”, while Inc Magazine called her one of "8 Women Who Could Own the Future". Setrakian was widely acclaimed for her ground-breaking use of social media in reporting on Iran's 2009 election protests and the Arab Awakening of 2011. She was named a Life Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and an inaugural fellow of the Peter Jennings Project at the National Constitution Center.

Igor Shevchenko

Founding Curator, Kyiv Hub, Successful Ukraine Party, Ukraine

Lawyer, politician, chairman of the Successful Ukraine political party, Minister of Environment and Natural Resources of Ukraine (2014-2015), presidential candidate (2019)

Experience: Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine; Advisor to the Prime Minister of Ukraine; Managing Partner, Shevchenko Didkovskiy and Partners, a law firm; Founder and President Emeritus, Ukrainian Bar Association; Founder, Forum of Young Ukrainian Leaders. Education: BA, School of International Law, Kyiv Taras Shevchenko National University, Ukraine; LLM, University of Minnesota, US; studies at Yale and Harvard universities. Expertise and interests: politics, law, healthy lifestyle.

Nino Zambakhidze

Chairwoman, Georgian Farmers' Association, Georgia

Nino Zambakhidze is a Chairwoman of Georgian Farmers’ Association. Georgian Farmers Association is umbrella organization which unites more than 5000 member farmers from all over the Georgia, with the goal and mission to protect farmers’ rights and support them to compete on marketplace and to grow agro players’ profitability. Nino is founder of several, companies , non governmental organizations, innovative startups, and several digital platforms , Being a proactive person by nature, Nino is a member of almost all key governmental or non-governmental boards and committees active in agriculture . From 2020 She was awarded with a national business-prize “Merkury 2011” where she received the honor as “Woman Entrepreneur of the Year”. She was the first woman chosen as a coordinator of “Invest in Future” organization created in 2012 under the patronage of Hilary Clinton.
Nino has Master’s Degree with distinction in the field of Business Administration from Grenoble Graduate School (Grenoble, France). Diploma with Merit in Business Organization an Management from Cambridge International Collage , Nino graduated from Tbilisi Technical University, where she studied English Language and Literature. In 2016 Nino was named as Entrepreneur of the Year by Grenoble Graduate School of Business. She has a Certificate of Completion of Public Policy in Private Sector Development Course from Stanford University Leadership Academy for Development, as well es Certificate of competition of transformational leadership on the Edge issued by University of Oxford Said Business School