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.

Otto Sonnenholzner

Vice-President of Ecuador (2018-2020), Ecuador

Otto Sonnenholzner was elected to be the vice president of Ecuador in December 2018. For 12 years, he was a radio personality with his own talk show. Sonnenholzner also served as the president of the Ecuadorian Association of Broadcasters and is a champion for freedom of speech. He was part of the faculty at Universidad Católica de Guayaquil and is a successful entreprenuer in the broadcasting, telecommunications, construction, commerce and agriculture industries.

Sanaa Souidi

Head P&C Facultative EMEA, Swiss Re, Switzerland

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).

Shelley Stewart

Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company, USA

Shelley Stewart III is a Senior Partner within McKinseys Growth, Marketing and Sales Practice, where he works across the US, Europe and Asia with industrial and technology companies to help them scale their businesses in a global context. Shelley leads the firms research on inclusive economic growth in his role as leader for McKinseys Institute for Black Economic Mobility. In this capacity, he focuses on conducting research related to Black economic development and translates these insights into tools that corporations, philanthropists and governments can use to create meaningful impact for Black individuals and communities. Shelley is on the Board of Directors of the National Black MBA Association, a non-profit supporting 15,000 members with career placement and development. He is also on the Board of the Brooklyn Community Foundation, the first and only public foundation solely dedicated to Brooklyns charitable community. He is a member of the United Justice Coalition, a non-profit working across disciplines to raise awareness around social justice issues, emphasizing the need for criminal justice reform. Shelley has a BA in economics from Boston College, an MBA with a focus on finance from Columbia University, an MPA in political economy from Harvard and an Honorary Doctorate from the University of New Haven.

Mark Stoffels

Global Business Unit Leader, Image Guided Therapy Systems, Philips, Netherlands

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.

Ludovic Subran

Chief Economist, Allianz, Germany

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.

Omar Sultan Al Olama

Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications, Office of the Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, United Arab Emirates

Omar bin Sultan Al Olama was appointed Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work of the United Arab Emirates in 2020. He joined the government in 2017 as Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, where he was responsible for enhancing government performance by investing the latest technologies and tools of artificial intelligence and applying them in various sectors. Al Olama is also the Managing Director of the World Government Summit in the Prime Minister’s Office at the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs, and Deputy Director of the Future Department at the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs, where he contributed to the preparation of the UAE Centennial 2071 strategy and the UAE 4th Industrial Revolution Strategy. Al Olama has a Bachelor’s in Business Administration from the American University of Dubai, and a Diploma in Project Management and Excellence from the American University of Sharjah.

Christy Lei Sun

Chief Marketing Officer, Yatsen Global, People's Republic of China

Christy is dedicated to developing Chinese leading cosmetic brand -Perfect Diary and luxury skincare business, managing marketing and public relationships. She is committed to exploring C-beauty and empowering women in China and around the world to discover, create and preserve beauty. Christy was awarded “CMO Power List TOP 50”, and she holds a bachelor's degree from Sun Yat-sen University and MBA from Yale University.

Sun Xuemei

Chairperson, Beijing All in One Public Welfare Foundation, People's Republic of China

Xuemei SUN, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of IFENG.com, Initiator of "Girls protection" and Chairman of Beijing All-in-One Public Welfare Foundation, is a long-devoted pioneer in Chinese child protection development area. Prior to her current roles, she served as a journalist for the Beijing Times, and Editor-in-chief of the philanthropy channel of IFENG.com. On June 1, 2013, she united 100 female journalists and several media organizations to launch a public welfare project “Girls Protection”, which upgraded to a special fund in 2015. In 2018, she further developed the "Girls Protection" team into the Beijing All-In-One Public Welfare Foundation, with a firm long-term commitment to preventing sexual assaults against children and adolescents, spreading sex education knowledge, promoting the dissemination of gender equality concepts, and ultimately improving Chinese legal systems and institutions on child protection.

By the end of March 2022, more than 10,000 volunteer lecturers had passed the assessment of "Girls Protection" in 31 provinces across the country, more than 6.1 million children 700,000 parents had been taught face-to-face anti sexual assault courses, online courses cover tens of millions of people. In 2018, based on “Girls Protection”, the Foundation launched new sex education course "Embrace Adolescence" for adolescents, which was taught face to face to around 150,000 teenagers by the end of March 2022.

For 9 consecutive years, she organized and held a symposium of Representative members of the National People's Congress and the Chinese Political Consultative Conference (NPC & CPPCC) of the "girls protection" and issued the investigation report on sexual assault case statistics and anti sexual assault education to promote the improvement of laws and systems.

Awards: National March 8th red flag bearer, CCTV charity figure of the year,Beijing Youth May 4th medal and other awards.

Paweł Surówka

Chief Executive Officer, Eurocash, Poland

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.

Steve Suryadinata

Founder and Chairman, Mata Investments, Indonesia

Steve is the Founder of Mata Investments, a diversified investment firm focusing on four key sectors: early-stage, growth equity, real estate, and financial. He has a strong family background in the mining industry, being one of the major shareholders of the largest coking coal mine in Southeast Asia. However, since 2015, Steve has adopted an impact-driven approach and divested from the coal industry.

Today through Mata Investments, Steve is a big believer in impact investing and actively seeks for opportunities in the sector. One of the more notable companies under the group is BSA Land, the largest property developer in Indonesia catering to the middle-class market. Highly driven by impact, the company shifted its strategy from high-end to the middle-class sector and currently takes a leading role in the private sector to ease Indonesia's 8 million housing backlog. With 30 projects across the nation, BSA Land has constructed over 20,000 residential and commercial units that cater primarily to young families, newlyweds, and millennials. Additionally, the company has invigorated nearly 10,000 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through its innovative and cost-efficient commercial developments across the country.

Steve was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2022 and is also a member of YPO (Young Presidents' Organization). He holds an MBA from Duke University, a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Macquarie University and completed the Global Leadership & Public Policy Program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

Outside of work, Steve is an avid martial arts enthusiast. He founded Bali MMA, which quickly rose to prominence and was ranked among the Top 10 MMA Gyms in Asia by Fox Sports. The competition team is now widely regarded as one of the most competitive in Brazilian Jiujitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, and Kickboxing , boasting world champions and athletes from over a dozen countries its ranks.

Noor Sweid

Managing Partner, Global Ventures, United Arab Emirates

Noor Sweid is a visionary and tenacious leader. Recently named one of the World's Top 50 Women in Tech, she drives venture capital in the region. She once served as Chief Investment Officer in the Dubai Future Foundation and made history as the first woman to lead an IPO in the Middle East.

Tanit Chearavanont

Managing Director, CP Axtra Public Company Limited, Thailand

Mr. Tanit Chearavanont was appointed the Managing Director of LOTS Wholesale Solutions in November 2017. He also serves as a member on the board of LOTS Wholesale Solutions, in addition to being an Associate Director at Siam Makro Public Company Limited. Mr. Chearavanont successfully led the clearance process from the legal board, as well as the CP Group approval for market entry into India, starting with Delhi NCR; in addition to receiving clearance for Indian company registration. Mr. Chearavanont’s profile in LOTS Wholesale Solutions encompasses responsibility for leading the overall business operations in India. Mr. Chearavanont’s brings with him a strong background and multifaceted experience across M&A, corporate finance, and consumer & retail industry. In a previous role, Mr. Chearavanont worked as the Director Operations of CP Wholesale India. He also worked with UBS AG in Hong Kong as an investment banker across different industries. This experience in banking industry was an added advantage to the organization as it set up operations in India. He holds a Bachelor Degree from Harvard University, in Massachusetts, U.S.