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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.

Refik Anadol

Founder and Director, Refik Anadol Studio, USA

Refik Anadol (b. 1985, Istanbul, Turkey) is an internationally renowned media artist, director, and pioneer in the aesthetics of data and machine intelligence. He is the Director of Refik Anadol Studio in Los Angeles and Lecturer in UCLA’s Department of Design Media Arts. Anadol’s work locates creativity at the intersection of humans and machines. Taking the data that surrounds us as primary material, and the neural network of a computerized mind as a collaborator, Anadol offers us radical visualizations of our digitized memories and expands the possibilities of interdisciplinary arts. Anadol’s site-specific data paintings and sculptures, live audio/visual performances, and immersive installations take many forms, while encouraging us to rethink our engagement with the physical world, collective experiences, public art, decentralized networks, and the creative potential of AI. Anadol’s work has been exhibited at venues including MoMA, Centre Pompidou-Metz, Art Basel, National Gallery of Victoria, Venice Architecture Biennale, Hammer Museum, Arken Museum, Dongdaemun Design Plaza, Ars Electronica, Istanbul Modern, and ZKM | Center for Art and New Media. Anadol has received a number of awards and prizes including the Lorenzo il Magnifico Lifetime Achievement Award for New Media Art, Microsoft Research’s Best Vision Award, German Design Award, UCLA Art+Architecture Moss Award, Columbia University’s Breakthrough in Storytelling Award, and Google’s Artists and Machine Intelligence Artist Residency Award. Refik is also a 2024 Young Global Leader

Anadol’s global projects have received a number of awards and prizes including the Lorenzo il Magnifico Lifetime Achievement Award for New Media Art, Microsoft Research’s Best Vision Award, iF Gold Award, D&AD Pencil Award, German Design Award, UCLA Art+Architecture Moss Award, Columbia University’s Breakthrough in Storytelling Award, University of California Institute for Research in the Arts Award, SEGD Global Design Award, and Google’s Artists and Machine Intelligence Artist Residency Award. His site-specific audio/visual performances have been featured at iconic landmarks, museums and festivals worldwide, such as the 17th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, the Museum of Modern Art (New York), the Pompidou Centre, Pinakothek der Moderne, EMMA Museum, Art Basel, Haus der elektronischen, Kunsthalle Praha, Palazzo Strozzi, Casa Batlló, National Gallery of Victoria, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Hammer Museum, Dongdaemun Design Plaza, Artechouse, the Portland Building, Daejeon Museum of Art, Florence Biennale, Art Basel, OFFF Festival, International Digital Arts Biennial Montreal, Ars Electronica Festival , l’Usine|Genève, Arc De Triomf, Zollverein | SANAA’s School of Design Building, Santralistanbul Museum of Contemporary Arts, Outdoor Vision Festival, Istanbul Design Biennial, Sydney City Art, and Lichtrouten, among others.

Anadol has a Master of Fine Arts degree from UCLA’s Department of Design Media Arts.

Mark Boris Andrijanič

Vice President, Kumo.AI, USA

Mark Boris is Vice President at Kumo.AI, a Sequoia-backed deep learning venture based in California. He also serves on the Governing Board at the EIT, the EU's innovation agency. In 2021 and 2022 he was Slovenia's first-ever Minister of Digital Transformation. During Slovenia's EU presidency, he led negotiations between the Member States on Digital Services Act and digital files in the EU. In 2022, he received the Ukraine Peace Price from President Zelenskyy for his contribution to Ukraine's digital resilience. From 2016 to 2021, he headed Uber's public policy and government relations efforts in Central and Eastern Europe. Mark Boris received a master's in public policy from the University of Oxford and a law degree from the University of Ljubljana.

Yalda Aoukar

Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Bracket Capital, United Kingdom

Yalda Aoukar is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Bracket Capital, a leading private markets investor based in Los Angeles, which she co-launched in 2017. Bracket Capital pursues a value-driven strategy in growth and late-stage technology companies via primary and secondary transactions. Aoukar is also President of Bracket Foundation, the philanthropic venture arm of Bracket Capital. She is a fierce advocate of technology for social good, particularly as it relates to solving the world’s most pressing challenges. Since inception, Bracket Foundation has been striving to make the internet safer for children by combating online child sexual exploitation and abuse. Aoukar is a champion of women’s empowerment and entrepreneurship in venture capital and other financial sectors where women are traditionally underrepresented. She sits on the board of the UN’s A.I. for Safer Children initiative, which she helped to establish, as well as the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) Accelerator. Aoukar holds a Master’s in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a degree in Economics from the American University of Beirut.

Nathalia Arcuri

Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Me Poupe! Conteudo e Servicos Financeiros Eireli, Brazil

Nathalia Arcuri is a Brazilian entrepreneur, journalist, finance specialist, philanthropist and founder of the world's largest financial entertainment platform, Me Poupe! From content to technology, Me Poupe! has been making it easier for people to understand difficult concepts involving finances and investments, her company helps over 21 million people each month to improve their financial life. Nathalia believes that education is the first step for true financial freedom and her mission is to make people free through democratic access to quality knowledge.
Nathalia disrupted the Brazilian financial market by bringing the concept of entertainment to the service of financial education. Her work at the forefront of Education has earned her several awards over the past 4 years. Me Poupe! democratized access to personal finance content, introduced complex concepts in a simple and fun way and among its platforms has the largest YouTube channel in the world, with more than 5.5 million engaged subscribers.

She is an author, a student of behavioral economics with a specialization in choice architecture.

Bibliography:

Spare me! 10 steps to never run out of money in your pocket. 2018
+500 thousand units sold

Practical Guide Mee Save! 33 days to change your financial life.
2021
+30 thousand units sold

Daniel Arrigg Koh

Deputy Cabinet Secretary, The White House, USA

Daniel Arrigg Koh is a public servant dedicated to positive social change.

He currently serves as the White House Deputy Cabinet Secretary, where he helps guide the affairs related to the Cabinet of United States President Joseph R. Biden. Immediately prior, Dan served as the Chief of Staff of the United States Department of Labor, a $14 billion, 17,000 employee organization dedicated to improving the lives of America's 150 million workers. He helped lead the development of the Healthcare Emergency Temporary Standard that protects millions of healthcare workers around the country from COVID-19.

Before his service in the Biden-Harris administration, Dan served as Chief Operating Officer of HqO, a technology company focused on changing the way we interact with physical space. In this capacity, he helped grow the company from 30 employees to over 150 across multiple financing rounds, leading to a $500 million valuation.

In 2019, Dan was elected to the Town of Andover Select Board where he served as Vice Chair. Previously, he was a candidate for the Massachusetts Third District of the United States Congress, where he ran a true grassroots campaign with thousands of volunteers knocking hundreds of thousands of doors, coming within 0.2% of the Democratic primary nomination after a district-wide recount.

From 2014-2017, Dan served as Chief of Staff to Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh, guiding his agenda for the city, its 18,000 employees, $3 billion budget, and 700,000 residents. In this role, he pioneered “CityScore,” an award-winning performance management system for improving city services.

Dan previously worked as Chief of Staff to Arianna Huffington at The Huffington Post and Advisor to Mayor Thomas M. Menino of Boston. He has served additional roles at Booz Allen Hamilton, Spencer Stuart, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Major League Baseball, and the New England Patriots. He began his career as an intern for the late Massachusetts Senator Edward M. Kennedy.

He has been named to the “30 under 30” list by Forbes Magazine and the “40 under 40” list by the Boston Business Journal. In 2016, he received an honorable mention from The Boston Globe for “Bostonian of the Year.” A native of Andover, Massachusetts, Dan holds a B.A from Harvard College and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, where he was President of his section. Dan is an avid runner, having completed 62 marathons across the U.S. and Canada.

Bernardo Asuaje

Co-Founder and Managing Director, Grupo Attia (Colombia), Colombia

Bernardo is a vibrant young entrepreneur with a strong sense of purpose in a local industry dominated by large traditional real estate developers. In a country of more than 6 million senior citizens, Bernardo has undertaken the task of designing and building projects that can provide high-quality residences, care and wellness programs for the elderly and has shown signs of always being on the cusp of innovation for social integration in urbanism.

Cherrie Atilano

Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Agrea, Philippines

Cherrie Atilano has 26 years of experience in sustainable food systems and inclusive agribusiness as an advocate of women and youth in agriculture, agri-technology, malnutrition eradication and the responsible production and consumption for the future of food. She is a multi-awarded entrepreneur and ambassador on agricultural issues.

Alloysius Attah

Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Farmerline Group, Ghana

Alloysius launched Farmerline to create lasting wealth for farmers and local agribusinesses everywhere. He currently leads the company’s vision and strategic partnerships with over 3,000 partners across 48 countries. The company has served and digitized 1.7 million farmers in the last decade and TIME Magazine recognized its Mergdata platform as one of the 100 Best Inventions of 2019. Meanwhile, Alloysius has been lauded by organizations and world leaders such as former IMF boss Christine Lagarde, World Economic Forum’s Tech Pioneer, CBNC Africa's Young Business Leader Award, and Bloomberg New Economy Catalyst for his work.

Jennifer (Jen) Auerbach-Rodriguez

Managing Director, Merrill Lynch, USA

Jennifer Auerbach-Rodriguez is Managing Director, Head of Acquisition, Strategic Growth and Retention at Bank of America. Making managing director at 34 at one of the largest financial services firms in the world, she is a passionate advocate for advancing women and people of colour in traditionally male-dominated industries. Auerbach-Rodriguez has served on numerous councils and networks throughout her tenure, including as the Executive Sponsor for the Women's Exchange, the Merrill Lynch Diversity and Inclusion Council and the Hispanic Latino Advisory Council. She is the recipient of a number of honours, including the 2016 Women’s Bond Club Rising Star Award, and 2016 Global Diversity & Inclusion Award by Bank of America. She was also recognized by the Paradigm for Parity coalition as one of 19 trailblazing women for breaking down barriers to help achieve true equality and full representation in corporate offices, and by Crain’s New York Business as one of 2020’s Rising Stars in Banking & Finance. Auerbach-Rodriguez holds a BA from Dartmouth College in Philosophy and an MBA from the Columbia Business School.

Aditi Avasthi

Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Embibe, India

Aditi Avasthi is Founder of India's EdTech AI platform Embibe. Embibe is creating learning outcomes at scale through personalising the delivery of education to students in emerging markets. Amongst its many patents and publications, Embibe was recently granted a patent proving learning outcomes being created through its adaptive learning machine. Aditi and her company are the recipients of numerous honours and awards, including: WEF Global Innovator, Accenture Innovator of the Year; CEO of the Year 2019, India; Woman Entrepreneur of the Year, Vogue; Woman of the Year 2018; CEO of the Year; Best AI Company in Education; BWDisrupt 40 Under 40 2017; BBC 100 Women 2017; Digital Disruptor, Maximum Business Impact; Woman Entrepreneur of the Year; Fortune 40 Under 40 2015.

Azeeza Aziz Khan

Director, Summit Corporation Ltd, Bangladesh

Azeeza Aziz Khan is an accomplished chartered accountant and member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. With a background in economics, finance and accounting, she is Managing Director, Finance and Accounts, at Summit Corporation and Summit Holdings. Khan contributes to various not-for-profit organizations, focusing on education, healthcare and empowering marginalized communities. This includes her participation in a leadership capacity within organizations such as UNICEF, Anjuman Aziz Charitable Trust, ICDDR,B. Khan is a strong advocate for women's rights and represents these causes through her involvement in SAARC Business Council of WICCI, ACCA Bangladesh, JAAGO Foundation, SEID Trust and Prothom Alo Trust, with noteworthy contributions such as devising policies that support women and children’s rights within the national budget and other various industries.

Moritz Baier-Lentz

Partner and Head of Gaming & Interactive Media, Lightspeed Venture Partners, USA

Moritz Baier-Lentz is a Partner and the Head of Gaming at Lightspeed Venture Partners, a globally leading venture capital firm with over $29 billion in capital under management and more than 500 investments across the U.S., Europe, and Asia.

Moritz loves to partner with exceptional entrepreneurs and has served as an investor, board member, and advisor to founders who led the creation of games like Fortnite, Call of Duty, League of Legends, Wild Rift, Apex Legends, Overwatch, Valorant, StarCraft II, and Warcraft III.

Previously, Moritz was a Vice President at Goldman Sachs, where he founded and led the firm's global gaming practice, and a #1 ranked professional video gamer among 13 million players of Blizzard's Diablo II. He was recognized among the ‘30 Under 30’ (Forbes), ‘40 Under 40’ (Capital), 'Young Leaders' (Atlantik-Brücke), and 'Young Global Leaders' (World Economic Forum). Moritz holds an M.B.A. and M.A. from Stanford University, where he graduated with distinction (Arjay Miller Scholar).

In his personal time, Moritz is an avid Ironman and ultramarathon athlete, including the 250 km Marathon des Sables and the World Marathon Challenge (7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 days).