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.

Akudo Anyanwu

Vice President of Development, Texas Biomedical Research Institute, USA

Dr. Akudo Anyanwu is an award-winning global health expert, public health innovator and social entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience in the field of international development. She is an Associate Dean at Johns Hopkins University and the Founder of Friends Africa, a pan-African organization that fights AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria by mobilizing African businesses, governments and NGOs. She has also served on the boards of Roll Back Malaria, the Global Health Council and the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. Anyanwu's pioneering work on the Gift from Africa Campaign has been recognized by the Rockefeller Foundation as a top 100 next century innovation. She has also been recognized as Tufts University's Distinguished Service Award (21015), a Harvard School of Public Health Innovator of the Year (2013), an Ogunte Social Leader of the Year (2013) and Stevie Innovator and Social Entrepreneur of the Year (2012). Anyanwu holds a MD in Medicine from Tufts University, an MSc in Public Health from Harvard University and a BSc in Molecular Biology from Lehigh University.

Paolo Benigno Aquino IV

Co-Founder and President, Hapinoy, Philippines

Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino is the youngest Senator of the 16th Congress of the Republic of the Philippines. In 2003, he became the youngest head of a government agency when, at 25, was appointed as the Chairperson of the National Youth Commission, the primary national policy-making body for Filipino youth. Bam also co-founded the social enterprise Hapinoy, which has received global awards for helping lift poor Filipinos out of poverty through micro-finance and micro-enterprise support. Bam has dedicated his entire career to empowering the youth and the poor, helping thousands of Filipinos improve their lives through access to opportunities and crucial support systems. Because of this work, he was named one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines in 2010, one of the Asian Social Entrepreneurs of the Year in 2011 and one of the Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World in 2012.

Yara Argueta

Member of the Board, Mergers and Acquisitions and Expansion, Grupo Solid SA, Guatemala

Former CEO of Grupo Solid, market leader of Paints and Coatings in Central America with headcount of 1,500 employees and above US$ 100 million in turnover. Currently became board member of Grupo Solid, also in charge of M&A and expansion.
Yara was appointed as one of the most powerful woman in Central America by Forbes Magazine in 2016, and as one of five more admired women in Central America by the business magazine Estrategia y Negocios, for three consecutive years (2008, 2009 and 2010). Honored as Distinguished Professional of the year by INCAE Business School in 2013.
Member of the Central America Leadership Initiative – CALI / Aspen Global Network. President and Mentor of Vital Voices´ Guatemalan Chapter. Board Member of the Guatemalan Board of INCAE Business School. Has served as Industrial Engineering Director in Universidad Rafael Landivar. Electoral Coordinator and Delegate for the last four Guatemalan presidential elections.
Yara has an MBA from INCAE, an Industrial Engineer degree from Universidad Rafael Landivar and additional education in Harvard Kennedy School and in Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Marisol Argueta de Barillas

Head of the Regional Agenda, Latin America; Member of the Executive Committee, World Economic Forum, USA

Head of Latin America and Member of the Executive Committee at the World Economic Forum. Salvadoran lawyer and career Ambassador. Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of El Salvador. She served as Director General of Foreign Policy and was a Diplomatic Officer at the Embassy of El Salvador in Washington DC and at the Salvadoran Diplomatic Representation to the United Nations in New York. She holds a degree in Law and a master’s degree in diplomacy from the University of Oxford, England. With specialized studies at the International Peace Academy, Harvard University and the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania, USA. She has received awards and National Decorations from Spain, Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Peru, Italy and the USA. She is a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, and a Central American Leadership Initiative Fellow by the Aspen Institute and has been recognized by various publications among the most distinguished regional women leaders. She has published articles on international affairs, regional integration, gender issues and sustainable development. She serves in various Advisory Boards.

Andrea Armani

Professor, Viterbi School of Engineering, University of Southern California (USC), USA

BA in Physics, University of Chicago; PhD in Applied Physics, California Institute of Technology. Currently, Sr Director of Engineering and Physical Sciences at the Ellison Institute of Transformative Medicine and Irani Chair and Professor of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Southern California. Research is focused on advanced functional materials for integrated photonics for telecommunications and cancer diagnostics/prognostics. Fellow: Optica, SPIE, AAAS. 2015 Northrop Grumman Faculty Fellow.

Riad Armanious

Chief Executive Officer, Eva Pharma, Egypt

Riad is a serial entrepreneur that strives to empower the fight for health as a human right with a focus on Africa. He heads the Eva group which is one of the leading pharma and personal care organizations in the MENA region. Riad is an active member in the YPO (Young Presidents Association), Vice chairman of the Egyptian Industrial Chamber of Pharmaceuticals, founder and former president of the Association HBS alumni in Egypt. Moreover, Riad is the founder and a member in the "T20" foundation, a non-governmental organization that focuses on utilizing the knowledge of highly educated youth to develop people for social and economic improvement. Riad has a Bachelor of Pharmacy from Cairo University and an MBA degree from Harvard Business School.

Steve Arora

Reinsurance Executive, Switzerland

Degree in Economics, Muhlenberg College; GE Capital Financial Management Program (FMP); Swiss Re Group Management Development Program; STARS Symposium for Leaders of the Next Generation. Diverse track record of experiences; has held roles in various financial services industries, geographic locations, and with various functional responsibilities. Has lived in the US, Germany, UK, Switzerland, Japan and Saudi Arabia. Currently, Member, Reinsurance Executive Committee, Swiss Re; Division Head, Casualty Reinsurance. Young Global Leader, World Economic Forum (2015).

Maria Antonia Odelia Arroyo

Principal and Co-Founder, Ignite Impact Fund, Philippines

Maoi Arroyo is a serial entrepreneur, impact investor, educator, and biologist. In 2018, she became the founder and principal of the Ignite Impact Fund, the first fund focused exclusively on eradicating income and access poverty in the Philippines.

Her entrepreneurship career began when she founded Hybridigm Consulting, the premier and pioneering innovation consulting and commercialization firm in the Philippines. In the last 14 years, the firm has developed policy for the Philippine government, facilitated over $3.5M in biotech investments, trained over 17,000 aspiring entrepreneurs, and created 3,500 jobs.

In addition, she has also co-founded a social enterprise that now supplies pasteurized eggs to 5 major hotels in the Philippines, a fashion brand that upcycles leather jackets into bags, a media company that promotes independent Filipino films, and a property development firm.

Over the last decade, Ms Arroyo has received several honors. She was hailed by Entrepreneur Magazine as one of the top 35 entrepreneurs under 35 in 2006, was the youngest PhilDev Foundation USA honoree for her contributions to national development through science and technology (2010). Ms Arroyo is also a 2011 Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) awardee – and the only woman in that year. The TOYM is the most prestigious award given to Filipinos under 40 and is presented by the President of the Republic of the Philippines. In 2013 she was one of the DevEx 40 under 40 International Development Leaders, and selected one of the UK Foreign Commonwealth Office's International Leaders in 2014. She was named as one of the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders of 2015 and served on the forum's Global Future Council on SDG Investment from 2020-2022.

Ms. Arroyo is also an adjunct professor at the Asian Institute of Management; where she teaches Innovation and Entrepreneurship. She obtained an MPhil in Bioscience Enterprise from the University of Cambridge, and her first degree in Biology (BS) from the University of the Philippines.

Yara Asad

Private Sector Development-B2B and Matchmaking Consultant, World Bank, USA

Yara Asad is a Senior Private Sector Development Consultant with the World Bank Group’s (WBG) Private Sector for Refugees Project (PS4R). Yara has four years of experience working with the WBG, primarily on Private Sector Development - B2B and Matchmaking, focusing on vulnerable groups of refugees, migrants and women. Prior to that Yara served as the Project Manager and Research Lead at Building Markets-focusing on building the supply chain for Small and Medium size businesses (SMEs) in crisis affected countries. Between 2015-2017, Yara worked as a Lead Middle East and North Africa Researcher and Policy Analyst at Wolfensohn and Company under a project on the MENA 2050. Previously, she was the Director General for the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Palestine from January 2011- December 2014, a venture through which she focused on promoting regional and international trade relations. Parallel to that, Yara was the Chief Executive Officer of the Jerusalem Arbitration Centre. An initiative that aims to create a mechanism for Palestinian and Israeli businesses to resolve commercial disputes via arbitration.

Yara holds a Master of Public Administration (MPA) from Harvard Kennedy School of Government and is an Edward Mason Fellow of Public Policy. Her first publication at Ivey School was in January 2011, and focused on international marketing.

Tewodros Ashenafi

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Southwest Holdings, Ethiopia

Tewodros Ashenafi is Founder and Chairman of SouthWest Holdings Ltd., a leading Ethiopian holding company, and Chairman of Ambo Mineral Water, one of the leading beverage brands in Ethiopia and part of Coca Cola Beverages Africa. Mr. Ashenafi is the local partner and did the largest privatization and private transaction in Ethiopian history, the $1.4 billion enterprise value privatization of (NTE), were he joined as board director, and JTI. He is also the Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of SouthWest Energy (HK), an African indigenous oil and gas exploration company, which is the top 10 acreage holder in East Africa. Ashenafi started his career at Merrill Lynch & Co. He serves on the Board of the EastWest Institute, a leading security think. He is also on the International Advisory Board of Atlantic Council, a non-partisan institution devoted to promoting transatlantic cooperation and international security, he is on the Advisory Board of Cepheus Growth Capital Partners a leading Ethiopian-focused private equity firm. Mr. Ashenafi is on the Advisory Board of the Columbia University Africa Centre. Mr. Ashenafi is a member of Young President's Organisation (YPO) Intercontinental Chapter. Ashenafi holds a degree in Economics from Columbia University and is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School. He was nominated as a Young Global Leader (YGL) Davos 2009.

Iwao Aso

Group Chairman, ASO Corporation, Japan

Iwao Aso is President of the Aso Corporation and Group Chairman of the Aso Group, with interests in the fields of infrastructure, environmental solutions, healthcare, education and lifestyle services. He is also a Director of Dwango Co. Aso started his career in the family business as auditor at Aso Cement. He also served in the Aso Group as a director, executive director, senior managing director and vice-president. Prior, Aso worked as a trainee in Hongkong Land, Colliers Jardine in Hong Kong and the financial instruments development division in Shinsei Bank. Aso completed his undergraduate studies at Keio University with a BA in Economics. He also majored in international relations at the University of Cambridge.

Martin Aspillaga

Managing Director, Sociedad Gestora de Fondos de Inversión Salkantay Capital Partners, Peru

Martin Aspillaga is Managing Director and Founder of Salkantay Partners. He is a PE and VC professional investor. Prior, he worked at Enfoca Investments, Bain & Company, McKinsey & Company and as a Peruvian bank regulator. He is a teacher, mentor and instructor and has published poetry, short stories and articles. He has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA in Economics from Universidad del Pacifico.