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.

Sarah Rawson

Regional Head of Business Management EMEA, Swiss Re Services Limited, United Kingdom

Sarah Rawson is an Actuary by trade, and quickly rose to become one of the youngest Managing Directors at Swiss Re. She is responsible for a large portfolio of Life & Health Insurance coverages across several countries. Sarah leads 280 people from many cultural backgrounds and serves as the Appointed Actuary for Swiss Re Europe and a member of Swiss Re's Management Committee. She is an influential voice for key decisions on topics that are often strategic but complex and provides significant steer to the business.

Atika Rehman

Deputy Editor, The Third Pole, United Kingdom

Atika Rehman is a journalist with over a decade of experience working as a reporter and editor in Pakistan. She is now based in the UK, where she is the foreign correspondent for Dawn, a widely respected English daily in Pakistan. Atika covers a breadth of local and international stories. She reports on Pakistani politics and the sizeable British Pakistani community in the UK and covers major developing stories such as Brexit, the elections and landmark court cases. Previously, she was the Managing Editor of Dawn.com, Pakistan's highest traffic English news site which has a digital audience of 90 million a month. Currently, Atika is also the Deputy Editor at The Third Pole, a digital publication which covers Asia's water crisis and its effects on migration, food security and livelihoods. Her work has earned both national and international recognition. Atika is a 2019 Acumen Fellow.

Eva Scherer

Independent, Germany

Eva Scherer is a leader in the Siemens finance community and a diversity advocate. She took over the regional Chief Financial Officer role at age 27 to set up the Middle East/Asia-Pacific headquarters for the Building Technologies division in Singapore. Secured various projects promoting energy efficiency and sustainability across the region, including the company's involvement in the Greener Government Buildings programme in Australia. After five years in Asia, transferred to Germany in 2017 to head the global finance and controlling function for the Mobility division and played an instrumental role in setting up Siemens Mobility as separately managed company within the Siemens Group. From 2020 to 2022 she led the Rail Infrastructure and Software businesses at Siemens Mobility as Chief Financial Officer with the mission of making sustainable transport easily and conveniently accessible to foster decarbonization and improve air quality. As of October 2022, she was appointed Head of Group Investor Relations at Siemens, and serves as interface between Siemens and the capital markets, while continuing to fight for reducing emissions and making air breathable for everyone as the Co-chair of the World Economic Forum‘s Alliance for Clean Air.

Virginijus Sinkevicius

Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, European Commission, Belgium

Virginijus Sinkevičius has been the European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries since 2019. He was formerly the Minister of Economy of Lithuania (2017-2019). Before becoming the Minister of Economy, Sinkevičius led the Economic Committee of the Parliament of Lithuania. Sinkevičius was elected to Parliament in October 2016. Before that, he was a Team Lead for Regulatory Affairs at Invest Lithuania. Prior to joining Invest Lithuania, Sinkevičius was Managing Editor at the US Office of The Lithuanian Tribune in Washington D.C. Sinkevičius holds a BA in International Relations and Affairs from Aberystwyth University and a Master’s degree in European International Affairs from Maastricht University.

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).

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.

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.

Stacey Tank

Chief Corporate Affairs and Transformation Officer, HEINEKEN, Netherlands

In addition to being the first woman and youngest executive to hold her position, Stacey Tank serves five non-profit boards, including those focused on environmental impact and the arts.

Fagun Thakrar

Founder & CEO, Actor, Film Director, Global Health Advocate and Ambassador, The Purpose Movie Studio, United Kingdom

Fagun Thakrar is a Founder and CEO, an award-winning & critically acclaimed actor, film director, a doctor and a global health ambassador.

Fagun was selected as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2023.

Fagun began her education studying Medicine at the University College London where she specialized in Neuroscience. She then went on to study a range of disciplines to Master’s level. Fagun holds an MBA from the University of Cambridge, Masters in Acting from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in the UK and Film Directing from the US.

As an actor, Fagun has appeared in several Hollywood and international films and has starred alongside Academy Award winners. Her films, released in cinemas internationally, have been selected for festivals and have won awards. Fagun’s focus is cinematic roles with strong intellectual meaningful content that encourages positive global change.

As a writer-director Fagun further explores the power of creativity and storytelling through film to create social-impact content. Expanding upon her practical experience and academic research carried out at the University of Cambridge, Fagun established The Purpose Movie Studio, where she serves as the Founder and CEO.

Fagun has recently expanded her vision with an innovative venture that revolutionizes purpose-driven cinema by integrating Artificial Intelligence in filmmaking. This approach creates a powerful combination of human creative talent and artificial intelligence, crafting some of the finest films of our era. The Studio focuses on the power of storytelling through films and documentaries to create purpose-driven content that impacts positive change worldwide. ​​

Fagun actively engages in both local and global non-profit initiatives, focusing on children, girls, women, and the healthcare sector. She has earned recognition as a worldwide advocate for health and well-being, working with underprivileged children, world leaders, and presidents.

Fagun is the Global Ambassador and spokesperson for many non-profits, including The Women’s Brain Project. Building on her experience in this field, Fagun founded her own non-profit, The Creatively Inspired Life Foundation, that is dedicated to empowering young people through creativity.

Fagun’s expertise spans three major disciplines: Creativity and Storytelling in Global Influence; Innovating at the Intersection of Film and Artificial Intelligence; and Leading Transformational Initiatives in Healthcare and Non-Profits.

Under Fagun’s leadership she has profoundly impacted and touched the lives of millions of people. Fagun currently lives and works between the UK and the US. Fagun’s life story is one of impactful transformation, driven by her core mission to inspire people, transform lives, and drive positive global change.

Anahita Thoms

Partner, International Trade Practice, Baker McKenzie, Germany

Anahita Thoms is an award-winning lawyer who focuses her practice on global investigations, in the field of sustainability and international trade law, including sanctions, export controls, foreign investment review, data protection, business and human rights. She leads Baker McKenzie's International Trade Practice in Germany and is a Member of the firm's Europe, Middle East and African regional Steering Committee for the Compliance & Investigations Group. She is a Board Member of Atlantik-Brücke, serves on the National Committee of Unicef Germany and is Advisory Board Member of the Sustainable Finance Council of the German Federal Government. She is a regularly interviewed by media outlets as an expert and is a speaker at international conferences on diverse topics, such as trade, sustainability, diversity and ethics. Anahita is committed to giving back to society and is passionate about human rights and the fight against modern slavery.

David Upton

Managing Director; Chief of Staff, Public Policy and Corporate Responsibility, Barclays PLC, United Kingdom

David is based in London and has a broad remit focused on bringing together the different aspects of the global Public Policy and Corporate Responsibility agenda to help drive Barclays' strategy. As part of the Group CEO Office, David works closely with senior stakeholders across the bank on a range of Group-wide issues and is responsible for the operation of the Group Executive Committee. Previously, he helped to lead the development and execution of Barclays Compliance Strategy and advised on issues relating to Conduct and Reputation Risk, regulatory engagement, and executive governance. Before Barclays, David worked at the Bank of England and the Financial Services Authority in Strategic Business Planning and Human Resources. He graduated with a degree in Physics from the University of Warwick.