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.

Daniel Feldman

Founder and Architect, Zona Industrial Taller de Arquitectura, Colombia

Daniel Feldman Founder and Chief Executive of ZITA (Zona Industrial Taller de Arquitectura), a mission-based architecture and urban design and development firm whose processes are rooted in community participatory design, environmental innovation, and historic preservation centered urban development. Since age 26, he has been a university educator leading architecture studios and seminars where he challenges his students to immerse themselves in complex social realities as a way of practice. He designed and developed multiple kindergartens in underserved rural communities as the Lead Architect in the office of the First Lady of Colombia, and was Head of Architecture at the Colombian office of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) where he led the infrastructure investments that support the extreme poverty reduction programme in war-stricken areas. The public buildings he has designed and developed within secluded and overlooked communities in Colombia, Brazil, Kenya and the US have been internationally awarded and published in multiple occasions including the ward for the Best Young Latin American Architect in the Venice Architecture Biennial, 2018. Feldman holds an MA in Urban Design from Harvard University as a Fulbright Scholar, and a BA in Architecture from Universidad de Los Andes.

Marlene Finny

Chief Financial Officer, Mexico

Marlene was selected as one of the 500 Latin Americans most influential, 2022 Bloomberg. In her role as CFO of Grupo México, she has managed to maintain the company with the lowest cash coast in the sector worldwide and return quarter after quarter dividends to its shareholders. Marlene is responsible for managing investments valued at US$2,274M.

Cristina Fonseca

Partner, Indico Capital Partners, Portugal

Cristina is Chief Executive Officer at Cleverly.ai, and Partner at Indico Capital Partners. Formerly she co-founded Talkdesk, which now has more than 1000 employees, and provides cloud call centre infrastructure to several thousand companies. Her experience as an entrepreneur has led her to play a fundamental role in shaping the current Portuguese entrepreneurial ecosystem. She mentors and invests in numerous tech companies in the areas of digital transformation, business applications, mental health, e-commerce and AI, and drives efforts in improving inclusion and diversity, which has granted her several honours and awards. She is the youngest board member of the largest energy company in Portugal, Galp, where she is also part of the Sustainability Committee.

Laure Forgeron

Chief Underwriting Officer Casualty, Swiss Re America Holding Corporation, USA

Laure is a Managing Director at Swiss Re and leader of the single risk business in EMEA. Leading a team of nearly 100 colleagues and managing premium income of USD1bn, she is the youngest Managing Director of this leading Global Risk carrier. Together with her team, she is fully engaged to deliver on Swiss Re's purpose to make the world more resilient. Beyond work, Laure is committed to empowering the disadvantaged. She is involved in initiatives to promote diversity, including being a champion for women in STEM, supporting entrepreneurship in Africa and Chair of philanthropy committee of the Swiss Re Foundation in Switzerland. She is the happy mother of three young children and lives in Zurich, Switzerland.

Jocelyn Formsma

Chief Executive Officer, National Association of Friendship Centres, Canada

Jocelyn Formsma is the CEO of the National Association of Friendship Centres (NAFC), a lawyer, Board Member of the Indigenous Bar Association, advisor to the Ontario Indigenous Youth Partnership Project, and recently appointed as a Board of Trustee of the Canadian Museum of Human Rights.

Ms. Formsma is a member of the Moose Cree First Nation in Northern Ontario, Canada and currently resides in Ottawa, Ontario. She holds an Honours Bachelor of Social Sciences and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Ottawa. Ms. Formsma has over 20 years of work and volunteer experience building strong relationships and advocacy on behalf of Indigenous peoples. She is called to the Bar of Ontario and has worked as a lawyer for a First Nations-owned law firm. In previous roles, Jocelyn was appointed to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance's Task Force on Women and the Economy, is past Chairperson of the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, volunteered in community radio, and was a Board Member of the National Indian Child Welfare Association.

As CEO, Ms. Formsma brings her legal training and passion for Access to Justice to her work with Indigenous peoples in urban environments and the Friendship Centre Movement towards innovative, positive, and effective systemic change for Indigenous peoples.

Badruun Gardi

Founder, New Nomad Institute, Mongolia

Badruun Gardi is a social innovator, creative strategist, and educator from Mongolia.

He is founder of the newly established New Nomad Institute, a research and action institute that aims to uncover the enduring knowledge of nomadic societies and apply those learnings towards addressing the climate crisis, particularly in the areas of climate migration and adaptation. Nomadic pastoralists have a unique and close relationship to nature, land, and other living beings. Positioned at the crossroads of research and education, the Institute tackles challenges spanning individual to national scales. The Institute’s initial research focus is on nomadism in Mongolia, where nearly a third of the population still maintains a traditional nomadic pastoralist way of life.

Badruun is also co-founder of GerHub, a nonprofit social innovation firm that develops creative solutions to the challenges caused by rapid urbanization in Mongolia. GerHub primarily works in the ger (traditional nomadic dwelling) areas of Ulaanbaatar, where over 60 percent of the city’s residents live, with little access to basic infrastructure for water, sewage, and heating. A key focus for GerHub is its work on adapting the ger dwelling to be more suitable in an urban context.

Passionate about nurturing the next generation of creative problem solvers, Badruun devotes significant time working with youth through teaching and mentorship. He is currently teaching Stanford University Structured Liberal Education’s pilot hybrid course on moral philosophy at a high school in Ulaanbaatar.

A lifelong fan of film and the performing arts, Badruun was previously creative executive at Salmira Productions, a company that develops, finances, and produces thought-provoking and conversation-catalyzing projects in film, theater, television, and podcasts.

Badruun is a member of the Climate Migration Council and serves on the boards of Arts Council of Mongolia, Mongolia Education Initiative, and Smart Air Mongolia. He is a former trustee of The Asia Foundation. As a 2023 Loeb Fellow, he spent an academic year in residence at Harvard University Graduate School of Design. Badruun holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and communication from Stanford University.

Barbara Garza

Operations & Product Strategist, Mexico

Barbara is a dynamic and visionary leader who has spearheaded impactful projects that prioritize inclusivity and innovation. Her extensive experience in multicultural settings has enabled her to gain valuable insights into diverse realities and needs, equipping her to tackle challenges with creativity and ingenuity. 

Throughout her career, Barbara has been passionate about driving change, promoting equality, and fostering innovation in a range of industries, including healthcare, ridesharing, food delivery, and crypto. She has held key roles in global startups, where she has made significant contributions to operations, strategy, and product development. 

Barbara earned a degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering from ITESM and a Certificate in Global Management from Grenoble Ecole de Management. She has been recognized as one of the 500 Latin Americans in 2022 by Bloomberg Línea, a prestigious honor awarded to only 54 Mexicans who are making significant contributions to business development and the economic landscape. In addition, she has been named one of the 50 Women of Impact in Latin America by Bloomberg Línea and has been included in Expansión's 30 promesas in Mexico, a list that recognizes young professionals under 40 who are making a meaningful impact in the business world.

Agon Gashi

Chief Executive Officer, Meridian, Kosovo

Agon is born and lives in Pristina, Kosovo. Agon graduated with a B.A. in Economics from Bard College in New York and he also completed a leadership program at IMD in Switzerland a few years later.

Agon joined his family business in June 2010, and in two years, he co-founded Meridian Express, a chain of neighborhood stores, now one of the leading retail companies in the country. In 2020, Agon managed to acquire 100% of SPAR Kosovo, an international chain of supermarkets.

Agon is a very active member of society and positively transforms Kosovo's business environment by showing that we can all do well by doing good. He is Vice-Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce, founder and board member of Kosovo CSR Network, founder and board member of the Kosovo Retail Association, and a signatory of WEPs (Women's Empowerment Principles).

In 2018, Agon led Meridian to become a New Champion at the World Economic Forum. Agon is currently the CEO of two retail companies in Kosovo (Meridian Express and SPAR) with more than 1000 employees and concrete plans to further expansion locally and regionally.

Laura Gersch

Member of the Board of Management; Chief Financial Officer, Allianz Lebensversicherungs-AG, Germany

Laura is CFO of Allianz Versicherungs-AG, the market leader of the German P/C insurance market serving more than 10 million customers. She is a strong advocate of the societal role of (life) insurance striving to contribute to the reduction of the gender pension gap in Germany by advocating financial literacy for women. She is a purpose-driven leader, who played an instrumental role in developing the purpose for Allianz Group while she was running the Group CEO Office of Oliver Bäte. Before joining Allianz, she worked for McKinsey & Company. She holds a double degree in International Business from European School of Business in Reutlingen, Germany and from Northeastern University in Boston, USA.

Marissa Giustina

Research Scientist and Quantum Electronics Engineer, Google, USA

Marissa Giustina is a staff research scientist and quantum electronics engineer. She developed and deployed superconducting device packaging that enabled Google’s unprecedentedly capable “quantum supreme” Sycamore processor. As head of device packaging and co-author of the team’s roadmap, Giustina is responsible for both research and engineering developments in the device integration that lies at the heart of the quantum computing hardware system. Giustina studied engineering at Dartmouth College with a focus on electrical and materials engineering, moving to foundational research in experimental quantum physics at Uni of Vienna. For her PhD (advised by quantum pioneer Anton Zeilinger), she designed and built a 60-meter-long precision apparatus, leading a local team and collaborating with senior scientists at five institutions to settle a 50-year outstanding challenge in the foundations of quantum mechanics. Giustina joined Google in 2016. As Google Quantum AI’s first female scientist, she helped grow the team to ~150 members. She is a highly sought-after speaker: as Senior Technical Spokesperson for Policy Engagements, she represents Google to prominent global academic, government, and media audiences. She prioritizes meeting students, especially from underrepresented backgrounds, undertaking one-on-one mentorships. Giustina featured in Fortune’s 40 Under 40, and Future 50. She served on US National Quantum Initiative Advisory Committee as its youngest member (2020-22)

Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty

Senior Vice-President, Delivery, Uber Technologies, USA

As Senior Vice President for Delivery, and member of the management board, Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty oversees the company's on-demand delivery efforts, including the Uber Eats app, which operates in more than 6,000 cities around the world. Prior to this role, he served as the Vice President for Uber's ride-hailing business outside of North America. After spending time at Goldman Sachs, starting a hedge fund at the age of 26, and harnessing a big urge to build something, Pierre joined Uber as the General Manager of France in 2012, launching Paris, Uber’s first international city. As one of the earliest members of the team, he scaled Uber across Europe before taking on the challenge of international expansion. He now brings his experience and expertise to Uber Eats. As a business leader, Pierre champions diversity and inclusion, and has become a driving force to empower women within and outside Uber. Pierre is an Executive Sponsor of the Women of Uber Employee Resource Group and a strong proponent of new ways to attract and retain female talent at Uber. He is a French citizen and lives in Amsterdam with his wife and two sons.

Megan Greenfield

Partner, McKinsey & Company, USA

Megan Greenfield, Ph.D., Partner with McKinsey & Company, is a recognized leader in healthcare, COVID-19 economic recovery, and advancing equity in the workplace. Megan works with healthcare companies across the value chain on how to drive growth. She helped design one of the first state-level COVID-19 economic recovery plans in the United States, building a framework that has been adopted by states, cities, and organizations nationwide. Megan is a champion for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and researches ways for employers to understand gender and racial bias within their companies (processes, benefits, etc.) so they can make changes to support their diverse employees. Megan has led numerous DEI executive meetings, authored several white papers, and is leading many DEI initiatives within McKinsey. Megan received her Ph.D. from Northwestern University in chemical and biological engineering and she holds a B.S. degree from the California Institute of Technology, where she majored in chemical engineering. Megan is a WEF Young Global Leader (Class of 2021) and on the Board of Advisors of the Museum of Science in Boston, Massachusetts.