New Class
We are delighted to welcome nearly 100 new Young Global Leaders to our community of outstanding people addressing the world's most pressing problems. From courageous journalists uncovering the most critical political and human rights issues of our time to savvy entrepreneurs transforming the way we work with technology, this year's class is packed with brilliant minds and passionate leaders from business, civil society, academia, and government. Discover the new class:
10 YGLs in Latin America

Mariana Dias
Mariana is the Co-founder and CEO of Gupy. After working at large companies such as Unilever and Ambev, Mariana founded Gupy to transform the process of hiring employees, making the experience more agile and fair. Mariana holds a degree in Business Administration from the University of São Paulo, with an exchange program at the College of Mount Saint Vincent and a postgraduate degree in entrepreneurship and innovation from Stanford University.

Agustina Fainguersch
Agustina is the Regional Director for Spanish-speaking South America and Miami for Meta (formerly known as Facebook). Before her arrival to the company, Fainguersch was CEO and Funding Partner of Wolox, an Argentine digital transformation company that provides technological solutions for companies in the process of digital innovation, which was later acquired by Accenture. She then served in Accenture as Managing Director until the end of January 2022. Today she’s also a professor at the Executive MBA of Universidad de San Andres.
She is an Engineer and has a Master's Degree in Software from Instituto Tecnológico de Buenos Aires (ITBA), and has extensive experience in projects with high technological impact. In 2016, she won a scholarship to be part of the Global Solutions Program at Singularity University and the Launchpad at SU Labs at NASA, Silicon Valley. In 2017 she was recognized by MIT among the 35 innovators under 35. In 2018 she received the Argentine Digital Innovation Profile Award. Her project Muzi received recognition as an innovative project with social impact by the Argentine Creative Circle and the Sadosky Award for innovation; and in 2019 she was selected as an Endeavor Entrepreneur.
In 2019 she was recognized as the “Nearshore Executive of the Year” by Nearshore Americas, in
2020 she was selected as “EY Entrepreneur of the Year” and in 2021 and 2022 and 2023 she was selected as one of the top 100 most influential CEOs in Argentina by the HORSE ranking. In 2022 she was also selected President of the Engineering Week of CAI, Argentine Engineer Center.

Marlene Finny
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.

Barbara Garza
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.

Juan Pablo Mata
Juan Pablo Mata is an experienced leader with extensive experience in the food & beverages industry. Skilled in market planning, business planning, entrepreneurship, market analysis, and team leadership. Juan Pablo studied finance & economics at Babson College where he graduated in 2008. In 2015, he completed a MBA at the Wharton School of business in the University of Pennsylvania focused in strategic management. Juan Pablo holds an Executive General Management Program from Harvard University. In 2020 he was appointed CEO of Apex Global Mobility where he leads the corporate units including the total societal impact agenda where he is leading the circular economy and social fabric strategy for the group.

Miguel Medina
Miguel is a young public leader that is currently the Ministry of Trade and Investment. Before joining the Government of Honduras, Miguel worked as a General Manager for the second largest gas retail company in Honduras. He was also the Director of Corporate projects for Grupo Montecristo, a Honduran family owned conglomerate with investment in renewable energy. Miguel has a MBA from Georgetown University; and a bachelor of Arts in Business Leadership from the University of Dallas.

Avital Saskia Niño de Rivera Cover
Saskia is a Mexican-American national. She has a Master’s in Human Rights and Fundamental Principles and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. She is the President of the non-profit organization Reinserta, which she founded when she was 24 years old, in order to fight for a safer Mexico through its penitentiary system. Previously, she worked at the National Anti-Kidnap Coordination of the Mexican Secretariat of Government. In 2015, she led the creation of the “maternity in prison” section of the Criminal Execution Law, and was invited to create and work for the Social Responsibility Agenda 2015-2016. In 2014, Saskia participated in a number of workshops for the Mexican criminal system reform. Saskia was selected as a Mexican leader of the women’ s first generation of Raising Talent Women’ s Forum and as one of the 3,000 Ashoka Fellows. She was nominated for the Nelson Mandela – Graça Machel Innovation Awards 2016 and was named “Next Generation Leader” by Time Magazine. She was awarded with the UBS Visionaries 2016 prize, is recognized by Global Shapers and Women’ s Forum Rising Talent México, and is a Vital Voices Ambassador as of 2016. She received an American School Foundation Leadership award in 2006, was named an Ashoka Fellow in 2015, was named a Next Generation Leaders by TIME Magazine in 2015, and was selected by FORBES Magazine in 2016 as one of the TOP 100 powerful women. Saskia was selected as a 2019 Global Leadership Award Honoree and a VVLead Ambassador. Saskia works within the prisons and the country’s most dangerous neighborhoods in order to change the extremely rough environments that funnel Mexicans into crime.

Marta Pinheiro
Before becoming a partner/Director, Marta was head of business development, leading a team focused on innovation, management and transformation of XP Inc. businesses. Previous to XP Inc, Marta worked worked in strategy and management consulting. She holds a degree in public administration. She is the leader of the MLHR3 group, which was responsible for XP Inc. commitment to reach 50% women in all hierarchical levels by 2025.

Adriana Tudela
Adriana Josefina Tudela Gutiérrez is a Peruvian lawyer, businesswoman and politician of Spanish origin. She is a congressman of the republic for the period 2021-2026.

Felipe Valencia-Dongo
Felipe Valencia-Dongo is Managing Partner at Grupo Estrategia. In Grupo Estrategia they work with large-scale investment projects in Latin America to achieve Social Acceptance (permission to enter or start a project) and Sustainable Relationship (long-term harmonious relationship with the communities and social organizations of the project's area of influence). He articulates efforts between the private sector, communities, and the public sector to achieve sustainable development for the three of them. Grupo Estrategia is a social-purposed firm that has articulated private investments for social good for +USD 500 million.
He was appointed as the youngest President in 60 years of CADE Ejecutivos (the annual gathering for Peruvian business leaders, politicians, and civil society). He served as CEO & Fund Manager of an investment fund in higher education. He also served as Advisor to Peru’s Prime Minister and as Advisor to Peru’s Minister of Education while implementing the Educational Reform in Peru. He worked in poverty reduction with Muhammad Yunus at the Grameen Creative Lab and in the Ministry of Development and Social Inclusion of Peru.
Felipe is a former Global Shaper. He has served as Vice-President and Member of the Board of IPAE (the most relevant private sector non-profit organization in Peru, it promotes development and competitiveness).
Felipe graduated with honours in Economics from Universidad del Pacifico (Lima, Peru) and holds a Master’s degree in the University of Cambridge as a Chevening Scholar.