What Is 100 Global Leaders for Tomorrow

Overview

The 100 Global Leaders for Tomorrow is a prestigious initiative launched by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in 1992 under the leadership of founder Klaus Schwab. Originally named Global Leaders for Tomorrow, the program was rebranded to Young Global Leaders in 2003 to better reflect its focus on emerging talent from around the world. The inaugural Young Global Leaders class in 2005 comprised an impressive 237 young leaders, establishing the foundation for what would become one of the world's most influential networks of emerging talent and future decision-makers across multiple sectors and geographies.

Today, the program has evolved into a globally recognized platform for identifying and nurturing the world's most promising young leaders who are shaping the future across business, government, civil society, and culture. The community now comprises approximately 1,400 individuals, many of whom have risen to positions of extraordinary influence, including heads of state, chief executives of Fortune 500 companies, Nobel Peace Prize laureates, Grammy Award winners, and United Nations Goodwill Ambassadors. These leaders collectively influence billions of people and trillions of dollars in economic activity, making the Young Global Leaders network one of the most powerful peer networks in the world today.

How It Works

The selection process for Young Global Leaders is highly selective and merit-based, designed to identify individuals with exceptional potential to make a meaningful impact on global challenges and opportunities. Unlike many leadership programs, candidates cannot simply apply to join the initiative. Instead, leaders are identified through a rigorous nomination and vetting process that evaluates their achievements, vision, and potential to contribute to solving global problems. The process involves multiple stages of review to ensure only the most qualified candidates are selected each year.

• Nomination Process: Prospective leaders are nominated by existing members, organizations, and WEF networks, ensuring that only those with demonstrated excellence and promise are considered for membership in this exclusive community.
• Age Requirement: All candidates must be younger than 38 years old at the time of acceptance, ensuring the program focuses on emerging leaders who will shape the next decades of global development and innovation.
• Sector-Specific Criteria: Selection standards vary by sector; in the business world, individuals must typically be founders, chief executive officers, or board chairs of growth-stage companies and unicorns, while in government, candidates must be ministers, parliament members, mayors of major cities, governors, or heads of political parties.
• Third-Party Vetting: The leading global talent firm Heidrick and Struggles conducts independent vetting of nominees to ensure candidates meet the program's rigorous standards and bring diverse perspectives and expertise to the community.
• Selection Committee: A prestigious international selection committee, chaired by Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan, reviews vetted candidates and makes final selections, bringing royal and global diplomatic perspective to the evaluation process.
• Annual Selection: Approximately 100 new leaders are selected each year from a global pool of nominees, maintaining a steady influx of fresh talent and perspectives into the established community while preserving the program's exclusivity and prestige.

Key Details

The Young Global Leaders network operates as a community of peers who collaborate on addressing global challenges including climate change, technological disruption, geopolitical tensions, and economic inequality. Members benefit from exclusive access to WEF's annual meeting in Davos and regional forums, opportunities to participate in focused task forces and working groups, and the ability to leverage the network's collective knowledge, resources, and influence to drive meaningful change in their respective fields and communities.

Why It Matters

• Influence and Authority: Young Global Leaders occupy positions of significant power and influence across governments, multinational corporations, international organizations, and civil society, giving the network the ability to shape global policy, business strategy, and social change on an unprecedented scale.
• Diverse Expertise: The program brings together individuals from dozens of countries and sectors, including technology, healthcare, finance, manufacturing, education, environmental sustainability, and the arts, creating a truly multidisciplinary network capable of addressing complex, interconnected global challenges.
• Peer Network Benefits: Members leverage their peer relationships to collaborate on innovative solutions, share best practices, exchange insights, and support each other's work, creating value that extends far beyond individual achievements and amplifies impact across sectors and borders.
• Emerging Talent Pipeline: The network serves as a crucial pipeline for identifying and developing the next generation of global leaders, ensuring that promising individuals have access to mentorship, resources, and platforms to advance their impact and influence on the world stage.
• Track Record of Achievement: The community's members have established proven track records of solving complex problems, building successful organizations, driving innovation, and advancing social progress, providing confidence in their ability to address future challenges.

The significance of the Young Global Leaders program extends beyond the individual achievements of its members; it represents a commitment by the World Economic Forum to foster a more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable global future. By bringing together exceptional leaders from diverse backgrounds and sectors, the program creates a unique platform for collaboration, innovation, and collective problem-solving. The network's influence on global governance, business practices, technological development, and social progress has been substantial and continues to grow as new cohorts of leaders join the community and rise to positions of greater influence and responsibility across the world.