Young Global Leaders

The organization was created by Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum and is managed from Geneva, Switzerland, under the supervision of the Swiss government.

"[4] Skeptics suggest that the grouping is "instrumental in shaping policy around the world, undermining democratic principles, and creating obedient and compliant servants"[5] In dispelling such conspiracy theories of the influence of the organisation, Michelle Rempel, a Canadian Conservative politician who found out she had been selected as a Young Global Leader in 2016 with an email that she initially had assumed was spam, noted that the 2017 meeting was "no different in feel from an academic conference, if a bit more global in nature and with more high-profile politicians and CEOs in attendance.

[9][10][11] There have been many hundreds of honorees, including several popular celebrities, alongside recognized high achievers and innovators in politics, business, academia, media, and the arts.

[12] The group presently comprises some 1400 individuals, many of whom head numerous governments and Fortune 500 companies, have won Nobel Peace Prizes and Grammy Awards, and are UN Goodwill Ambassadors.

The selection criteria are strict, requiring that individuals at start-ups be founders, chief executive officers or chairs of boards (especially of series C start-ups and unicorns), individuals in the public sector be ministers, parliament members, mayors of capital cities or highly populated cities, governors, or heads of political parties and for civil society leaders to be founders and chief executive officers of consequential civil society organizations or social enterprises, or hold a senior leadership role in a large global NGO.