Our Sister Organizations

The Global Shapers Community, the Forum of Young Global Leaders and the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship operate in partnership with the Forum. Collectively, they serve a community of more than 12,000 leaders and innovators, driving positive change in 150 countries.

The Global Shapers Community

The Global Shapers Community uses a hub-based model to empower young people aged 18 to 30 to improve the state of the world, one community at a time. What began in a few capital cities has grown into a global network of more than 500 hubs and 30,000 members working in government, business and civil society in more than 150 countries and territories.

Global Shapers work with local stakeholders to enhance their communities, address pressing challenges and create a sense of belonging. In 2024, Global Shapers led 440 initiatives focused on protecting the planet, strengthening democracy, supporting vulnerable communities and amplifying critical stories.

Among the highlights of the reporting period was the awarding of its inaugural Innovation Prize, an initiative supported by partners and the Global Alliance for YOUth. A total of 15 outstanding projects were recognized, including a career accelerator in Accra, Ghana, a mobility-improving navigation app in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and an AIpowered deforestation tracking tool in Morelia, Mexico. All will receive funding, mentorship and visibility, unlocking new possibilities in areas such as climate resilience, digital access and mental health.

The Global Shapers Community released the Global Shapers Impact Report: Engaging Young People in Decision-Making, the Forum’s flagship publication on advancing the issues that matter most to young people. Capturing insights from nearly 4,000 young experts from 140 countries, it is one of the most diverse data sets available on the youth agenda.

To meet this energy and ambition, the Global Shapers Community created meaningful opportunities for young professionals to connect, engage and lead during the year. This saw 10,700 young people access new skills through online leadership programmes, while 1,000 Global Shapers gathered at SHAPE events to strengthen regional ties. Alongside them, 500 hub leaders aligned on strategic priorities at the Global Shapers Annual Summit, 200 Global Shapers took part in Forum meetings, including 70 who took on speaking roles, 110 received executive coaching, and a further 110 contributed to wider Forum initiatives.

By integrating Global Shapers into the Forum’s work, the community strengthens its ability – and that of its partners – to anticipate emerging trends and priorities while driving intergenerational dialogue and action.

Image: Source: World Economic Forum / Marc Forzi

Forum of Young Global Leaders

The Forum of Young Global Leaders (YGLs) and the YGL Foundation are a “think and do tank” for leadership development and impact. The YGL mission is to cultivate a community of bold, forward-looking leaders who are committed to improving the state of the world. In doing so, it provides transformative leadership development opportunities to help these individuals contribute meaningfully to the future.

Leaders span sectors and disciplines and include heads of state and Fortune 500 executives as well as scientists, social entrepreneurs and artists. With more than 1,400 members and alumni in 120 countries, the YGL Foundation’s leadership programme helps fuel innovation and supports its leaders in forging alliances and developing solutions for a better world. Whether through AI, urban innovation, biomedicine or public health, YGLs are redefining what it means to lead in an age of rapid change.

The foundation’s priorities are anchored in preparing leaders to navigate complexity and drive positive change. Each year, the YGL Foundation welcomes more than 100 new members into a three-year development journey. This includes academic modules, leadership programmes, strategic convenings and opportunities to contribute to initiatives aligned with the Forum’s mission. The foundation’s core belief is that complexity is not a barrier; instead, it is an opportunity for bold, collaborative leadership.

During the reporting period, highlights included the YGL’s annual gathering – Future of Leadership Summit – at which nearly 500 YGLs convened in Singapore in 2024. The event focused on vision-setting, peer exchange and global foresight.

At the Annual Meeting 2025, 70 YGLs participated in sessions on future leadership, emphasizing people-first approaches to geopolitical, environmental and technological challenges.

Over the period, YGLs participated in learning journeys in India, Morocco, Nepal and the US, which offered first-hand insights into these countries’ transformations in governance, entrepreneurship and innovation. The YGL Fellowship continued to empower YGL women leaders from emerging markets, enabling their participation in the Annual Meeting.

The YGL Fellowship continued its longstanding support to emerging African leaders, enabling their full participation in YGL and Forum activities.

Alongside this, the YGLs continued their long-standing partnerships with universities. Among these is the Harvard Kennedy School and its executive education programme, Public Policy in the 21st Century, which explores issues like negotiation, changemaking, inclusive decision-making and climate leadership. In addition, YGLs took university modules in Buenos Aires, Cape Town and Hong Kong.

Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship

In partnership with the Forum, the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship convenes a global community of 500 pioneering social entrepreneurs and innovators. It believes in the power of these people to create systemic change and drive the transition to a stakeholder economy, and seeks to accelerate social innovation for a more equitable, sustainable and inclusive world by providing a platform to recognize, promote and advance proven social innovation solutions.

The foundation’s priorities focus on four key areas: community development through its annual awards, mobilizing private-sector support, developing policy insights and helping to reinforce the social innovation ecosystem.

Every year, the foundation develops its community of social entrepreneurs and innovators through the Schwab Foundation Awards. These recognize outstanding individuals and organizations in four categories: social entrepreneurs, corporate social innovators, public social innovators and collective social innovators.

The Schwab Foundation mobilizes the private sector to support social innovation, create partnerships and encourage companies to adopt social innovation principles. This is achieved through initiatives like the Rise Ahead Pledge, the Corporate Leadership Council and the Corporate Social Innovation Compass.

The foundation offers policy insights, data and best practices to advance the social innovation agenda globally. It plays a vital role in supporting the development and adoption of social economy policies. Key initiatives in this area include the Policy Leadership Council on the Social Economy and The State of Social Enterprise report.

The Schwab Foundation is dedicated to reinforcing the social innovation ecosystem. It does so by elevating proven innovators, advocating for critical emerging issues that drive economies and societies, such as AI (AI for Impact: Strengthening AI Ecosystems for Social Innovation), innovative finance (Beyond Compliance: Embedding Impact through Innovative Finance) and climate adaptation (Unlocking the Social Economy: Towards Equity in the Green and Digital Transitions).

Among its highlights during the reporting period were the meetings it organized for its Collective Social Innovation awardees in Geneva, Switzerland and Bengaluru, India. These meetings aimed to maximize collective action on complicated global issues, bringing together more than 40 organizations from 20 countries to share strategies.

The foundation welcomed 42 social entrepreneurs and innovators to the Annual Meeting 2025 and announced the 2025 Social Entrepreneurs and Innovators of the Year. The 18 new awardees came from 15 organizations working to transform healthcare and education, create livelihoods for economically marginalized communities, protect nature and drive systemic change.