To inform our work in revitalizing democracy and empowering the next generation of diverse citizen politicians, we draw on perspectives from distinguished leaders from various backgrounds and regions. Our Global Advisor Network focuses on well-established leaders and includes politicians, social entrepreneurs, academics and more. Our New Voices Council draws specifically on younger (under 35) leaders to help address the underrepresentation of young people in politics.
Global Advisor Network
Helen Clark
Served three successive terms as Prime Minister of New Zealand between 1999 and 2008 and is a respected global leader on sustainable development, gender equality and international cooperation
Alexander Stubb
Served as Prime Minister of Finland from 2014 to 2015. Director of the School of Transnational Governance
Abdullahi Alim
Leads the World Economic Forum’s network of Global Shapers across Africa and the Middle East. WA Young Australian of the Year 2017
Ada Williams Prince
Senior advisor at Pivotal Ventures, an investment and incubation company by Melinda Gates. International development and humanitarian professional
Axelle Lemaire
Global Head of Terra Numerata and French former Socialist politician
Betsy Williams
Chair and Founder of Emerging Public Leaders
Bruno Sánchez-Andrade
Spanish politician from the pan-European VOLT party. Led Big Data innovation at the World Bank Innovation Labs
Daniella Ballou-Aares
CEO of the Leadership Now Project and former Senior Advisor for Development to US Secretaries of State John Kerry and Hillary Clinton
Facundo Garreton
Congressman from Tucumán, National Congress of Argentina and entrepreneur
Farah Mohamed
Former CEO, Malala Fund, founder and CEO of G(irls)20. Worked for several Canadian politicians including as Director of Communications to Anne McLellan, Deputy Prime Minister
Frances Prenn
Strategic philanthropy and fundraising consultant and Advisor to The McCain Institute, advancing character-driven leadership
Gemma Mortensen
Award-winning social entrepreneur and Co-Founder and Vice-Chair of More In Common
Guilherme Coelho
Founder of República.org, a social organisation supporting the Brazilian public service
Halla Tómasdóttir
CEO and Chief Change Catalyst of The B Team and presidential candidate in Iceland in 2016
Jason Yat-Sen Li
Corporate advisor and investor. Active member and former candidate for the Australian Labor Party and advisor of Refugee Talent
Joachim Koschnicke
Formerly advisor to Chancellor Angela Merkel as Head of Strategic Planning and Strategic Communication
John Dutton
Head of UpLink and Member of the Executive Committee for the World Economic Forum
Nicolas Shae
Founder & Executive Chairman at Cumplo & ConTodo in Chile
Jules Chappell
British communications specialist, current CEO of London & Partners Events and formerly Britain's youngest Ambassador
Mabel Van Oranje
Human rights activist and social entrepreneur. Chair of Girls Not Brides and co-founder of War Child Netherlands
Marietje Schaake
International policy director at Stanford University’s Cyber Policy Center and former Member of European Parliament for the Dutch liberal democratic party
Martha Lane Fox
Businesswoman, philanthropist and public servant
Matthew Anderson
Expert in communications. Former executive for Roku, News Corporation and Ogilvy
Moisés Naím
Venezuelan journalist, writer and a Distinguished Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Noura Berrouba
Member of the Governing Body of the European Youth Parliament (EYP)
Patrick Gaspard
Lifelong community activist, former American diplomat and former president of the Open Society Foundations
Rebecca M. Henderson
American economist, currently a Professor at Harvard Business School
Silvana Koch-Merin
President and Founder of Women Political Leaders (WPL) and former Vice-President of the European Parliament
Catherine E. De Vries
Political scientist. Dean of Diversity & Inclusion and Professor of Political Science at Bocconi University
Brent Colburn
Vice President of Public Affairs at Princeton University. Past work includes senior leadership positions on political campaigns and across government.
Cecilia Vaca Jones
Executive Director, Bernard van Leer Foundation. Former Coordinating Minister of Social Development of Ecuador. Fellow at the London School of Economics and University di Bologna
Asanga Abeyagoonasekera
Geopolitics Analyst, Author and Strategic Advisor from Sri Lanka. Former Director General, led two Government think tanks with almost two decades of experience in the Government
Rwitwika Bhattacharya
Social Entrepreneur in Policy and Governance in India. CEO of Swaniti Initiative. Previously worked with the World Bank and UNFPA
Graça Fonseca
Portugal’s Minister of Culture. Former Secretary of State for Administrative Modernization and former Councilwoman for Economy and Innovation at Lisbon City Council. Holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from ISCTE
Laura Reyna
Founding Director of PuenTech, a tech policy Laboratory for Latin America. Holds a MPhil in Technology Policy from Cambridge University.
Dan Snow
Historian, author of numerous popular history titles such as On This Day in History, radio show host and television presenter
Bhairavi Jani
Chairperson and Founder of IEF Entrepreneurship Foundation and Executive Director of SCA Group. Venture philanthropist
Joice Toyota
Co-founder and Executive Director of Vetor Brazil, a people management organization motivating young people in Brazil to join the public sector
Ashwin Naik
Healthcare Entrepreneur & Author of "The Healthcare Gamechangers". Co-founder of Manah Wellness & Founding Partner of We Scale Impact
Ali Jehangir Siddiqui
Diplomat and Entrepreneur. Former Ambassador of Pakistan to the United States. Currently serving as Pakistan’s Ambassador for Foreign Investment.
Sharath Jeevan
Founder and Chairman of Intrinsic Labs, helping organisations and individuals re-ignite inner-drive and solve deep motivation challenges
Pia Mancini
Co-founder & CEO at Open Collective, Co-founder of Democracy Earth Foundation. Democracy activist and open source sustainer. YC Alum, YGL, globe-trotter, and Roma's mum.
Hanno Burmester
Hanno is founder of Unlearn. He works at the intersection of individual, organizational and societal transformation. Hanno is author of several books and a public speaker.
Sawsan Chebli
State of Berlin Delegate to the Federation and State Secretary for Civic Engagement and International Affairs. Member of the German Social Democratic Party.
Ramona Liberoff
Former COO of the Innogy Innovation Hub and former CEO of SPRING Accelerator. Works across many areas supporting transformational business and initiatives for system change.
New Voices Council
Jon Alexander
Author of CITIZENS: Why the Key to Fixing Everything is All of Us. Co-Founder of the New Citizen Project. Expert on consumerism and it’s alternatives.
Sergei Guriev
Professor of Economics at Sciences Po, Paris. Former Chief Economist for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
Armand Zorn
Member of the German Bundestag. Previously worked for the German Federal Ministry of Finance, the French National Assembly and the EU Delegation in Hong Kong & Macao.
Ashleigh Streeter-Jones
Founder of Raise Our Voice Australia. International gender equality advocate working to uplift the voices of young women and gender diverse persons in politics and policy.
Barbara Panseri
Candidate for Councilor in Brazil, President of Ecotrabalhismo, member of the Political Action Network for Sustainability (RAPS) and Coordinator of Education projects at the Lemann Foundation.
Carlo André Angeles Maturano
Catalyst & Global Citizen. Metropolitan Councilor in Lima. Has facilitated intergovernmental processes in 9 countries and has counseled presidential candidates, Ministers of State and served as a public servant.
Chiedza Juru
Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Youth Council, COO of the Higherlife Foundation and Trustee of the Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICAZ). Southern Africa Apolitical Academy 2021 fellow. Recipient of the ICAZ Young Achievers Award 2021.
Chioma Aguwegbo
Communications strategist linking advocacy, business, community mobilisation, and government engagement with citizens. Executive Director at TechHerNG, a community that applies technology towards solving societal problems, especially as they concern women.
Gevorg Mantashyan
Key-Expert on economic recovery plan after COVID-19. Ex-Senior Development Strategy Expert in charge of national development strategy at the Governmental think tank. PhD in Economics with a focus on economic and political institutions.
Gonzalo Benetti Hernández
Co-Founder & Lead of Apostear. Advisory Council at Global Shapers Community. Member at the Protection System against Gender Violence of the Ministry of Equality, Gender and Diversity of the Santa Fe Province (Argentina).
HY William Chan
Councillor elected to the Sydney Lord Mayoral team. Architect and citymaker. Sydney Curator of Global Shapers, a community of the World Economic Forum. Forbes '30 Under 30' honoree and former UNICEF Young Ambassador for Australia.
Jana Degrott
Politician, Social entrepreneur in inclusion and diversity. Co Founder of We Belong Europe and One Young World Ambassador.
Jazmin Kay
Youth voting rights organizer and writer. Currently serves as President of 18by Vote, where she has reached over 1.3 million young people to expand civic education and increase youth voter turnout.
Kow Essuman
Legal Counsel to the President of Ghana. Admitted to the Bar of England & Wales, New York State and Ghana. ICSID (World Bank) Conciliator. Global Shaper Alumnus. Previously Director of New Media (New Patriotic Party - Ghana).
Lala Touray
Senior Program Assistant on Gender, Elections and Governance at the National Democratic Institute. Country Coordinator of the Gender Center for Empowering Development.
Misraim Cervantes
Head of the Youth Institute in Leon, Guanajuato Mexico, Global Shaper since 2016 and TEDx organizer since 2011.
Nicole Galindo Sanchez
Enabler of participatory governance at the Global Shapers Berlin Hub and Strategy & MEL team at Transparency International. Previously led a citizen participation directorate in the Municipality of Quito.
Nita Shala
Deputy Minister of Justice & National Coordinator against Domestic Violence in the Republic of Kosovo. PhD in Law from the Graduate Institute Geneva; Harvard Kennedy School Executive Eduction and University of Oxford Alumni. Legal consultant, lecturer and activist.
Svante Myrick
Elected as the youngest Mayor in New York State history at 24, currently serving in his third term.
Nadia Abdalla
Chief Administrative Secretary, Ministry of ICT, Innovation & Youth Affairs Government of Kenya and Co-Chair of the UNDP Youth Sounding Board in Kenya.
Alex Farrow
Social change campaigner working with civil society, movements, and policymakers. Focusing on human rights, democracy, and LGBTQ+ rights.