Friday, the World Economic Forum released the names of the 121 laureates of the Class of 2016 of Young Global Leaders (YGL). Scientists, government leaders, future business leaders, social activists and artists, aged under 40, who are shaking up policy, society and the world around them.

More than half of the laureates of the Young Global Leaders Class of 2016 are women and the majority are from emerging economies. Taken together, they represent the very best of this generation and, as public services worldwide face funding shortfalls, they emphasize the need for future leaders to be tech-savvy, civic-minded innovators.

The Class of 2016 includes notably "Stéphanie Balmir Villedrouin Haitian Minister of Tourism and Creative Industries, which fights against prejudice in the media on the chaos, corruption and poverty to transform the image of Haiti given to the Public" said the statement of the Young Global Leaders Forum, she is one of 7 YGL nominated for Latin America alongside Carolina Rossini (Brazil ) Vice President, International Policy, Public Knowledge, Jonathan Nathusius (Guatemala) Chief Executive Officer at CEMACO, Maria Lopez Castano (Colombia) Director, Semana Sostenible Magazine, and Sustainability at Semana Publishing Group, Patricia Ellen (Brazil) Principal to McKinsey & Company, Pia Mancini (Argentina) Chairwoman at The Democracy Earth Foundation and Simón Gaviria Muñoz (Colombie) Director of National Planning Department of Colombia.

Of the 121, the majority have already agreed to join the Forum of Young Global Leaders (YGLs), a diverse community whose members work together on initiatives that benefit society. YGL efforts to date have led to initiatives and businesses aimed at tackling global water shortages, the working conditions of factories in poor countries, a waste-free world, poor health and education for schoolchildren and spinal injuries.

Current and former YGLs head governments and Fortune 500 companies, win Nobel Prizes and Academy Awards, become UN Goodwill Ambassadors and Social Entrepreneurs. The new YGLs will be asked to work with one another over the next five years resolving some of the world’s toughest challenges.

HL/ HaitiLibre