Forum of Young Global Leaders
The Young Global Leaders, or Forum of Young Global Leaders, is a nominally independent, non-profit organization launched by Klaus Schwab in 2004.1)
It operates in association with the World Economic Forum, and serves as a successor to Henry Kissinger's International Seminar program.2)
History
The predecessor to the program operated from 1993-2003 as the Global Leaders for Tomorrow.3) This first iteration was shut down after the class of 2003. According to economist Richard Werner, who was selected in 2003, the program was closed down and rebooted as a more controllable group because there started to be too many people asking difficult questions in the forum.4)
COVID-19
During the COVID-19 pandemic, a significant number of world leaders happened to be former members of the Young Global Leaders program. This resulted in an apparent “lockstep” response to the crisis.5)