The Forum is home to three foundations: the Global Shapers Community, the Forum of Young Global Leaders, and the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship.

Collectively, they serve a community of more than 15,000 changemakers, leaders and innovators, driving positive change in more than 150 countries.

At the heart of the Forum’s mission lies a commitment to harness human ingenuity, innovation and cooperation to enhance the state of the world. Recognizing the pivotal role of young people in this endeavour, the Global Shapers Community’s objective is to make positive change. It comprises 18,000 young leaders who shape initiatives in 500 major cities, remote islands and refugee camps in 154 countries and territories.

With a focus on developing youth leaders, accelerating youth action and amplifying youth voices, the Global Shapers Community secured a number of achievements during the reporting period.

Among these was to equip more than 1,800 changemakers with essential leadership skills. Notably, 1,000 young people participated in six regional SHAPE events designed to promote global collaboration and drive multi-city movements for change.

The Global Shapers Annual Summit convened 500 young innovators at the Forum’s headquarters and attracted its largest virtual audience to date, with more than 9,600 young people participating online. They discovered how the Forum is working with next-generation leaders to address critical global issues, and partnerships were established between the community and 10 Forum centres and initiatives.

In line with the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Global Shapers are committed to accelerating youth action and improving outcomes for people and the planet. The reporting period marked a milestone in the community’s seven-year partnership with The Climate Reality Project – to date, 1,000 Global Shapers have become certified climate change leaders.

Global Shapers spearheaded more than 360 local projects in six areas, namely driving long-term action to protect the planet, strengthening democracy, accelerating reskilling, promoting social justice, improving well-being and safeguarding the most vulnerable. The latter saw 500 Global Shapers join forces to provide urgent humanitarian relief for those living in Gaza.

Since its creation in 2011, the Global Shapers Community has implemented more than 3,000 local initiatives, touching the lives of more than 2.5 million people and engaging approximately 15 million stakeholders. Reflecting the desire to continue to equip young people with access to funding, mentorship and storytelling support to help scale up their efforts, the community launched an Innovation Prize in partnership with Accenture and the Global Alliance for YOUth.

The Forum’s wider work to magnify youth voices resulted in the participation of Global Shapers in several events. At the Annual Meeting 2024, 50 of them advanced intergenerational solutions; 60 innovators and entrepreneurs shaped the agenda at the 2023 Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Tianjin, while 30 Global Shapers engaged in regional solution-building processes at the Special Meeting on Global Collaboration, Growth and Energy for Development in Saudi Arabia. Outside the Forum’s events, Global Shapers helped scale up youth-led solutions at COP28 and the United Nations General Assembly.

Celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2024, the Forum of Young Global Leaders has sought to cultivate a community of leaders dedicated to tackling the world’s most pressing problems, whether this is through pioneering initiatives in public health and economic development or driving innovation in technology and sustainability.

This year, the Forum of Young Global Leaders welcomed 2024’s most promising Young Global Leaders (YGLs), a group of nearly 90 changemakers from politics, business, civil society, the arts and academia. They are making a significant impact through their groundbreaking work and are united in their drive to leave a lasting impact on their communities, organizations and beyond.

The YGL community remains steadfast in its commitment to nurturing the next generation of leaders who are passionate about creating positive change. YGLs participate in Forum activities and initiatives, as well as with other communities. Among these are the Annual Meeting, regional events, alliances, consortia, Chief Experience Officer communities and Global Future Councils.

As part of their three-year learning journey, YGLs have access to a range of learning modules as well as opportunities to collaborate, with the intention of magnifying their impact. During the reporting period, 65 YGLs benefited from a customized executive education course at the Harvard Kennedy School focused on global leadership and public policy in the 21st century. In addition, 40 YGLs participated in a new learning module created in partnership with the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, which focused on the transformative effects of AI.

The YGL Annual Summit, hosted by the government of the United Arab Emirates, brought together more than 500 YGLs and alumni to discuss the theme “Redefine Tomorrow’s Leadership”. The summit saw discussions of, and learning about, topics like climate change, AI’s opportunities and risks and rising geopolitical tensions. The culmination of the event saw 120 commitments from YGLs towards the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.

For more than 25 years, the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship has brought together a global community of pioneering social innovators driving systemic change.

In 2024, 16 new organizations were honoured with the Schwab Foundation Social Innovation Awards, joining a worldwide network of 475 changemakers who have collectively improved the lives of 891 million people since 1998.

During the Annual Meeting 2024, the Schwab Foundation released its impact report, Trusting in Humanity, which highlighted the achievements of its community of social innovators and showcased the work of its 2024 Social Innovation Awardees.

Continuing its commitment to driving change through thought leadership and highlighting the work of social innovators, the Schwab Foundation and its Global Alliance for Social Entrepreneurship released several publications outlining the roles and contributions of social innovators towards global priorities.

Importantly, its State of Social Enterprise report showcased the under-recognized size, scope and economic contribution of the entrepreneurial sector. It highlighted not just the global presence of 10 million social enterprises but also the fact that they generate $2 trillion annually and create 200 million jobs. Notably, women lead 50% of these organizations.

The Global Alliance for Social Entrepreneurship continued its efforts to mobilize private-sector support for social entrepreneurs. It launched the Rise Ahead Pledge, a corporate commitment to social innovation, and expanded its membership to 110 members from sectors including business, the public sector, academia and civil society.