Leadership and Governance
The Forum strives to model world-class corporate governance, where values are as important as rules. Legitimacy, accountability, transparency and concerted action are the guiding principles of the Forum.
The Forum is chaired by interim Co-Chairs Larry Fink and André Hoffmann. It's guided by a Board of Trustees, exceptional individuals who act as guardians of its mission and values, and oversee the Forum’s work in promoting true global citizenship.
The Managing Board, chaired by the Forum's President and CEO, Børge Brende, acts as the executive body of the World Economic Forum. It ensures that activities fulfill the mission of the Forum and acts as its representative to outside parties. It has a collective executive responsibility for the Forum and reports to the Board of Trustees.
The Forum’s activities are managed by its executive leadership composed of individuals from all walks of life.
Board of Trustees
The Forum is guided by a Board of Trustees, exceptional international individuals from business, politics, academia and civil society who act as guardians of its mission and values. In their work on the Board, members do not represent any personal or professional interests.
Laurence Fink
Laurence D. Fink is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BlackRock. He and seven partners founded BlackRock in 1988, and under his leadership, the firm has grown into a global leader in investment and technology solutions. BlackRock's mission is to help our clients build better financial futures and the firm is trusted to manage more money than any other investment company in the world.
Prior to founding BlackRock in 1988, Mr. Fink was a member of the Management Committee and a Managing Director of The First Boston Corporation.
He serves as the Interim Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum and is Co-Chair of the NYU Langone Medical Center Board of Trustees. In addition, he serves on the boards of the Museum of Modern Art and the International Rescue Committee. He also serves on the Advisory Board of the Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management in Beijing and on the Executive Committee of the Partnership for New York City.
Mr. Fink earned an MBA from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1976 and a BA from UCLA in 1974.
André Hoffmann
André Hoffmann is a businessman and firmly believes in business as a force for good. He is a passionate advocate for the corporate pursuit of societal purpose and sustainability.
André is Vice Chairman of Roche Holding AG, a highly innovative pharmaceutical company established by his great-grandfather in 1896. He also serves on the board of the fully-owned subsidiary, Genentech Inc.
Alongside these non-executive roles in the family business, André is co-chair of the World Economic Forum; he also joined the Board of SystemIQ to help drive positive disruption in economic systems. He is President of W.A. de Vigier Stiftung and Vice-chairman of the board of the Venture Foundation.
Together with his wife Rosalie, André is co-chair of InTent, a platform which aim to accelerate sustainable solutions by building bridges and connecting people.
André also has a distinguished career in nature conservation and sustainability. He is the President of Fondation Tour du Valat, a world-renowned institute dedicated to wetland conservation, he is the Chairman of Capitals Coalition and serves on the boards of B-Team, Peace Parcs and the Givaudan Foundation.
André’s also helped establish the Hoffmann Institute at INSEAD, and chairs its Advisory Board, and the Hoffmann Center for Sustainability at the Graduate Institute in Geneva. André studied economics at St. Gallen University and holds an MBA from INSEAD.
Awards / Honors:
• Chevalier Légion d'honneur
• Dr. h.c. Université de Bourgogne
• Dr. h.c.. University of Exeter
H.M. Queen Rania Al Abdullah of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
Queen of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Office of Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah
Mukesh D. Ambani
Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries
Ajay S. Banga
President, World Bank Group
Marc Benioff
Chair and Chief Executive Officer, Salesforce
Thomas Buberl
Chief Executive Officer, AXA
Roberto Campos Neto
Vice-Chairman and Global Head, Public Policy, Nubank
Orit Gadiesh
Chair Emeritus and Partner, Bain & Company
Kristalina Georgieva
Managing Director, International Monetary Fund (IMF)
Fabiola Gianotti
Director-General, European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN)
Al Gore
Vice-President of the United States (1993-2001); Chairman and Co-Founder, Generation Investment Management LLP
Philipp M. Hildebrand
Vice-Chairman, BlackRock
Paula Ingabire
Minister of Information Communication Technology and Innovation, Ministry of Information Communication Technology and Innovation of Rwanda
Joe Kaeser
Chair of the Supervisory Board, Siemens Energy
Christine Lagarde
President, European Central Bank
Yo-Yo Ma
Cellist
Cindy H. McCain
Executive Director, United Nations World Food Programme (WFP)
Patrice Motsepe
Founder and Executive Chairman, African Rainbow Minerals
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
Director-General, World Trade Organization (WTO)
Lubna S. Olayan
Chair of the Executive Committee, Olayan Financing Company, Olayan Group
David M. Rubenstein
Co-Founder and Co-Chairman, Carlyle
Tharman Shanmugaratnam
President of the Republic of Singapore, Office of the President of the Republic of Singapore
Jim Hagemann Snabe
Chairman, Siemens
Julie Sweet
Chair and Chief Executive Officer, Accenture
Feike Sybesma
Chair of the Supervisory Board, Royal Philips
Heizo Takenaka
Professor Emeritus, Keio University
Zhu Min
Member of the Senior Expert Advisory Committee, China Center for International Economic Exchanges (CCIEE)
Managing Board
Chaired by the Forum's President Børge Brende, the Managing Board acts as the executive body of the World Economic Forum. It ensures that activities fulfill the mission of the Forum and acts as its representative to outside parties. It has a collective executive responsibility for the Forum and reports to the Board of Trustees.
Børge Brende
Børge Brende is President and CEO of the World Economic Forum. Previously he was the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Trade and Industry, and Minister of Climate and the Environment. He served as Deputy Chairman of the Norwegian Conservative Party as well as MP. He was also full-time city counsellor in his hometown of Trondheim. He was Chairman of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development and Secretary-General of the Norwegian Red Cross. He was Board Member of Statoil and the Norwegian School of Economics. He was the Chair of Mesta, Norway’s largest contracting group in the area of road and highway maintenance and is currently a Director of the Philanthropy Asia Alliance. He is a Member of the Advisory Council, Harvard International Negotiation Program, the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED), the Strategic Committee of Sciences Po, and is currently on the Board of the Bilderberg Meetings.
Mirek Dušek
Managing Director, Chief Business Officer and Head of Global Programming
Jeremy Jurgens
Managing Director, Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and Centre for Cybersecurity
Gim Huay Neo
Managing Director
Saadia Zahidi
Managing Director, Centre for the New Economy and Society and Knowledge Communities
Alois Zwinggi
Managing Director, Institutional Operations and Swiss Relations
Managing Directors
The Managing Directors are responsible for leading specific areas of the Forum. Their extensive experience and expertise is applied across Centres, functions, and geographies.
Kiva Allgood
Managing Director
Matthew Blake
Managing Director, World Economic Forum LLC, Centre for Financial and Monetary Systems and Centre for Health and Healthcare
Sebastian Buckup
Managing Director, Centre for Nature and Climate and Forum Foundations
Sheba Crocker
Managing Director, Global Communications Group
Rhiannon Evans
Managing Director, Chief Financial Officer
Maroun Kairouz
Managing Director
Uxio Malvido
Managing Director, Chief People Officer
Stephan Mergenthaler
Managing Director, Chief Technology Officer and Head of Artificial Intelligence
Executive Committee
The Forum’s activities are managed by its executive leadership composed of individuals from all walks of life from over 30 nationalities. This global depth and experience ensures our ability to fully support our global partnership and their engagement on global issues.
Nicki Allitt
Head of Strategic Communications & Coordination; Member, Executive Committee
Marisol Argueta de Barillas
Head of the Regional Agenda, Latin America; Member of the Executive Committee
Astrid Balsink
Head of Inclusion, Wellbeing, and Engagement; Member of the Executive Committee
Francisco Betti
Head, Global Industries Team; Member of the Executive Committee
Shyam Bishen
Head, Centre for Health and Healthcare; Member of the Executive Committee
Roberto Bocca
Head, Centre for Energy and Materials; Member of the Executive Committee
Francois Bonnici
Director, Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship; Head of Foundations
Andrew Caruana Galizia
Head of Europe and Eurasia, Member of the Executive Committee
Bing Chomprasob
Chief Representative Officer, Japan
Sean Doherty
Head, International Trade and Investment; Member of the Executive Committee
John Dutton
Head, Uplink; Member of the Executive Committee
Pedro Gomez
Head, Industry Agenda
Fernando J. Gómez
Head, Future of Materials
Sriram Gutta
Head, Engagement and Operations; Member of the Executive Committee
Jack Hurd
Executive Director, Tropical Forest Alliance
Zara Ingilizian
Head, Consumer Industries; Member of the Executive Committee
Sheikh Tanjeb Islam
Head of Event Editorial, Member of the Executive Committee
Philippe Isler
Director, Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation; Executive Committee Member
Akshay Joshi
Head of the Centre for Cybersecurity, Member of the Executive Committee
Akanksha Khatri
Head of Strategic Insight & Impact, Member of the Executive Committee
Ramya Krishnaswamy
Head of Institutional Communities; Executive Committee Member
Joo-Ok Lee
Head, Regional Agenda, Asia-Pacific; Member of the Executive Committee
Cathy Li
Head, Centre for AI Excellence; Member of the Executive Committee
Viraj Mehta
Head, Regional Agenda, India and South Asia; Member of the Executive Committee
Jeff Merritt
Head of Centre for Urban Transformation; Member of the Executive Committee
Chido Munyati
Head of Africa, Member of the Executive Committee
Kelly Ommundsen
Head, Digital Inclusion, Member of the Executive Committee
Severin Podolak
Head, Event Management & Operations; Member of the Executive Committee
Alexandre Raffoul
Head, Global Partner Dev. & Regional Business Strategy; Member, Exec. Committee
Mel Rogers
Head of Strategic Affairs; Member of the Executive Committee
Paul Smyke
Head of the Regional Agenda, North America; Member of the Executive Committee
Tania Strauss
Head of Sustainable Growth and People Agenda, Member of the Executive Committee
Roberto Tinnirello
Head, Business Strategy and Partner Services; Member of the Executive Committee
Pim Valdre
Head of Climate & Nature Economy, Member of the Executive Committee
Yann Zopf
Head of Media; Member of the Executive Committee