European Young Leaders

Initiative

About Meet the EYL40 Events Selection process Partners

About

Bold leadership, ground-breaking ideas, unparalleled passion …

For almost a decade the European Young Leaders (EYL40) programme has brought together the brightest minds and outside the box leaders to put their innovative thinking to work at building a more forward-thinking Europe that is a global champion for a better world. The European Young Leaders represent a new generation of leaders, able to tackle the increasing disconnects between citizens and political elites, to rebuild the trust that is vital to democracies.

These promising and established leaders come from a variety of backgrounds including politics, business, civil society, arts, science and the media.

The 2020 Class of European Young Leaders:

Meet the class of 2020

Learn more about the EYL40 programme

Tune in to the EYLs on Friends of Europe’s Leading Views podcast

Leading view

Joss Garman on the climate crisis: how bad is it (bad!) and can we get out of it (yes!)?

Joss Garman

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Leading view

Negar Mortazavi on Europe's role in the US-Iran dispute, the Trump factor and the role of media

Negar Mortazavi

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Leading view

Una Mullally on abortion rights, marriage equality and galvanising a generation for change

Una Mullally

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Listen to more Leading Views podcasts

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Meet the EYL40

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Years

Current filter: 2019

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Annalisa is an Italian journalist credited for drawing attention to a wide variety of social issues. Currently working for the news magazine Internazionale, her articles have extensively covered immigration in Italy and Greece as well as human rights and gender inequality across Europe. Having previous experience at Associated press, her stories regularly underline the hardships endured by migrants while crossing the Mediterranean as well as their treatment once in Europe. She is the winner of the 2017 Anne Lindt journalism award for her investigation “The boat without a name” for which she has spent six months investigating the deadliest shipwreck, searching the 28 survivors who are now living all over Europe. She is also a regular contributor to international news outlets such as the Washington Tribune and Politico.

Francesca is a bestselling author, entrepreneur and founder of Timbuktu Labs. She is the co-creator of “Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls”, a collection of 100 tales of extraordinary women that has become a publishing sensation. As the most successful new title in the history of crowdfunding, it has sold more than 3.5mn copies and has been translated into dozens of languages. Francesca’s career began in theatre, where she worked as both a manager for a theatre company and as a playwright. In 2012, she moved to California to co-found a children’s media start-up called Timbuktu Labs, Inc. Since then, she has authored nine picture books that have been translated in more than 47 languages.

Riccardo is a renowned Italian scientist and entrepreneur specialised in numerical modelling of complex systems such as financial markets and computational genomics. In 2015, Riccardo and his lab presented an algorithm to predict traits such as height, eye colour, and even facial structure based on reading a person’s genome via a tiny blood sample. Today, he’s attempting to solve drug design at the genomic scale with his company, Orionis Biosciences. Riccardo is also deeply involved in education for entrepreneurs. He founded the Quantum ESPRESSO Foundation, a non-profit charity supporting young researchers around the globe to get involved in material science.

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Brain-to-brain II: EYL peer-learning exchange

Past event online

Area of Expertise

Changing citizens behaviour to tackle climate change

Past event online

Area of Expertise: Climate, Energy & Sustainability

Brain-to-brain: EYL peer-learning exchange

Past event

Area of Expertise

Solidarity, resilience and the way forward

Past event online

Area of Expertise

People, planet and profit: the return of the triple bottom line

Past event

Area of Expertise

Rebooting regional cooperation

Past event

Pioneering virtual exchange: building bridges between youth in the digital era

Area of Expertise

The future is here: unlocking the next generation's vision

Past event

Area of Expertise

EYL Alumni meeting – Climate action: talking the talk and walking the walk

Past event

Area of Expertise: Climate, Energy & Sustainability

Imperative change: catching up with the future

Past event

Area of Expertise

The potential of collective power

Past event

Area of Expertise

To vote or not to vote: A Question of leadership?

Past event

Area of Expertise

Stand up, get up! Empowering citizens across Europe

Past event

Area of Expertise

Re-kindling the fire: European Young Leaders (EYL40) Valletta Seminar

Past event

Area of Expertise

High Level Dialogue with Young Mediterranean Voices & EYL40 Young Leaders

Past event

Area of Expertise

Time for a paradigm shift: Listening and learning - a two-way street

Past event

Area of Expertise

What do citizens want?

Past event

Area of Expertise

European Young Leaders (EYL40): Warsaw seminar

Past event

Area of Expertise

Creating a competetive advantage for Europe - Time to reclaim the centre…

Past event

Area of Expertise

European Young Leaders (EYL40) - Tallinn seminar

Past event

Area of Expertise

"40 under 40" - European Young Leaders - Rome Seminar

Past event

Area of Expertise

European Young Leaders (EYL40) programme - Lisbon seminar

Past event

Area of Expertise

European leadership in the 21st Century - How might the EU project be…

Past event

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European Young Leaders (EYL40) - Marseille Seminar

Past event

Area of Expertise

European Young Leaders - Dublin seminar

Past event

Area of Expertise

"40 under 40" – European Young Leaders

Past event

Area of Expertise

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Selection process

Due to Covid-19, no European Young Leaders class will be selected for 2021. Application for the class of 2022 will open in the spring of 2021.

The EYL40 programme is a unique, multi-stakeholder programme which aims to promote a sense of European identity by bringing together forty of the brightest European leaders every year and engaging them in initiatives that will shape Europe’s future. We aim to select 40 European Young Leaders of diverse backgrounds in order to enable a broad exchange of ideas, creating the basis for a new generation of engaged European leaders. Additionally, in 2020, the programme will include 6 Young Leaders from the Western Balkan region. In doing so, we aim to promote structural dialogue across the continent that will foster better mutual understanding.

Since the launch of the programme in 2012, we have gradually taken steps to ensure the diversity and exceptional quality of its selection process. We have made sure that its comprehensive and competitive nature ensures the identification and selection of remarkable individuals. Candidates can either apply or be nominated for the selection process of the programme.

Selection criteria:

Candidates must be between 30 and 40 years of age;
Candidates must be a national of an EU member state or of one of the 6 Balkan states currently on the path to EU integration (Serbia, Kosovo*, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro);
Candidates should have established themselves the highest levels of their chosen profession, or be on track to do so;
Candidates must be committed to serve society at large through noteworthy contributions and have demonstrated a record of significant achievements and outstanding professional experience;
Candidates are also evaluated based on their ability to contribute to the enrichment of the programme as a whole;
Candidates are required to be fluent in English as it is the working language of the programme;
Candidates must commit to participating in at least one seminar during the programme year.

*references to Kosovo in this document are used without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UN Security Council resolution 1244/99 and the International Court of Justice Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.

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