About

Meet the new EYL40 Class of 2024!

This year’s EYL40 Class of 2024 includes an Olympic swimmer, a glaciologist, politicians from all levels of government and members of national parliaments, a winemaker, green tech entrepreneurs and social activists, prize-winning journalists, Unicorn and start-up founders and CEOs, a pioneering playwright of Roma feminist theatre and many more!

 

 


Bold leadership, ground-breaking ideas, unparalleled passion …

We’ve learned time and again that the challenges of the 21st century and of our ever complex world cannot be addressed using the rulebooks of the past. The world is screaming for a new type of leadership and a Renewed Social Contract in which the private sector, local and multilateral institutions, and citizens can collaborate and drive change.

Today’s leaders may look back in time for inspiration, but they must lead with innovation.

The European Young Leaders represent an alternative infrastructure of leadership – a new generation of leaders able to inspire action and generate change. Together, their passion, diversity of backgrounds and opinions, and innovative thinking create the right formula for generating fresh ideas to build a more forward-thinking Europe.

Our European leaders are scientists, artists, journalists, entrepreneurs and astronomers. They are citizens and their thinking is not bound by local and multilateral institutions, traditional political frameworks or bureaucracy. They provide alternative perspectives to EU decision-makers and challenge the status quo.

They help take Europe out of Brussels. In their own countries, cities and communities, the European Young Leaders also play an essential role in reconnecting people with and rebuilding trust in politics by engaging a wider community around key EU policy issues that need a whole-of-economy, whole-of-society approach to progress more quickly. They are facilitating citizens’ participation in the creation of a more equal, innovative and inclusive Europe and helping build a European identity.

The programme in the next years will take a new localism lens, bringing together these thinkers and leaders to act on some of the key issues affecting Europe’s future: supporting the green and digital transformation, strengthening our democracy, improving relations with our neighbours, increasing power sharing and building a more diverse Europe.

Succeeding in these policies and getting more citizens engaged in European elections will be our litmus test.


Tune in to the EYL40s on Friends of Europe’s podcasts

Policy Voices | Are we alone in the universe?

Leading view

Policy Voices | Are we alone in the universe?

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Policy Voices | Like Goebbels: Polish propaganda and the demise of democracy

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Policy Voices | Like Goebbels: Polish propaganda and the demise of democracy

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Policy Voices | The Netherlands chose the far-right. What happens next?

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Policy Voices | The Netherlands chose the far-right. What happens next?

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Policy Voices Podcast | Keeping the human in the loop: How to make a success story of AI in health

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Policy Voices Podcast | Keeping the human in the loop: How to make a success story of AI in health

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Continue to Meet the EYL

Meet the EYL40

Photo of Nabeel Abboud-Ashkar
Nabeel Abboud-Ashkar

Co-Founder & Artistic Director at Polyphony Foundation, 2017 MENA Young Leader

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A gifted violinist and visionary champion for youth and community development, Nabeel has led and inspired people from all walks of life across Israel, Europe and the U.S. He performed with, and was a spokesperson for, the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra for a decade as well as performing as a soloist with the Jerusalem Camerata and the Haifa Symphony orchestras. In 2006, Nabeel gave up his music career and returned to his hometown, the Arab-Israeli city of Nazareth, where he founded and led the Barenboim-Said Conservatory—now known as the Polyphony Conservatory—to answer the need he saw in the community for quality music programming. Nabeel has been awarded the Yoko Ono Award for Courage in the Arts for his lifelong-commitment to fostering a sense of community between young pan-Arab and Jewish musicians.

Absi Abou Zaid

Founder & Chief Executive Officer Mavericks International School, 2017 MENA Young Leader

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Seif is a social and policy entrepreneur, passionate about education and its relationship to governance. Seif co-founded the Agency for Development and Enhancement, which provides training for young people, and the Nabadat Foundation, a non-profit which aims to use technology to improve education to fight poverty and enhance political awareness. Seif is also the former CEO of Tahrir Academy, a blended learning platform that creates intellectually-stimulating learning experiences for more than 160,000 registered Egyptian and Arab learners. In 2015, he founded the Mavericks International School, which seeks to leverage innovative teaching methods and technology to develop the unique potential of its students.

Photo of Abdallah Absi Halabi
Abdallah Absi Halabi

Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Zoomaal, 2017 MENA Young Leader

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Abdallah Absi is founder and CEO of Zoomal, the leading crowdfunding platform in the Middle East, which involves the top VCs in MENA, and co-founder of GivingLoop, a sustainable fundraising platform that helps non-profits focus less on fundraising and more on changing the world. Abdallah did not complete his university education, but went on to see huge successes in the entrepreneurial world, being covered by CNN, WSJ, Forbes, and others. He is also an Ashoka fellow, a Global Shaper for the World Economic Forum in the Beirut Hub, and a Startup Weekend organizer by the Kauffman foundation, and describes himself as a social mission

Photo of Lina Almaeena
Lina Almaeena

Co-founder & Director of Jeddah United (JU), 2017 MENA Young Leader

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Lina is a leading figure in the sport industry in Saudi Arabia, who co-founded Jeddah United (JU), the first Saudi private sports company to train girls and boys in team sports to promote sports culture. Lina was captain of the Jeddah United Women’s basketball division up to 2012, columnist for Almadina newspaper, and climbed the Everest Base Camp as part of a breast cancer awareness campaign. Her efforts are an example of grassroots challenging of strict gender rules in Saudi Arabia, and Lina has been listed as one of the 200 Most Powerful Women in the Middle East by Forbes Magazine 2014.

Ines Amri
Ines Amri

Senior Researcher at Einstein Center Digital Future and Technical University of Berlin, 2017 MENA Young Leader

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Ines is a Berlin-based Senior Researcher at the Einstein Center Digital Future (ECDF) and the Technische Universität (TU) Berlin, working mainly in the field of platform economies and digitization in North Africa, with a focus on Tunisia. An Award-winning social impact entrepreneur and Innovation consultant, Ines has extensive experience in international development, public policies, and managing cooperations. Before joining TU Berlin, she was the Director of Strategic Partnerships at Amparo GmbH, a Berlin-based start-up revolutionizing prosthetics and health care access to amputees. She is now acting as an advisor to the startup mission in bringing Amparo technology to low-middle income and humanitarian contexts. Before moving to Berlin, she worked as a Senior consultant to prominent Tunisian and international organizations in the fields of management, innovation, democracy, elections, innovation and entrepreneurship. She was also the Managing Director of the Maghreb Economic Forum (MEF), a think tank in Tunis.

Tammam Azzam
Tammam Azzam

Artist, 2017 MENA Young Leader

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Born in Damascus, Tammam started his career in Syria as a painter and a graphic designer and has since participated with his works in solo and group exhibitions around the world. Following the start of the uprising in Syria, he turned to digital media and graphic art to create visual composites of the conflict that resonated with international viewers. These widely distributed works are informed by his interest in the interventionist potential of digital photography and street art as powerful and direct forms of protest that are difficult to suppress. In early 2013, Tammam made worldwide headlines when his Freedom Graffiti print went viral on social media.

Imen Ben Mohamed
Imen Ben Mohamed

Vice-Chair of the Tunisian Assembly Committee on Economic and Financial Affairs, Social Affairs and Education, and 2017 MENA Young Leader

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Imen Ben Mohamed is a Tunisian politician representing the new face of the moderate Islamist party Ennahda (“Renaissance” in Arabic) in both the Maghreb Shura Council and the Parliament Assembly of the People’s Representatives, where she sits on the Rights, Freedom and Foreign Affairs Committee. Educated in Italy, where her family lived in exile, her strong commitment to youth and family policies has made her a rising political star in a country that still struggles to define itself in the increasingly turbulent landscape of the MENA region. Ben Mohamed is a strong supporter of dialogue between cultures and religions.

Ahmed Ben Mussa
Ahmed Ben Mussa

Founder and Managing Director of Majaal and 2017 MENA Young Leader

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Ahmed Ben Mussa is an energy expert with ten years of experience in operations and business development of the oil service industry in the United States, Egypt and Libya. He currently manages a creative construction company Majaal. Prior to this, Ben Mussa worked as Chief Commercial Officer at Tatweer Research, a leading Libyan technological organisation with a focus on nurturing the country’s young potential, supporting entrepreneurs and attracting international expertise and investment. Before that, he worked with the UN World Food Programme in Libya where he conducted food security assessments on the field.

Chaima Bouhlel
Chaima Bouhlel

President of Al Bawsala, 2017 MENA Young Leader

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Chaima Bouhlel serves as the President of Al-Bawsala, a non-profit Tunisian NGO operating to bring transparency to political processes and engage ordinary citizens in a region wracked by government crackdowns. Chaima joined Al-Bawsala in 2014 to start and lead “Marsad Baladia” project, an observatory that monitors all municipalities across the country, and was elected as president in October 2016. Since 2016, she has also been co-hosting a weekly radio show on the National Radio discussing public policy and public institutions’ performance. Prior to joining the Al-Bawsala, Chaima worked in the micro finance sector, and in building the capacity of journalists in post-revolutionary Tunisia. During her studies at Harvard University, she was president of the Society of Arab Students, and co-organized the Harvard Arab Weekend in 2011, the biggest pan-Arab conference in North America.

Yostina Boules
Yostina Boules

Founder & Managing Director at Taqa Solutions, 2017 MENA Young Leader

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Yostina Boules, dubbed “the magic machine” by farm owners, is Founder and Managing Director of Taqa Solutions, an Egyptian based organisation aiming to provide a clean and independent energy source to farmers by producing energy from poultry waste. By doing this, the Taqa solutions simultaneously addresses the problem of waste management from one of Egypt’s main agricultural industries, while maximising clean energy production. Yostina was selected as a Pioneer of Egypt after becoming a finalist on El Mashrou3, an entrepreneurship reality television competition.

Photo of Hala Bugaighis
Hala Bugaighis

Co-Founder of Jusoor and 2017 MENA Young Leader

Show more information on Hala Bugaighis

Hala Bugaighis is a lawyer and co-founder of Jusoor, a non-governmental organisation committed to independent policy research and human development projects for women with focus on the economic and social empowerment. As a lawyer with 15 years of experience, Hala focuses on commercial, banking, civil and investment laws, and has a sound understanding of law practice in an international context. Through her private companies, Hala has worked as a consultant to many international companies as well as Libyan private and public entities, focusing on development and capacity building. In 2015, Hala was nominated a UN Women Champion for Women Economic Empowerment – an initiative that aims to improve women’s economic standing and potential around the world.

Lina Ejeilat
Lina Ejeilat

Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief of 7iber.com, 2017 MENA Young Leader

Show more information on Lina Ejeilat

Lina Ejeilat is co-founder and editor-in-chief of 7iber.com, a Jordanian citizen media platform and online magazine, created to inform and engage communities in order to develop a more open society. It is known for publishing taboo political, economic, social, and religious topics that mainstream media avoid. In addition to its online presence, 7iber.com delivers trainings, workshops, debates, and talks. Lina advocates for freedom of press, universal rights and access to information, taking part in numerous meetings and conferences in order to promote these.

Othman El Ferdaous
Othman El Ferdaous

Vice President for Growth at ABA Technology and 2017 MENA Young Leader

Show more information on Othman El Ferdaous

Othman El Ferdaous is an experienced public affairs and strategic communication professional. Prior to his current role at the ABA Technology, he served as Moroccan minister of culture, youth and sport and the secretary of state for investment and assistant to the Minister of Industry, Investment, Trade and Digital Economy. He is a strong advocate for EU-Maghreb integration and founded clubgibraltar.org, a non-profit organisation which provides a ‘South-North’ perspective on European affairs, especially regarding policy and institutional matters related to the Mediterranean and Africa. Othman currently serves as a board member of Sciences Po Alumni Morocco, focused on fostering reverse brain drain by mentoring Moroccan students, and writes a monthly newsletter covering Moroccan issues, which is read by over 7,000 subscribers. In recognition of his accomplishments, he was listed among the 50 most influential Moroccans under 40 by Telquel Magazine in 2016.

Sami Hourani
Sami Hourani

Founder and Executive Director of Leaders of Tomorrow, 2017 MENA Young Leader

Show more information on Sami Hourani

Sami Hourani is medical doctor and serial social entrepreneur. He is the founding director of the well-known educational platform For9a.com. Dr. Hourani is also the founder and the executive director of the regional organization Leaders of Tomorrow and the innovative social initiatives; Diwanieh, Mo7aka and the new and creative qualitative research methodology FADFED. He is a fellow at Ashoka, largest hub for social innovators world wide. He received King Abdullah II Demoqrati award in 2014 and EUROMED youth award in 2013. He was also elected as the Jordanian Role Model of 2011 and received the Jordanian title “Knight of Change” in 2008.

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Selection process

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS/NOMINATIONS FOR THE EYL CLASS OF 2025 IS NOW OPEN

The European Young Leaders (EYL40) programme is a unique, inventive and multi-stakeholder programme that aims to promote a European identity by engaging the continent’s most promising talents in initiatives that will shape Europe’s future.

The European Young Leaders represent a new generation of European leaders from all over the continent and various backgrounds, including politics, business, civil society, academia, arts, science and the media.

The programme acts as a forum for those who have already established themselves at the forefront of their professions to meet, discuss and collaborate with their counterparts from other fields of expertise. Previous candidates include government ministers, CEOs, Michelin-starred chefs, international film directors and high-profile journalists.

Since the launch of the programme, 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.

We aim to select 40+ European Young Leaders of diverse backgrounds to enable a broad exchange of ideas, creating the basis for a new generation of engaged European leaders.

SELECTION CRITERIA

  • Candidates must be between 30 and 40 years of age (born on or after 1 January 1985).
  • Candidates must be a national of an EU member state, the UK, Ukraine, Moldova or one of the 6 Balkan states currently on the path towards EU integration (Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia).
  • Candidates should have established themselves at 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 of the two EYL seminars during the programme year, usually scheduled for March and September.

Please click HERE for the Selection Guidelines 2025 that will give you an idea of the process and will provide you with a link to the nomination/application form.

Should you have any questions or need any additional information, please do not hesitate to contact us at eyl40@friendsofeurope.org.

We look forward to receiving your applications and nominations.

* References to Kosovo here are used without prejudice to positions on status and are 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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