European Young Leaders (#EYL40)

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This year’s EYL40 Class of 2023 includes award-winning investigative journalists, a mega-star of modern-day football, politicians from all levels of government and speakers of national parliaments, a male supermodel and philanthropist, renowned scholars, innovators leading the green digital transition, as well as creative tech-based healthcare professionals. Follow along as we reveal the new class on LinkedIn and Twitter from 31 January to 10 February!

Ten years ago, motivated by the urgent need to tackle the increasing disconnect between citizens and policymakers, and to rebuild the trust that is vital to democracies, Friends of Europe crafted a leadership programme unlike any other: the European Young Leaders (EYL40) programme. To celebrate the programme’s anniversary, we travelled through the past ten years to share ten inspiring stories.

An Italian professional volleyball player who played with her national team at the 2014 World Championship, Valentina Diouf’s career has seen a meteoric rise, being a true role model for girls and women in sport. Valentina, alumna of the EYL40 Class of this 2022, has won gold medals with the national Italian team at the U20 World Championship and Mediterranean Games. She currently sports the #7 jersey for LKS Commercecon Łódź in Poland, prior to which she played for Wealth Planet Perugia in Italy. (Image credit: Africa Nouvelles, 2016)

Selected as a 2015-2016 EYL40 member when he was a serial entrepreneur, Stefunko co-founded and became the first chairman of Progresivne Slovensko, a social-liberal pro-European political movement which saw the President of Slovakia and a European Parliament VP elected, as well as committed itself to transforming the education system, extending same-sex marriage rights, and introducing better well-being to Slovakia.

Lindsey-Nefesh-Clarke_EYL40 — Lindsey Nefesh-Clarke, alumna of the EYL40 Class of 2012, is a British CEO and Founder of the Women’s WorldWide Web (W4), an online crowdfunding platform dedicated to protecting girls’ and women’s empowerment in developing and developed countries around the world, promoting human rights and access to technology.

Christel Heydemann, alumna of the EYL40 Class of 2014, is the CEO of Orange renowned for her experience in the telecoms sector and in managing business transformations, and the second woman at this level of responsibility in the entire CAC 40 stock market.

Viktoria Modesta is a British Latvian-born bionic pop artist, futurist, and creative director. She has established herself as a multidisciplinary artist and a creative leader, connector, and innovator in the post-disability community—bridging pop culture and art with academia, medicine, and brands in hyper collaborative multimedia productions.

One of the youngest chefs to rise in the ranks of the restaurant world, and member of the EYL40 Class of 2017, Eneko Atxa has opened several restaurants in Spain, Japan, Portugal and Brussels, including the 3-star Michelin restaurant Azurmendi in Basque Country. His culinary endeavours champion sustainable practices, from rainwater collection to seed bank production, and have received distinctions from gastronomic gurus, including The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, Elite Traveler and Fourchettes, among others. (Image credit: Eneko restaurant)

Kaja Kallas, the first female Prime Minister of Estonia, is a stalwart of European values and solidarity. Named among the TIME100 Next rising individuals, she is a strong voice of support for Ukraine and champions ambitious climate and energy policies. She was nominated as a European Young Leader in 2017 while serving in the European Parliament.

Qëndron Kastrati, alumnus of the EYL40 Class of 2020-22, was elected the youngest mayor in Kosovo, leading the town of Kamenica at only 29. As mayor, he has been resolute in his mission to make his town a genuinely multi-ethnic community and to bridge existing ethnic divides. Now ex-mayor, his inclusive approach still earns him national attention. He continues to be a staunch advocate of constitutional rights to education in Kosovo.

Rokhaya Diallo, alumna of the EYL40 Class of 2013, is a journalist, filmmaker and human rights activist committed to anti-racism work. She hosted and co-edited “Egaux, mais pas trop” (“Equal, but not too much”), a series of reports on diversity issues in France, and has previously held a number of noteworthy positions in the television field. Widely lauded for her work in favour of racial and gender equality, and exposing injustices in these and other areas, Diallo has become one of France’s most prominent figures in this space. (Image credit: Rokhaya Diallo)

Bastian Obermayer, alumnus of the EYL40 Class of 2018, is a Pulitzer Prize-winning German investigative journalist with the Munich-based newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) and the reporter who received the Panama Papers from an anonymous source in 2016 and the Paradise Papers. Obermayer was part of the ICIJ’s Offshore Leaks, Luxembourg Leaks, China Cables, and other projects. After the Knight-Wallace Fellowship in Ann Arbor, MI, Obermayer helped found the investigative non-profit newsroom Forbidden Stories in 2017.

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Our anniversary celebration features volleyball player Valentina Diouf; Rokhaya Diallo, a journalist, filmmaker and human rights activist; Christel Heydemann, CEO of Orange; renowned chef Eneko Atxa; serial entrepreneur Ivan Stefunko; bionic pop artist and futurist, Viktoria Modesta; Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas; Lindsey Nefesh-Clarke, CEO and Founder of Women’s WorldWide Web (W4); Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist, Bastian Obermayer; and Qëndron Kastrati, former mayor of Kamenica, Kosovo. Click here to learn more about our selection amongst 350+ wonderful profiles.

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

Leading view

Frankly Speaking Podcast | Iran: Unchallenged, till now

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Leading view

Frankly Speaking Podcast | Fighting for the truth in the Western Balkans

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Leading view

Everything you didn't know about air pollution. It's scary stuff!

Jane Burston

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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

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

Una Mullally

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Meet the EYL40

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Having previously served as the commissioner for digital economy and society, Mariya currently serves as the European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Digital Economy and Society. Mariya is a former member of the European Parliament, in which role she was active as both the head of the Bulgarian European People’s Party (EPP) delegation and vice-president of the EPP party. She was also involved in a wide range of parliamentary committees, having served as the EPP Group coordinator for the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM), and as a member of the committees on agriculture and rural development (AGRI); civil liberties, justice and home affairs (LIBE); petitions (PETI); and the special committee on organised crime, corruption and money laundering (CRIM). The recipient of several international awards, she is passionate about initiatives related to young people and has established six European information centres in Bulgaria.

Eva Maydell’s priorities focus on enhancing skills-creation and the use of innovation and technologies, supporting entrepreneurs and investments in Europe. In the European Parliament, she is a member of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy as well as the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs. She is also a member of the Delegation for relations with Japan as well as the Delegation for relations with the US.

Eva is among the most active members of the European Parliament. Currently, she is EPP rapporteur on the Data Strategy. She was the main Parliament rapporteur on the Regulation on charges on cross-border payments as well as worked on several legislative files, part of the Digital Single Market Strategy – the e-Privacy Regulation, the Directive for the supply of digital content, the Regulation on portability, Digitising European industry and the European cloud initiative. She was also rapporteur for the EPP Group on the implementation of the European Fund for Strategic Investments, the New Skills Agenda and the Influence of technology on the future of the financial sector (FinTech).

Eva has been awarded the European Parliament’s MEP of the Year Award twice. She has also been
included in FT’s own ‘New Europe 100′ ranking of CEE’s emerging change-makers, European Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list and others.

As the CEO of Inno Advisers, Monika leads the consultancy company on the development of innovative projects and concepts in the field of education, health and science. She is the former deputy minister for the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU and a former member of the European Parliament for the European People’s Party. As an MEP, Monika actively worked on initiatives related to entrepreneurship, SMEs and access to new technologies, recognising their importance to the EU’s competitiveness on the world stage. She has also previously served as a member of the Bulgarian parliament, during which time she was chairwoman of the Committee on European Affairs and Oversight of the European Funds and a member of the Foreign Policy and Defence Committee. Before starting her political career, Monika worked for an NGO as director of projects and publication communications and spent time as a research fellow at the Economic Policy Institute in Sofia.

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Selection process

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS/NOMINATIONS FOR THE EYL CLASS OF 2024 IS NOW OPEN

The European Young Leaders 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 1984).
Candidates must be a national of an EU member state, the UK, Ukraine or of 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 2023 that will give you an idea of the process. The detailed Selection Guidelines 2024 will be made available shortly for download.

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

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