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

Start playback

Leading view

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

Negar Mortazavi

Start playback

Leading view

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

Una Mullally

Start playback

Listen to more Leading Views podcasts

Continue to Meet the EYL

Meet the EYL40

Filter by

Sectors

Current filter: All sectors

All sectors Academic Business Civil Society Culture Media Other Politics

Countries

Current filter: Spain

All countries Albania Austria Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Canada China Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Egypt Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary India Ireland Israel Italy Jordan Kosovo Latvia Lebanon Libya Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Montenegro Morocco Palestinian Territory Poland Portugal Romania Saudi Arabia Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Syria The Netherlands The Republic of Kosovo The Republic of Northern Macedonia Tunisia United Kingdom United States of America

Years

Current filter: 2020

All years 2020 2019 2018 2017 NA Young Leader 2017 MENA Young Leader 2017 2015-2016 2014 2013 2012

Alexandre is a Spanish engineer and entrepreneur. He is President and Co-Founder of The Altius Society, a renowned international non-profit which combines the knowledge of Nobel laureates, leading researchers and policymakers to better understand the impact of technology on future societies. He also co-founded Fever, a tech start-up which is disrupting the ‘experience economy’ as it allows its users to browse and book nearby events from a curated collection of places and pop-ups in over a dozen cities around the world. Alexandre has been recognised for his work by the Spanish Ministry of Education with the prestigious National Prize, awarded to Spain’s top three engineers.

Moha is a Spanish journalist and activist. He writes for eldiario.es, a leading online newspaper in Spain, where he contributes op-eds as well as creates video content explaining and analysing issues related to race and discrimination. Moha served as president of SOS Racismo Madrid, a prominent organisation that seeks to combat racism and xenophobia. In addition, Moha is active on the speaker circuit and is a lecturer at the University of Syracuse and the University of Stanford’s campuses in Madrid. Moha is known for utilising both print and multimedia content to advance his message: he is the creator of the audiovisual monologue ‘How would be my life if I were a black character in a movie’ and one of the writers of the book ‘Lost in media: migrant perspectives and the Public Sphere.’

Continue to Events

Filter by

Dates

Current filter: Next events

All events Next events Past events

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

Past event online

Area of Expertise

Continue to Selection process

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.

Continue to Partners