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?

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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

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.

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Alberto Alemanno

Jean Monnet Professor in EU Law at HEC Paris, Founder of The Good Lobby, Trustee of Friends of Europe and 2014 European Young Leader (EYL40)

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Alberto Alemanno is a leading voice on the democratization of the European Union. He’s currently the Jean Monnet Professor in EU Law at HEC Paris and visiting professor at the College of Europe in Bruges and at the University of Tokyo School of Public Policy. His research has been centred on how the law may be used to improve people’s lives, in particular through the adoption of power-shifting reforms countering social, economic, and political inequalities within European societies and beyond. He is a regular contributor to Le Monde, Bloomberg, Politico Europe, Forbes, and Il Sole 24 Ore, and his scholarly work has been featured in The Economist, The New York Times, The Financial Times, as well as Science and Nature.

Rim-Sarah Alouane
Rim-Sarah Alouane

Legal scholar and commentator and 2023 European Young Leader (EYL40)

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Rim-Sarah Alouane is a French legal scholar and commentator. Her research focuses on religious freedom, civil liberties, constitutional law and human rights across Europe and North America, with a special focus on France. Alouane has explored these issues as a guest lecturer at Georgetown University, Harvard Law School, Sorbonne and Sciences Po, among others. Her works have been published by the Atlantic Council, the Brookings Institution, The New York Times and Foreign Policy magazine. Alouane also regularly appears on TV and radio outlets worldwide, including NPR, Al Jazeera, BBC and France24, to discuss issues such as discrimination, human rights and politics. Notably, she has been vocal about the rise of far-right politics and anti-Muslim hatred, specifically providing her expert commentary on bodily autonomy given policy developments regarding bans on hijabs and burkinis in France.

Guillem Anglada-Escudé
Guillem Anglada-Escudé

Astrophysicist and Exoplanet Discoverer; Ramón y Cajal Research Fellow at the Institute of Space Sciences (IEEC-CISC) and 2018 European Young Leader

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Guillem Anglada-Escudé is a well-known astrophysicist and scientist, whose current work focuses on exoplanet detection and planetary exploration. Most notably, Guillem and his team discovered the Proxima b exoplanet orbiting Proxima Centauri, our closest neighbouring star and the nearest star to the Sun. He- has previously worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Carnegie Institution for Science, University of Goettingen, as well as Queen Mary University of London, where he became a reader in astronomy. He has conducted research in several countries and has been actively engaged with space agencies, such as NASA and the European Space Agency. In 2016, Guillem was named among the ten most prominent scientists worldwide by Science Magazine and one of TIME Magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world.

Alexander Betts
Alexander Betts

Professor of Forced Migration and International Affairs at the University of Oxford and 2020-2021 European Young Leader (EYL40)

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Alexander Betts is a Professor of Forced and International Affairs at the University of Oxford, where is also the Associate Head of the Social Sciences and a Senior Fellow in Politics at Brasenose College. His research examines the political economy of refugee assistance, with a focus on Africa. Alexander also currently leads the IKEA Foundation-funded Refugee Economies Programme, which undertakes participatory research on the economic lives of refugees in Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia. Prior to this, he served as director of the Refugees Studies Centre. Alexander has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Guardian and is the author of “The Wealth of Refugees: How Displaced People Can Build Economies”, which explores policy solutions for the contemporary global refugee crisis.

Alex Budak
Alex Budak

Faculty Member at the University of California, Berkley, Co-Founder of StartSomeGood and 2017 North American Young Leader

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Alex Budak is a serial social entrepreneur and faculty member at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. He created and teaches one of the university’s most popular courses, which equips and inspires students on how to become changemakers. Prior to joining UC Berkeley, he co-founded StartSomeGood, a leading social impact crowdfunding platform which has helped over 1,000 changemakers in 50 countries raise over $10mn altogether. Alex is also the former country director of Reach for Change, Scandinavia’s leading social impact incubator, in Stockholm. A mentor, coach and advisor to social entrepreneurs around the world, Alex has delivered keynote speeches and lectures on leadership and social innovation in venues from the White House to the World Bank, from Cambodia to the Arctic Circle. His work has been featured in various publications, including Forbes, The Guardian and The Washington Post.

Sinéad Burke
Sinéad Burke

Founder and CEO of Tilting the Lens and 2022 European Young Leader (EYL40)

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Sinéad is an Irish writer, educator and advocate, who champions inclusive, universal design to create a more equitable and accessible world for everyone. She founded Tilting the Lens to bring visibility to inaccessibility through the three pillars of education, advocacy and design. The consultancy has advised major global brands, including Gucci, Ralph Lauren, Netflix, Pinterest and Starbucks, on their move from awareness to action. Sinéad serves on Gucci’s Global Equity Board, ITV’s Cultural Advisory Council, the Irish President’s Council of State and Ireland’s Future of Media Commission. As a public speaker and host of the As Me with Sinéad podcast, Sinéad facilitates honest conversations about identity, disability and accessibility. Her children’s book, “Break the Mould”, is a primer on how to take your place in the world – with lessons for all. It won the An Post Irish Book Award.

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Jane Burston

Executive Director of the Clean Air Fund and 2015-2016 European Young Leader (EYL40)

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Jane has dedicated most of her life to climate and environmental issues. Before bringing together donors to set up the Clean Air Fund, Jane was head of climate and energy science in the UK government, where she was responsible for the UK greenhouse gas inventory and a £45m science programme. She also founded Carbon Retirement, an award-winning social enterprise working with the EU ETS. Additionally, she has led a team of 150 scientists working on energy and environment at the National Physical Laboratory. Her dedication to sustainability and entrepreneurial drive has been rewarded with being named as one of the ‘Top 30 UK entrepreneurs under 30’ by Real Business, ‘Social Entrepreneur of the Year’ by Square Mile and one of the ‘Top 10 Outstanding Young Persons of the UK’ by the Chamber of Commerce International, among others.

Eleonor Carter
Eleanor Carter

Research Director of the Government Outcomes Lab (GO Lab) at the University of Oxford and 2023 European Young Leader (EYL40)

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A British academic, Eleanor Carter is a Research Fellow at the University of Oxford Blavatnik School of Government and the Research Director of the Government Outcomes Lab (GO Lab). GO Lab is a research and policy centre that considers, designs and evaluates new approaches to improve social outcomes. Addressing challenges in public service outsourcing and the structure of partnerships between the government, private sector and other organisations, her research explores the potential of novel contracting arrangements, such as social outcomes contracts and impact bonds, in order to facilitate purposeful partnerships and effective services. A former policy advisor to the United Kingdom’s Cabinet Office on social investment and finance, Carter has also undertaken collaborative research projects with the Department for Work and Pensions. Her research has influenced policy design and evaluation strategies of government departments, and her work has also been published in leading policy journals.

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Thomas Dermine

Belgian State Secretary for Scientific Policy, Recovery Programme and Strategic Investments and 2020-2021 European Young Leader (EYL40)

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Thomas was appointed Secretary for Economic Recovery and Strategic Investment, with responsibility for scientific policy, in the Belgian government in 2020. Prior to his current role, he was well-known for heading l’Institut Emile Vandervelde, a research centre for the francophone Socialist Party (PS). Thomas has extensive experience in the Belgian political environment, having also served as the right hand and chief of staff to Paul Magnette, Chairman of the PS. In addition to his political work, Thomas previously held a managing role at CATCH, a public start-up aimed at coordinating and accelerating local projects in and around Charleroi, an economically modest area in Belgium. Thomas is also an affiliate of the Harvard Government Performance Lab where he leads research on Social Impact and a lecturer at Université Libre de Bruxelles.

Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bak
Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bak

Polish Minister of Family, Labour and Social Policy and 2018 European Young Leader (EYL40)

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Currently serving as the Minister for Family, Labour and Social Policy, Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk is among Poland’s most recognised social activists and a strong advocate of women’s and LGBTQIA+ rights. She previously served as a member of the Polish Parliament Social Policy Committee and the Education, Science and Youth Committee. Dziemianowicz-Bąk was instrumental in leading the demonstrations against anti-abortion laws in Poland that became known as ‘Black Monday’. She is a former board member of the left-wing Razem party. Dziemianowicz-Bąk was listed among the top 100 most influential Global Thinkers by Foreign Policy Journal and also received the Campaign Against Homophobia’s Equality Crowns award.

Federico Fabbrini
Federico Fabbrini

Full Professor at Dublin City University (DCU), Founding Director of the Brexit Institute and 2022 European Young Leader (EYL40)

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Federico is an Italian academic, who currently teaches at the School of Law & Government at DCU, where he is also the Director of the Law Research Center and established the Brexit Institute to explore the implications of Brexit on government, business and society from an academic and policy perspective. A qualified attorney, he has previously held academic positions in the Netherlands and Denmark and been a visiting scholar in France, Australia, Japan and the United States. Federico has authored five monographs, one textbook and over 100 articles and book chapters on European law and policy, in addition to policy reports at the request of the European Parliament and the Presidency of the Eurogroup. He has also edited numerous books and special issues for journals. In recognition of his contributions to European scholarship, Federico was awarded the European Charlemagne Prize Fellowship and knighted by the President of Italy.

Alicja Gescinska
Alicja Gescinska

Philosopher, writer and TV host and 2019 European Young Leader (EYL40)

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Alicja is a Belgian-Polish philosopher who has oriented her career around questions of identity and freedom. A published academic and an accomplished author, her first and most well-known title, The Conquest of Freedom, was shortlisted for an array of literary prizes when it was published in 2011. In addition to having held the position of Research Associate at Princeton University, Alicja has lectured at Amherst College on topics such as philosophy of freedom, Islam in Europe and European politics. Returning to Belgium in 2016, she now leads the philosophical TV programme, Wanderlust, on the Canvas channel and contributes regularly to both Philosophy Magazine and the broadcasting company, VRT. Her debut fictional novel, A Kind of Love, won the ‘Debuutprijs’ in 2017.

Paolo Giordano
Paolo Giordano

Bestselling Author, Theoretical Physicist and 2020-2021 European Young Leader (EYL40)

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Paolo is an award-winning Italian writer and theoretical physicist. His first novel, The Solitude of Prime Numbers, is a critically acclaimed worldwide bestseller, selling over a million copies and being translated into thirty languages. It also received an equally successful cinematic adaptation. Paolo also wrote the critically acclaimed The Human Body and Like Family. He has been widely recognised for his work and was the youngest winner ever of Italy’s most prestigious literary award, the Strega Prize, as well as the Premio Campiello, a highly competitive annual prize.

Edvard Glücksman
Edvard Glücksman

Senior Lecturer at the University of Exeter Business School and 2015-2016 European Young Leader (EYL40)

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Edvard Glücksman’s work focuses on the relationship between organisations and the environment. As a Senior Lecturer at the University of Exeter Business School, he teaches undergraduate modules that connect management and organisational theory to best practice environmental and social sustainability actions. Glücksmanalso leads and supports executive education programmes designed to offer professionals cutting-edge training in climate and sustainability science, and to apply key concepts to their everyday practice and to their organisation’s broader strategy. He has previously worked with large global companies, as well as regional SMEs, and is currently the Programme Director on the Sustainable Solutions Leadership Programme (SSLP) delivered to Capgemini UK. Glücksman is also the academic lead on Future17, an innovative education programme that brings students from around the world together to work on challenges related to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

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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 1986). 
  • Candidates must be a national of an EU member state, Moldova, 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 2026 that will give you an idea of the process and will provide you with link to nomination/application form.  

Please note that the deadline for the nominations/applications is 20 May 2025. 

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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