The World Economic Forum (WEF) is finally on the ball. Just ask Danish Ajmeri.
At 20, Ajmeri, an HBA student at Western University’s Richard Ivey School of Business, was among the world’s top business leaders, political figures and intellectuals as the youngest person at WEF’s recent annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
Selected to represent WEF’s Global Shapers community – a relatively new group of engaged 20-somethings from across the world – Ajmeri was one of 70 youth who not only observed, but participated in the proceedings and helped lead a workshop at the meeting last month.
“Being part of the (meeting), you get to feel like you’re really part of something much bigger than yourself. And to actively contribute to something like that is a unique experience,” Ajmeri said. “Most (successful) people don’t get to do something like this during their career, and I was very grateful.”
But that’s not the best part, he added.
“With the (development) of the Global Shapers community, young people can use being young as an advantage as opposed to (their age) being something holding them back from getting the job they want or having the influence they want,” he said.
“Youth experience and opinions are becoming more important than they’ve ever been in the past and it is reflecting the way businesses are being conducted and political revolutions – like Occupy Wall Street – are taking shape. Young people are helping make huge changes happen.”
WEF created the Global Shapers community for this very purpose, Ajmeri explained.
With 50 per cent of the world’s population under the age of 27, and most living in urban centres, WEF felt there was a need to engage youth, not just in their communities, but on a global scale. The group emerged out of a push to help youth become agents of change in a world where young persons, affected by many of the world’s political and socio-economic issues, regularly have no voice.
Developed just six months ago, Global Shapers is comprised of hubs of roughly 10-20 individuals in major urban centres, modeled on WEF’s Young Global Leaders (YGL), a similar initiative for community leaders in their 30s.
All Global Shapers are nominated to a hub after demonstrating leadership skills and a potential to be impactful in their communities not just today, but down the road as well, Ajmeri said.
Ajmeri’s experience with The Next 36, a Canadian entrepreneurial initiative for innovative and promising undergraduates, coupled with his work in developing a youth engagement toolkit with Jennifer Corriero, a YGL, helped him stand out among other potential Global Shapers for the Toronto hub. A video application focusing on the limitations of a formal education system that doesn’t prepare youth for the demands of the labour market got WEF’s approval and Ajmeri was invited to the organization’s annual meeting.
Out of roughly 700 Global Shapers, 70 were chosen by WEF to attend the meeting and Ajmeri was the youngest attendee.
“It was incredible getting to meet these 69 other people from all kinds of different places, doing lots of different things concerning lots of different problems in the world. It was inspiring to see what young people are doing around the word to solve some of the biggest issues in their communities,” Ajmeri said. “Fortunately, we developed a lot of long lasting friendships and we will be able to continue to use each other as resources and to be a support for each other in the future.”
He was fortunate to sit in on sessions spanning topics such as education, employment, the economy, the Eurozone and the financial crisis.
“Hearing experts talking about these issues, just being there, getting their perspectives, getting this chance to interact with them, you are able to have these real conversations and they are willing to listen to what you have to say. These people are CEOS and political leaders, so in a normal setting, they might not care to listen to a 20-something talk about something,” Ajmeri said.
And that’s what matters to him.
“With the Shapers community now in the WEF, I think the youth perspective has received more credibility and that’s something that’s important to the youth of today.”
