100 Future Leaders: The World's Most Influential Young People in Government | 2018

Elise Stefanik is the youngest woman ever elected to Congress in the history of the United States. She represents New York’s 21st district in the house of representatives. From 2006 - 2009, Stefanik served in the West Wing of the White House as part of President George W. Bush's Domestic Policy Council Staff and in the Chief of Staff's office where she assisted in overseeing the policy development process on all economic and domestic policy issues.

Eva Maydell is a Bulgarian politician and member of the European Parliament. She represents the European People’s Party Group and is president of the pro-European organisation European Movement International. Her work focuses on improving the quality of education for young people, creating opportunities for entrepreneurs and promoting technology and digitisation. In 2017, Maydell was awarded best MEP award for her work on driving new technology solutions.

Camila Vallejo is a Chilean Communist Party politician, currently serving as member of the Chamber of Deputies. She is part of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth of Chile. As president of the University of Chile Student Federation and main spokesperson of the Confederation of Chilean Students, she was one of the most prominent leaders of the student protests of 2011. Vallejo has been included in Time Magazine’s "100 People Who Mattered" in 2011 and in "150 Fearless Women" by Newsweek in 2012. She is the subject of the 2015 song, "Te Amo Camila Vallejo" by Omaha-based band Desaparecidos.

Lynn Ruane is an independent politician and senator for the University of Dublin in Ireland. An activist for social justice and women's sexual and reproductive rights, she became involved in politics while studying at Trinity College Dublin, eventually winning a seat as senator in 2016. She previously served as president of Trinity College Dublin Students' union. In 2018 she published her memoir People Like Me, recounting her experience as a teenage mother and growing up in poverty.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a newly-elected congresswoman for New York, and the youngest woman ever elected to the US House of Representatives. She won nomination for the seat after a surprise defeat of Joe Crowley, then the chair of the Democratic Caucus. Ocasio-Cortez was previously an educator in New York City and founded a publishing house dedicated to positive portrayals of the Bronx in children's literature.

Alvand Salehi is a senior technology advisor in the White House, where he has served in both the Obama and Trump administrations. He led the development of the first federal policy on source code, which ensured government-funded software could be shared between agencies. He subsequently founded Code.gov, a platform for sharing government code and software applications. Salehi is also a researcher at Harvard's Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society, where he studies the impacts of open source software.

Amanda Smith is an acting deputy director in charge of the data driven department and culture change at the UK Government's Ministry of Justice. As an expert in data, digital and open working practices, she has previously worked at the Open Data Institute and the UK's Home Office to bring open data reforms and transparency to policing in the UK. Trained as a criminologist, she won Bloomberg's WISE Open Technology award for contributions in data and technology across Europe.

Aya Chebbi is an award-winning Pan-African feminist. She is the first African Union Youth Envoy and the youngest diplomat at the African Union Commission Chairperson’s Cabinet. She is the founder of platforms including the Youth Programme of Holistic Empowerment Mentoring, which coaches the next generation to be positive change agents, Afrika Youth Movement , one of Africa’s largest Pan-African youth-led movements and Afresist, a youth leadership program and multimedia platform documenting youth work in Africa. She served on the Board of Directors of CIVICUS World Alliance for Citizen Participation, the World Refugee Council and Oxfam Independent Commission on Sexual Misconduct.

Bogolo Kenewendo is Botswana’s cabinet minister for investment, trade and industry. In 2016, she became the youngest minister ever elected to the country’s parliament after having been nominated by the president. The UN secretary-general also appointed Kenewendo to the High-Level Panel on Digital Cooperation, co-chaired by Melinda Gates and Jack Ma. She founded the Molaya Kgosi Trust, a mentorship and leadership program for young women.

David Moinina Sengeh is the chief innovation officer for the government of Sierra Leone. He has a background in biomedical engineering, working on prosthetic technologies which were used to treat survivors of the Boston Marathon bombing. He has previously worked on healthcare technology and artificial intelligence with IBM Research in Kenya. Sengeh is also the founder of NGO Global Minimum Inc, which supports local entrepreneurship in Sierra Leone, Kenya and South Africa.

Enrique Zapata is Head of the National Digital Platform at the Executive Secretariat of Mexico’s Anticorruption System. The platform uses open data and artificial intelligence from across Mexico's government to show how public resources are spent and hold politicians to account. He was previously General Director of Open Data at the Office of the President, where he was responsible for the country's open data policy and national digital strategy.

Jaimie Boyd leads the team that coordinates and enables open government and open data across Canada’s government, responsible for initiatives to support transparency, accountability and citizen participation. She is a coordinator of Policy Ignite, a grassroots forum for debating public policy, and board member of leadership development program Action Canada. She has served as co-chair of the Youth Network of the Americas and is a graduate of the Canadian government’s Accelerated Economist Training Program and the Organization of American States’ Open Government Fellowship. She has held positions at Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada and the Privy Council Office.

Mamadou Samba is director of the Mayor's Office of Africa Affairs in Washington DC. He is originally from Senegal and has previously served on the DC Commission on African Affairs. Mamadou has been a strong advocate for African diaspora communities in the United States, highlighting issues impacting them and helping win funding for African non-profits. He began working for the DC government in 2011 after winning a Capital City Fellowship, and has held positions in the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, where he oversaw DC's transport infrastructure budget, and the Department of General Services.

Michael Tubbs was elected mayor of Stockton, California at 26 years old, making him the youngest and first African American mayor in the city’s history. Tubbs is best known for introducing a philanthropically funded basic income trial in the city — the first government-backed experiment of its kind in the US — which is still reeling from declaring bankruptcy in 2012. He’s made initiatives aimed at ending inequality the cornerstone of his tenure as mayor.

Naisula Lesuuda is a Kenyan politician and women's rights activist, crowned as politician of the year by One Young World. In 2010, her work with local peace organisations led to her becoming the youngest Kenyan woman to win the presidential Order of the Grand Warrior. In 2013, Lesuuda founded the Naisula Lesuuda Peace Foundation, which advocates for the education of girls and for the eradication of female genital mutilation and child marriage. That year, she also became the Kenyan Senate’s youngest female member. In 2017, she was elected as National Assembly member for Samburu West, the constituency’s first female MP.

Nara Lokesh is the minister for information technology, panchayati raj and rural development in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. A strong advocate for the digital economy, he aims to transform the province's cities into IT industry hubs, and create 100,000 IT jobs in Andhra Pradesh by 2019. He is a trustee of the not-for-profit social welfare organisation the NTR trust. He is working to improve access to healthcare in the state, particularly for the poor, and improve emergency response times following distasters.

Ruth Ellen Brosseau is the house leader for the New Democratic Party in the Canadian federal parliament. She won an unexpected victory in the electorate of Berthier—Maskinongé in Quebec in 2011. Brosseau is a prominent advocate on issues which do not personally affect most MPs, such as policy towards single mothers and on student loans. She won re-election with an increased margin in 2015 and subsequently became the NDP's agriculture spokesperson.

Sakaja Johnson has been Senator for Nairobi since the 2017 Kenyan General Election. Previously, he was a Member of Parliament and he has also worked closely with current president Uhuru Kenyatta. Age 26, Johnson helped form The National Alliance. This was the party that the current Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta led to electoral victory in 2013. Aged only 27, he became the youngest chairman of a ruling party in the world. His political journey began while he was student, and he was elected to several student political leadership roles.

Stav Shaffir is an MP for Israel's Labor Party and the youngest MP in the Knesset's history. She was elected to office in 2011 after taking a leading role in that year’s social justice protests against inequality and inadequate public services in Israel. As an MP she has worked to fight corruption, promote transparency in government and her own party and to advance women's and LGBT rights. She chairs the Knesset's Transparency Committee and in 2017 she was elected to chair the OECD’s Parliamentary Committee for Transparency and Anticorruption. In the same year she was named the most active member of Knesset on social issues. In 2015 she was one of only eight MKs to forgo their pay raise calling it "distasteful" in light of wage stagnation in the Israeli job market.

Syed Saddiq is a Malaysian politician and activist. He is the current Minister of Youth and Sports, the Member of Parliament of Muar and the Youth Chief of the Malaysian United Indigenous Party, a component of Pakatan Harapan coalition. He is the youngest federal minister in since Malaysia's independence. As the Minister of Youth and Sports, Saddiq wants to push for a lower voting age from 21 to 18 years old.

Craig Kesson has three critical roles in the Cape Town government: he’s its executive director of corporate services, chief data officer and chief resilience officer. He’s responsible for driving the city’s strategy and governance systems, coordinating data strategy across city departments and managing their performance. As chief resilience officer, he works with the Rockefeller Foundation to solve the thorniest problems facing the city, from unemployment to climate change. He’s the co-author of the book View from City Hall: Reflections on Governing Cape Town.

Mbali Ntuli is Provincial Campaigns Director for KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa and a former leader of the youth wing of South Africa’s Democratic Alliance party. She was first elected to the province’s legislature in 2014. She was ranked in Destiny Magazine’s Top 40 Power Women list. She has spoken out against sexism and objectification of women in politics.

Pedro Fernandes Lopes is Secretary of State for Innovation and Technical Training at the Government of Cabo Verde. Previously, he was a Communications Associate for the United Nations office in Cabo Verde, where he supported the development of communications and advocacy strategies. He launched TEDx in Cabo Verde and is the President of Geracao B-Bright, a youth empowerment project.

Sayida Ounissi is a member of the Tunisian national parliament for the governing Ennahda party, and secretary of state for vocational training. Ounissi became one of the youngest members of the parliament in 2014, winning election to a seat representing the Tunisian disapora in France, where she spent much of her youth after her family fled the country in the 1990s. She has previously worked at the Jasmine Foundation, the Research Institute on Contemporary Maghreb, the NGO Young Muslims of Europe and the African Development Bank.

Seun Omobo is senior special adviser to Nigeria's Foreign Minister. She played an essential role in the 2018 Nigerian Economic Diplomacy Initiative, which provides international market access to local businesses. Omobo has years of experience in healthcare reforms. She was adviser to the Nigerian Senate and ensured the passage of several critical health bills, and she has worked in various capacities within the WHO in Geneva. She is a member of the Lagos Hub of the World Economic Forum Global Shapers Community.

Armstrong Pame is an officer in the Indian Administrative Service, and won 2015’s “most eminent officer” award. He is known as “miracle man” for building a 100km road connecting Manipur to Nagaland and Assam, opening access to two inaccessible villages. He was initially refused funding, so in 2012 he crowdsourced Rs. 40 lakh through his Facebook page to build the road. He invites 10 local students to dinner at his home each week to support their ambitions. He is a 2018 World Economic Forum Young Global Leader.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is chairman of the Pakistan People's Party, one of the country's main political parties. He became chairman of the PPP in 2007 after the death of his mother, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. He led the party in the 2018 election, entering parliament himself after winning the National Assembly race for Ratodero and Larkana, in the southern province of Sindh. He has almost three million Twitter followers, making him one of the most popular politicians in Pakistan.

Bulgantuya Khurelbaatar is deputy minister of finance of Mongolia. Prior to being appointed to her current position, she worked as the secretary of Mongolian People's Party, in charge of party structure, international relations and NGOs. She also served as the vice president of Mongolian Social Democracy-Youth Union, the youth organisation of Mongolian People's Party. She has several years of private sector managerial experience in the mining sector at Oyu Tolgoi and at Petrovis. She has also been a consultant on World Bank projects in developing countries such as East Timor and Palestine.

Dushyant Chautala is a member of the Lok Sabha, India's national parliament, for Hisar in the northern state of Haryana. He was elected in 2014He is the youngest person elected to the Lok Sabha in Indian history and leads his party, the Indian National Lok Dal, in the house. Chautala is also a member of the executive committee of the Indian Olympic Association.

Feng-Yuan Liu is director of the Data Science and Artificial Intelligence Division at GovTech Singapore where he leads a team of multi-disciplinary data scientists to drive the use of data-driven decision-making in public policy. They work with quantitative methods, artificial intelligence, data visualisation and strategy consulting. Feng-Yuan previously held senior roles at the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Trade and industry and the Land Transport Authority. He also served as a delegate for Singapore to the United National General Assembly.

Hefen Wong leads Co-Lab, an innovation lab within Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower. As deputy director, Wong works to revolutionise the country’s public services through evidence-based policymaking, behavioural insights, data analytics and design thinking. Her vision for government is for all policy to be human-centred, and all decisions to be data-driven. Prior to working at the Ministry of Manpower, Wong held fellow positions at New York’s Public Policy Lab and the UK’s Behavioural Insights Team.

Madhukeshwar Desai is an Indian politician and national vice president of the youth wing of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. He was first elected to the office in 2013, making him the youngest vice president of the party's youth wing in its history, where he works to attract young people into politics. In 2016, he set up Mumbai Centre for International Arbitration, now a leading arbitral administration institution for large companies in India which he currently heads as CEO.

Masami Fujioka is deputy director of Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. He is also a member of the Global Shapers Community run by the World Economic Forum, where he works closely with political and policy leaders at home and abroad. He has been heavily involved in healthcare reform, as well as parenting policy, including standardisation of Japanese nursery care.

Phan Hoàng Lan is a Vietnamese civil servant in the Ministry of Science and Technology. For the past three years, she has been responsible for bridging the divide between policymakers, tech entrepreneurs and startups. She co-authored the National Innovation Initiative Support Program for Year 2025, marking the government's entry into efforts to build an innovation ecosystem. Lan also started the annual TECHFEST Vietnam in 2015: it now attracts nearly 10,000 attendees. In 2018, Lan was named 30 under 30 by Forbes Vietnam.

Raksha Khadase is an MP for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in India, having first been elected in 2014 aged just 26. In that parliament, she was the joint-youngest MP. She has served as a Member of the Standing Committee on External Affairs, and a Member of the Consultative Committee at the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.

Sania Ashiq became Pakistan’s youngest parliamentarian when she was sworn in as a state legislator for the Pakistan Muslim League party in Punjab at the age of 25 in August 2018. At the time, she declared her intention to advocate for women’s empowerment, including fighting for community projects set up to prevent violence against women and children. She also seeks to drive greater public participation in politics.

Sheina Marie Onrubia is a city council member for the city of Tabaco in the Phillipines. As a legislator she has championed sexual and reproductive health reforms, and in 2012 rallied women and young people in support of the county's responsible parenthood and reproductive health act, guaranteeing universal access to contraception, fertility control, sexual education, and maternal care. In 2017 she was nominated as one of the Bill & Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health's 120 under 40, a list recognising the contributions of young champions of family planning.

T.V. Anupama is an Indian civil servant and the district collector of Alappuzha, a city in Kerala, where she’s responsible for revenue collection and administration. She’s been lauded for her bold stance against powerful politicians and lobbying groups: a fact-finding report she spearheaded exposed corruption by a high-ranking transport minister, which resulted in the country’s high court filing a case against him. Anupama previously served as the Food and Safety Commissioner of Kerala.

Bhakti Sharma is the sarpanch, head of the local village council, of Barkhedi Abdulla in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Since being elected in 2015, she has worked to increase women's employment in her area and expand maternal healthcare. Sharma has also launched an initiative to invite urban students to the village to learn more about local government and the way rural areas can be self-reliant.

Alex Dawson is the director of research and messaging for the UK's prime minister Theresa May. Working from her office at 10 Downing Street he liases between the top of the UK government and the media, helping to shape May's political messages. He previously worked as a special advisor for the Home Office, and before this was director of policy and research for the UK's Conservative party.

Anna Ascani is an Italian politician and MP for the Democratic party. Through her political work she has advocated for educational and youth policy reform. Passionate about bringing more young people into politics, she is also the President of the youth Intergroup of the Italian parliament. She has published a book on accountability and democracy and is a regular speaker at international seminars, having participated at those run by both the OECD and the Obama Foundation.

Annie McIver is the head of policy for the race disparity unit based in the UK government's Cabinet Office. Her and her team are responsible for researching and publishing data on the experiences of people in the UK from different ethnic backgrounds. She has previously worked within the cabinet office as private secretary to the minister and as private secretary for social policy to the first secretary of state.

Charlotte Dring is a British civil servant and co-founder and inaugural chair of the Cross-Government Social Mobility Network (CGSMBN), which champions social mobility for government workers. Dring grew the CGSMBN from zero to 130 members and 10 new social mobility networks across departments in just over a year. Previously, Dring worked in the Department for Communities and Local Government’s homelessness and support division and the North East Lincolnshire Council.

Dabbert Doornbosch is deputy chief information officer at The Hague, in the Netherlands, where he also serves as a digital strategist. He previously worked in a series of digital roles in the city. He holds qualifications in business, law and management and public law from Leiden University.

In September 2012 Humza Yousaf was appointed as Minister for External Affairs and International Development, the first ever Minister in the Scottish Government from an ethnic minority background. Since then he has served as Minister for Transport and the Islands, before his appointment as Cabinet Secretary for Justice in June 2018. He has been involved in community work, from youth organisations to charity fundraising, for most of his life, including being media spokesperson for the international non-governmental organisation Islamic Relief. He also volunteered for community radio for 12 years and on a charitable project providing food packages to homeless people and asylum seekers in Glasgow.

Ismaël Emelien is a special advisor to President Emmanuel Macron of France, responsible for strategy, communication and speeches. He also served as a co-founder of En Marche!, the new political party Macron started before he launched his presidential bid, and which went on to sweep parliamentary elections shortly after his victory. He previously worked under Macron in his old role as French economy minister.

Jesse Klaver is a Dutch politician serving as a member of the House of Representatives since 2010 and as leader of the GroenLinks party since 2015. Prior to this, he chaired the youth union of the Christelijk Nationaal Vakverbond from 2009 to 2010. In 2013, he co-authored the memo "Beautiful Netherlands" which set out to protect nature, the landscape, flora and fauna. In 2013, he authored a private member's bill which through transparency sought to reduce food spillage.

Julia Reda is a German politician who was elected to the European Parliament for the Pirate Party in 2014. She is a vice-chair of her parliamentary group, the Greens/European Free Alliance. She also founded and served as president of the Young Pirates of Europe. Her focus is on copyright law, internet policy and open communication structures.

Kalle Palling is an MP in Estonia's Riigikogu and chair of its chair the European Union Affairs Committee. Representing the Reform Party, he was first elected to the Riigikogu in 2007, and is an advocate for better connections between Estonia and Europe. He sits on the board of both the Estonian national energy corporation Eesti Energia, and Tallinna airport. In 2016 he gave a TED Talk on Estonia's digital government reforms that has been viewed over 7000 times.

Luigi Di Maio is Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and leader of the 5 Star Movement. First elected to Italy’s parliament in 2013, he became the Chamber of Deputies’ youngest ever Vice President later that year. He took on his current role in the wake of this year’s Italian general election as part of his party’s coalition government, alongside the role of Minister of Economic Development, Labour and Social Policies.

Magid Magid is a British-Somali activist and politician who has served as the Lord Mayor of Sheffield since May 2018. His appointment attracted significant media attention: he is the first Somali, the youngest-ever and the first Green Party councillor to hold the role. Born in Somaliland, Magid came as a child refugee to Britain in 1994. He was elected as a Green Party councillor on Sheffield City Council in 2016, and from 2017 to 2018, he served as Deputy Lord Mayor.

Elected to Britain’s parliament in 2015 aged just 20, Mhairi black is the country’s youngest MP since the 17th century. To win her seat, she defeated one of the UK Labour Party’s most recognisable politicians, who had held the constituency for 18 years. Videos of her parliamentary speeches regularly go viral on Facebook and she has been credited with interesting young people in Scotland in politics.

Monika Filipova is director of the local state administration, self-government and foreign affairs department in Slovakia's Ministry of the Interior. She is also the chair of Dobry uradnik, "The Good Public Servant", a civic organisation aiming to build a community of ethical and professional public servants and improving their standing with the public. Filipova has worked in multiple roles in the Ministry of the Interior since 2012.

Nasima Razmyar is Helsinki’s deputy mayor for culture and leisure. Razmyar, who is originally from Afghanistan, was elected to parliament as a representative for the Social Democratic Party in 2015. She was the country’s first refugee representative, and in 2010, was named refugee woman of the year by the Finnish Refugee Council.

Natasha Bertaud is the coordinating spokesperson for the activities of the European Commission's president and policies of the first vice president. She is the link between the president and the press, communicating for both president Jean-Claude Juncker and vice-president Frans Timmermans. She previously worked as the spokesperson for European Commissioners Viviane Reding and Cecilia Malstrom and as press officer for the commission's Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship program, before joining Juncker's presidential campaign as spokesperson.

Nils Hoffmann is head of GovLab Arnsberg, an innovation lab serving the State of North-Rhine Westphalia. From improving schools development to improving mobility and promoting local culture, the lab comes up with innovative local policy solutions, working with methods like design thinking and multidisciplinary groups like computer scientists, lawyers and local craftspeople. Previously, Hoffmann worked at the Department for Rural Development.

Phillipe Nantermod is an MP and vice president of the Liberal-Radical party in Switzerland. Within Switzerland's national council he sits on the health and social security committee (CSSS) and the management committee (CdG). From 2007-2012 he was vice-president of the Liberal-Radical party's youth wing and from 2012-2013 was its co-chairman.

Povilas Poderskis is the CEO of Vilnius City, Lithuania, and one of the most prolific data activists in the Baltic region. As the CEO of Vilnius, his work is focused on innovation and digital transformation: his first order in his new role was to digitise government documents, which saves the city €36,000 ($40,700) per year in paper costs. He previously served as the advisor to the mayor on technology, open data and digitisation. He also worked at a software solutions firm as a programmer and project manager.

Rens Raemakers is currently the youngest member of the Dutch House of Representatives, where he has been a consistent advocate of youth involvement in politics. He introduced an annual day in Parliament for a youth debate in which 150 children, aged between 10 and 12 years, take part. At the age of 18 Raemakers was diagnosed with cancer but by 22 he had survived the illness and gained a position as City Councillor in Leudal.

Þórdís Kolbrún R. Gylfadóttir is an Icelandic politician and lawyer serving as the current Minister of Tourism, Industry and Innovation. She has also been a member of the Alþingi (Iceland's parliament) for the Northwest Constituency since 2016, as a representative of the Independence Party. At the age of 29 she became the youngest woman to become an Icelandic Minister. As of 2018, she is also the vice chair of the Independence Party. She has taught constitutional law and from 2011 to 2012 was an attorney at the Environmental and Natural Resources Complaints Committee.

Vasant Chari is acting head of the UK government’s Policy Lab, which is bringing new policy tools and techniques to the UK Government. Policy Lab is a creative space where policy teams can develop the knowledge and skills to develop policy in a more open, data-driven, digital and user-centred way. Chari previously spent several years at the UK Home Office, where he held positions including digital policing lead (senior policy advisor) and private secretary to the head of the border force. In 2015-2016, he took a civil service career break to spend a year volunteering in Tanzania and India.

Virginijus Sinkevičius has been a member of the Lithuanian parliament since 2016, and Minister of the Economy in the government of Saulius Skvernelis since 2017. He has served as chair of the economics committee and deputy chair of the Farmers and Greens Union whilst in the parliament. Before entering politics, he was head of the agency which works to attract investment to Lithuania and previously worked as a journalist at the Lithuania Tribune.

Yannick Haan is a digital campaigner and politician. He holds several senior roles in Germany’s Social Democratic Party (SPD), including membership of the Network and Media Policy Commission of the SPD party executive committee, chairman of SPD Alexanderplatz and vice chairman of the SPD Berlin Mitte. He is the author of a book, "Society in the Digital Transformation - a Handbook".

Alan Avila Magos is the general secretary of the National Student Council of Acción Juevnil in Mexico where he leads projects and campaigns focussing on co-ordinating student action in the country. Acción Juvenil emerges with the fundamental mission of increasing the impact of the National Action Party on Mexican youth and encouraging youth participation in politics. He previously worked as an editorial counselor of the Reforma newspaper, which publishes stories for young Mexicans on issues such as politics, academia and society.

Camila Crescimbeni is Director of Young Inclusion in Argentina’s Ministry of Health and Social Development, and chair of the PRO party’s youth wing. She began her government career aged 22, in Buenos Aires’s education ministry. She was education at Buenos Aires University and on a scholarship to Washington and Lee University in Virginia, US. She has campaigned for liberalisation of abortion laws.

Chereda Grannum is a project officer at the government of Barbados's commission for pan-African affairs, where she works to empower Afro-Barbadians and strengthen links with Africans and the African diaspora. In 2018 she was named one of the most influential people of African descent in the UN's Global 100 Under 40 list, the first Barbadian to be recognised on it.

A Former mayor of Pelotas from 2013 to 2016, Eduardo Leite is governor-elect of the Rio Grande do Sul region, having defeated the incumbent in a shock victory in October’s elections. He Graduated in Law from the Federal University of Pelotas, studied Public Management at Columbia University (USA) and holds a Master's Degree in Public Policy and Management from Fundação Getúlio Vargas, in São Paulo.

Jonathan Malagón is Minister of Housing, Cities and Local Development in Colombia. An economist by training, at age 33 he has already worked for 12 years as a university professor, 10 of them in the country’s National University. He was chosen as one of the 10 young executives of the year in Colombia by the International Junior Chamber and awarded the Faith Medal in the Cause of the National Army for leadership and academic merits. He is the author of five books and dozens of academic essays.

Luis Alberto Rodriguez is Colombia’s youngest ever deputy minister of Finance. He holds a Master’s degree in Economic Policy from Columbia University and previously he studied economics in the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Universidad de Buenos Aires and Ecole d'économie de Toulouse (TSE). Rodriguez is former chief economist of the National Banking Institutions Association (Asobancaria) and economist in Colombia for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). He has been professor of fiscal policy in Universidad del Rosario and Universidad Nacional de Colombia.

Patricia Ceballos is a Venezuelan politician and activist. She served as mayor of San Cristóbal, the capital city of the state of Táchira, from 2014 to 2017, after having won a landslide vote to replace her husband in the position after he was jailed for participating in opposition protests. Gutiérrez has been outspoken about the current administration’s role in the Venezuelan crisis, which has crippled the country’s economy.

Urenna Best Gayle is the general director of the national secretariat for the development of Afro-Panamanians. Through her position she works to empower Panamanians of African descent. Over the course of her career she has been a member of many pan-national movements for advancing the cause of the African diaspora. She was awarded Brazil’s Luiza Mahim Prize for Youth and International Leadership — the first time the Brazilian Government granted the prize to a foreigner.

Javier Guillot leads the Public Innovation Team (EiP) at the National Planning Department (DNP) in Colombia, a ministry-level agency that directs strategic policy making and serves as the government’s think-tank. The EiP aims to enable innovation for the creation of public value by promoting more open, evidence-based experimentation approaches that directly engage citizens and public officials, and by strengthening capacities in a broader public innovation ecosystem. The team combines design, behavioural science and digital tools to tackle complex problems and to foster a culture of innovation throughout the Colombian government. He’s also the co-founder of OndaPolitica, a startup that uses design to bridge the gap between research and practice in policy.

Juan Maquieyra is the current president of the Housing Institute of Buenos Aires, leading the institute in its activities to promote access to adequate housing for residents and develop an integrated neighbourhood. Maquieyra is also the founder of Generación Argentina Política, a political action and training group for young people. He is also pro secretary of the National Pro Council. Prior to this Maquieyra was an advisor in the Chamber of Deputies of the Nation and in the Ministry of Social Development.

Luisa Alcalde is a Mexican politician and the nominee to become the next secretary of the Mexican government's ministry of labour and social security. When she takes the role she says her priorities involve improving working conditions for ordinary workers in the country. She was previously a federal deputy in Mexico for the Movimiento Ciudadano party, after a long record of campaigning and activism in the country.

Pedro Kumamoto is a Mexican activist and politician who, in 2015, became the first independent candidate to win a seat in the Congress of Jalisco, a state in western Mexico. He’s worked tirelessly to dismantle bureaucracy and corruption, convincing lawmakers from across the aisle to support initiatives including a bill that made it easier for other independent candidates to run for political office. He also donated 70% of his salary to projects aimed at strengthening citizen participation in politics.

Tabata Amaral de Pontes is the federal deputy for Sao Paulo, Brazil, and a member of the Democratic Labour Party. She’s also an astrophysicist, political scientist and an activist for education in Brazil. In 2014, she co-founded the Map Education Movement, whose mission is to engage young people in the struggle for better quality education. McKinsey awarded her a Next Generation Women Leader Award in 2017.

Verónica Espinosa is Minister of Public Health in Ecuador. She is a doctor by profession and has an academic and professional career that has been guided by her interest and commitment to public health. She has held positions including Deputy Minister of Health Governance and Surveillance, director of the Sub-center of Health of Puembor in Quito, advisor in the Ministry of Public Health and National Undersecretary of Public Health Governance.

As Chicago’s city clerk, Anna Valencia oversees one of the largest offices in the Midwest metropolis, which serves 1.2 million citizens and generates more than $130 million annually. Valencia’s focus is on making government accessible to all Chicagoans by finding new and innovative ways to bring public services to the people — such as a municipal ID program that allows residents access to many government services with one card. Prior to becoming clerk, she served as the second woman and first Latina to run Mayor Emanuel’s Legislative Counsel and Government Affairs unit, where she spearheaded police accountability reform.

Ashley Casovan is director of data architecture and innovation at the Government of Canada. She has been instrumental in establishing foundational data practices and disseminating innovative technology across the whole of government. She’s actively involved in Canada’s open data and open government communities, and previously worked the lead for Canada’s Open Government Portal and head of the City of Edmonton’s Open Data and Open Government efforts.

Ben Guhin is the head of design and technology policy for the City of Austin in Texas. His new team is working towards a transformation of the city government and deliver user-centred policy. Guhin founded Austin's Design, Technology and Innovation Fellows Program, which draws technology and design experts from the private sector into government. He previously led on design and technology during the creation of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Beth Fukumoto is an American politician and member of the Hawaii House of Representatives since 2012. She was the youngest person to serve as the House Minority Leader until 2017, when she was voted out after speaking at a Women's March event in Hawaii. In March 2017, she announced plans to change her party identification from Republican to Democrat. In 2013, Fukumoto was awarded the James Madison Fellowship for her success in transcending partisan lines. Fukumoto was also named by The Washington Post as a Top 40 under 40 Rising Political Star.

Bryce Williams is chief of the Tsawwassen first nation, a Native American people based on the Straight of Georgia. He was elected chief of the nation at 23, one of the youngest in history, after just one year as an elected official on the nation's council. A carver and painter, since becoming chief he has championed the nation's economic development, working to attract investment and jobs. Williams is passionate about attracting more youth to government in the nation, and keen to help them strengthen ties with their native american culture through language and music classes.

Dan Monafu leads a team at the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat to champion experimentation across the federal government. His team have developed three new types of financial instruments to enable innovative transfer payments. Monafu has worked in the federal public service in Canada since 2011, with roles at the Public Health Agency and Development Canada. He has also founded a number of community organisations and social enterprises including Soup Ottawa, which raises money for community benefit projects, and Ottawa Civic Tech, a community of people dedicating to using policy and technology to promote public good.

Drew Zachary is director and co-founder of The Opportunity Project and senior UX advisor at the US Census Bureau, where she leads open innovation and human-centered design initiatives. Previously, she was a policy advisor at the White House and senior analyst at the Commerce Data Service. Throughout her career, she has worked with urban, rural and tribal communities to use data, science and technology for local economic development. Her research on technology and program design has been published in Qualitative Health Research, The Diabetes Educator and eGEMs.

Emily Ianacone is a design strategist at the Baltimore Mayor’s Office of Innovation. She works to apply human-centred design and systems thinking methodologies to the fields of public health, behavioural health and children’s well-being. She’s one of four employees in the Bloomberg-funded office, which was founded in 2017 to tackle the city’s toughest issues. Ianacone was previously a Presidential Innovation Fellow at the White House.

Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois is a representative of the Québec Solidaire party in the parliament of Quebec. He was a prominent spokesperson during the 2012 Quebec student protests against a proposed hike in tuition fees. Nadeau-Dubois worked as a researcher for a major Quebec trade union after his involvement in the student protests. He joined Québec Solidaire in 2017, quickly becoming the party's co-spokesperson and entering parliament in a by-election in May that year.

Kylie Havelock helps lead the digital transformation of Canada's federal government at the Canadian Digital Service. She has a background in digital product work in the private and public sectors, including roles on Government Digital Service projects in the UK government's ministries of health and justice, where she worked on improving prison visitation. She is a producer and co-presenter of the OneTeamGov podcast, which highlights the innovative work of public servants worldwide.

Marie-Michell Poulin is a deputy director at The Canadian Trade Commissioner Service, providing strategic market information and market access solutions for Canadian companies looking to export, invest abroad, or develop innovation. She is currently leading exploratory discussions between The Association of Southeast Asian Nations and India on possible Free Trade Agreements with Canada. Prior to this she was a Trade Commissioner at the Canadian Embassy in Mexico City, and before that, Trade Commissioner in Mumbai.

Olivia Neal is the executive director for digital change at the Treasury Board of Canada, a role she took up after almost five years with the UK's Government Digital Service. At GDS she had a senior role in standards assurance, monitoring quality and value for money in the UK's digital services. In Canada, Neal works in the Chief Information Officer branch on coordinating approaches to digital government across departments.

Quintin Haynes is Chief of Staff at the New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services and an Adjunct Associate Professor of Policy and Management at New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. Previously, he served as adviser to the Obama Administration’s U.S. Secretaries of Commerce Rebecca Blank and Penny Pritzker, and Director for Finance at the White House, where he managed the daily operations of the White House’s $55 million annual appropriation.

Rasha Al-Katta is an Advisor at Canada’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations. She has worked with the Centre for Global and Community Engagement, Canada’s Permanent Mission to the Office of the United Nations in Geneva and Global Affairs Canada. Rasha was awarded a B.Soc.Sc. in International Development and Globalization, and an M.A. from the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs. She is one of the youngest recipients of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for her contributions to Canada.

Svante Myrick is the mayor of the city of Ithaca in New York. Elected to the office in 2012, he has successfully closed the city's budget deficit while also lowering taxes, and invested in infrastructure, housing and public transport. The city's first African American mayor, he worked his way up through Ithaca's city government, becoming the youngest alderperson in the history of the city. In 2012 he won a John F. Kennedy New Frontier Award for his commitment to public service, and in 2017 was named as one of Forbes' 30 under 30 in Law and Policy.

As a Special Assistant to President Donald Trump from 2017-2018, Mary Elizabeth Taylor was the White House staffer in charge of nominations to Trump's administration. She spearheaded more than 400 nominations, including the high-profile confirmations of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, and CIA Director Gina Haspel. In August, Trump nominated her to be Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs.

At the age of only 17, Cassandra Levesque began researching the issue of child marriage as part of a project for a Gold Award at the girl scouts. She subsequently started speaking to local state representatives and began a campaign to end child marriage in New Hampshire. After the campaign was unsuccessful and whilst still at college Cassandra ran for the State Legislature where she was successful. Her achievement was seen as particularly significant due to the fact that (as of 2015) the average age in the New Hampshire State Legislature was 66, making it the oldest state legislature in the country.

Alex Gyani is a Principal Advisor with Australia’s Behavioural Insights Team (BIT). Based in Sydney, he leads the research and evaluation functions of BIT Asia-Pacific. His work with the team over the past five years has cut across a wide set of policy areas including childhood obesity, employment, social housing, homelessness, domestic violence and public health. He is also an associate editor for the Cognitive Therapist and his peer reviewed publications range from mental health policy, to 3D vision, to the science-practice gap.

Jordon Steele-John is a senator for Western Australia, representing the Greens party. He was elected to the Senate in 2017, becoming the youngest member of the Australian parliament at 23 years old. Steele-John is a disability rights advocate, and has called for an official inquiry into the treatment of disabled people in prisons and for improved accessibility to Parliament House.

Josiah Tualamali'i is a Samoan activist, currently a member of New Zealand’s Inquiry into Mental Health and Addiction. At age 14, he was in the first 1st Pacific Youth Parliament in Christchurch. At 18, he became chair of the Pacific Youth Leadership And Transformation Council, which he helped establish. He sits on a number of boards, and advocates for ensuring young Pasifika people’s ideas and perspectives are considered by decision makers. He received the 2016 New Zealand prime minister’s Pacific Youth Award for Leadership and Inspiration.

Natasha Lewis is a senior policy analyst in New Zealand's Ministry for Women, working on fair pay for professions dominated by women. She has previously worked for UN Women in Thailand and New Zealand's ministries of foreign affairs and trade and business, innovation and employment. Lewis is also a board member at ChildFund New Zealand, which works to improve the lives of the world's most at-risk and marginalised children, their families and communities.

Nehal Davison is a Senior Adviser at the State Services Commission in the New Zealand Government. She is also a Coach and provides leadership and team coaching to start-up founders and government innovation teams. Previously, Nehal worked at the UK Institute for Government, an independent think tank working to make government more effective. Here she led leadership programmes for ministers, the first edition of the Public Services Performance Tracker, and research on driving whole-of-government reforms to deliver better outcomes.

Sally Hasler is International Engagement Manager at the Department of Premier and Cabinet in Victoria, Australia. She coordinates the Victorian Government’s international engagement activities in priority markets including India and Indonesia, and emerging markets across the region. Previously, she was regional partnerships manager, Asia, for the Fred Hollows Foundation and a senior manager for policy and corporate development at the Women’s Foundation, based in Hong Kong.