The World Economic Forum recently announced its 2016 class of Young Global Leaders — people under the age of 40 who are changing the world — and 23 of the 121 are American.
This year's Young Global Leaders class includes leaders from an array of backgrounds. Some are famous entertainers, like actor and investor Ashton Kutcher and writer John Green, and others are inventors, CEOs, philanthropists, and scientists working on revolutionary ideas — such as Nina Tandon, who grows human bones with her biotech company, EpiBone.
Once chosen by the WEF, these leaders are a part of the program for five years — they attend meetings, participate in initiatives and research, and work with the rest of the WEF's community.
Here are the 23 American leaders making a worldwide impact.
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Andy Moon, SunFarmer
Andy Moon started his work in the solar energy industry in 2009 as a project developer for SunEdison. In 2013, he and a coworker started SunFarmer — a nonprofit that brings solar power to developing countries — with the help of a $2 million grant from a SunEdison foundation.
SunFarmer has completed more than 100 solar energy projects so far in Nepal, its pilot country, powering schools and health clinics as well as providing relief to victims following a pair of earthquakes last spring.
By 2020, SunFarmer’s goal is to power 4,000 hospitals, schools and water projects around the world.
Aria Finger, DoSomething.Org
After graduating from college in 2005, Aria Finger joined the nonprofit DoSomething.org to try to change the way young people give back to their communities. The organization has since grown from five employees to 55, and in the past decade it has helped 4.7 million young people started campaigns in their hometowns.
Six months ago, Finger was promoted to CEO. Her most recent campaign, Keep Guns Off Campus, encourages students to pressure their college presidents to take a stand against having guns on campus.
Ashton Kutcher, THORN: Digital Defenders of Children
The actor, producer, and tech investor started the DNA Foundation in 2011 with then-wife Demi Moore with the goal of ending child sex slavery. The company rebranded a year later to “Thorn: Digital Defenders of Children” with a more specific focus: technology’s role in the sexual exploitation of children.
With the help of partners such as Facebook, Tumblr, and Microsoft, Thorn has been battling Internet-enabled sexual abuse and providing support to victims. This past November, Kutcher announced that the organization would open an innovation lab that will allow data analysts and scientists to think up new technologies to deter online predatory behavior toward children.
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