European Young Leaders (#EYL40)

Having previously served as the commissioner for digital economy and society, Mariya currently serves as the European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Digital Economy and Society. Mariya is a former member of the European Parliament, in which role she was active as both the head of the Bulgarian European People’s Party (EPP) delegation and vice-president of the EPP party. She was also involved in a wide range of parliamentary committees, having served as the EPP Group coordinator for the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM), and as a member of the committees on agriculture and rural development (AGRI); civil liberties, justice and home affairs (LIBE); petitions (PETI); and the special committee on organised crime, corruption and money laundering (CRIM). The recipient of several international awards, she is passionate about initiatives related to young people and has established six European information centres in Bulgaria.

Jesse Klaver currently serves as the green-left party leader in the Dutch parliament, with a mandate focused on environmental and educational issues. In his time as party leader, Klaver was instrumental in capturing 10 additional parliamentary seats, rising to an all-time high of 14, and making GroenLinks the fifth most important group in the House. Previously, Klaver was the spokesperson for finance, environment and education, and sat on a wide range of parliamentary committees. He has publically opposed tax evasion and has co-authored a memo on protecting the Dutch flora and fauna.

Elisabeth is an Austrian politician and the current Federal Minister for Sustainability, Agriculture and Tourism in the Austrian government. Previously, Elisabeth was the President of the National Council, the first chamber of the Austrian Parliament, and a Member of the European Parliament from 2009 to 2017, belonging to the European People’s Party Group (EPP), and won the MEP Award for her work in agriculture and rural development in 2014. She currently serves as the Vice-President of the Austrian Farmers Association, and continues to passionately advocate for issues related to rural areas and their development.

As the first woman as Commanding Officer in the German Navy (FGS Datteln), Helena has participated in several international missions under the United Nations and NATO with her crew. In this role, she has been responsible for all issues concerning her ship, crew and assignments, including extensive training and combat cycles. Helena is the first woman ever to take over the command of a German navy ship.

Ludewig leads the healthcare division of T-Systems International and is responsible for driving the company’s development of the healthcare market. Prior to his current role, he worked to advance the digitalisation and innovative capacity of Germany’s health sector as the head of the Department of Healthcare Digitalization at the German Ministry of Health, where he was notably responsible for the introduction of the digital vaccination card. Ludewig was also instrumental in promoting the electronic patient file and establishing the FDZ research data centre. As a member of the Berlin House of Representatives, he was the deputy chairman and health policy spokesperson the Christian Democrats Union parliamentary group. In this position, Ludewig was particularly committed to strengthening research and innovation in the healthcare sector.

Sammy, the son of an Iraqi political refugee and a Belgian mother, has become the first ever Chairman from Brussels to lead the Flemish ‘Jong CD&V’ party. He has previously served as a parliamentary assistant and writes a regular column for the Belgian newspaper De Morgen. Passionate about issues related to integration and equality, Sammy is viewed as a bridge builder between Belgium’s Muslim and non-Muslim populations.

Roberta is the youngest ever and third woman President of the European Parliament. Prior to this, she served as Vice-President of the European Parliament, also as a member on the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, among several other parliamentary committees and delegations. A lawyer by profession, Roberta is a member of the European People’s Party Group (EPP) and among the first female members of parliament to represent Malta. She is a two-time recipient of Parliament Magazine’s MEP Award, receiving recognition for her work on justice and civil liberties, and hosted the awards ceremony in 2017.

Brune is the Chief Sustainability Officer and a Member of the Executive Committee at Accor, a multinational hospitality company. Her role includes defining, driving and monitoring commitments, strategy and rollout of Accor’s plans in relation to sustainable development. She is also responsible for the Accor Solidarity and ALL Heartists endowment funds and additionally serves on the Board of Trustees of Fondation de la Mer. During her tenure as a member of the French National Assembly, Brune served as the secretary of state to the French Ministry of Ecological and Inclusive Transition and became the first French minister elected as vice-president of the United Nations Environment Assembly. She was previously the director of sustainability and social responsibility for South Asia at Veolia, where projects focused on drinking water distribution in the slums of Indian megacities, and a coordinator of sustainability projects at the French Development Agency in New Delhi.

Lia is a rising star in Italian politics. She is the Leader of the Democratic Party in the Committee on Foreign and European Affairs, as well as the Head of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of the National Secretariat. In her work, Lia focuses on human rights, developing economies and Africa. In addition to serving as a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the European Council, Lia is the President of the Italian Chapter of the Association of European Parliamentarians with Africa (AWEPA) and of the Italian section of the Women in International Security (WIIS) network. As a Research Fellow, Lia coordinates the activities of Africa programme at ISPI and lectures on policies for development cooperation at the University of Pavia. She has published a number of reports and articles on, Italian development aid strategies, as well as economist development and aid effectiveness in Africa. Prior to her current roles, Lia worked for the Mozambique government as an economist and policy development analyst.

Nasima is an Afghan-Finnish politician.  She is currently a member of the Finnish Parliament, where she is a member of the Education and Culture Committee and the Environment Committee. Until recently she served as deputy mayor of Helsinki and a former member of the Finnish Parliament, representing the Social Democratic Party. She also works with Finnish NGOs that work to promote gender and ethnic equality in Finland. Nasima’s family first moved to Finland from Afghanistan in 1992, and her refugee experience has shaped her political career, in which she prioritises social welfare such as education, the environment, and housing. Nasima is the first Member of Finnish Parliament to have a refugee background, and in 2010 was named refugee woman of the year by the Finnish Refugee Council for her work to promote equality and the preservation of the Finnish welfare system.

Humza Yousaf has succeeded Nicola Sturgeon as the First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP). While delivering his oath of allegiance, he wore a kilt and spoke in Urdu, embracing his British-Pakistani heritage and British multiculturalism. At 27, he notably became the youngest minister in the Scottish Government’s history, as well as the first ever minister from an ethnic minority background, serving as the minister for Europe and international development. Yousaf has also served the Scottish cabinet as the justice secretary and health secretary. In the Scottish Parliament, he represents the Glasgow Pollok constituency. Involved in community work and described as a ‘role model for all Scots’, he is a spokesperson and volunteer on several issues related to homelessness and asylum seekers.