European Young Leaders (#EYL40)

Anders Bæksgaard is a political journalist from Denmark, who currently co-leads one of the country’s largest newsrooms at the prestigiously regarded newspaper, Politiken. He also heads the daily newspaper’s department on politics, national security and public administration. Bæksgaard has extensively covered the last three general elections in Denmark, while also providing political analysis for DR and TV2, two of the country’s major TV stations. The youngest political editor in Denmark at the time of his appointment, he previously headed the Politiken political editorial office after starting his career at Politiken as a political reporter. Bæksgaard has also covered Danish politics at the Berlingske Tidende daily newspaper’s editorial office and worked as a news coordinator at the Berlingske News Agency, beginning his journalism career as a researcher at the Danish Broadcasting Corporation.

Clément was appointed Secretary of State for European affairs in the French government in July 2020. Before that, he served as the Europe and G20 advisor to French President Emmanuel Macron, shadowing him during meetings with other European state heads. A passionate Europhile, his presentations on Europe even when he was still in school were so accomplished that they were widely shared. Clément became Macron’s Europe advisor when Macron was still economy minister. He helped craft the French government’s push against Chinese steel dumping that is now at the heart of the president’s broader vision for a more defensive EU trade policy. The French president’s proposals during his En Marche campaign for European Union reform were clearly influenced by his advisor.

Terry is an accomplished and experienced entrepreneur and advocate for access to education and the expansion of entrepreneurship. He entered public service in 1999 when he was elected to the Nanaimo City Council, becoming British Columbia’s youngest-ever elected official. A former Adjunct Professor at Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia, Terry is the author of The In-Credibility Factor, which highlights his desire for Canada to become a global leader in innovation and entrepreneurship. Terry was the founder and CEO of HiretheWorld.com and of Twinbro, a non-profit organisation that has helped over 25,000 students obtain millions of dollars in scholarships and financial aid. He is a past board member of Lift Philanthropy and worked with entrepreneurs to launch and grow businesses at Beech Partners.

Imen Ben Mohamed is a Tunisian politician representing the new face of the moderate Islamist party Ennahda (“Renaissance” in Arabic) in both the Maghreb Shura Council and the Parliament Assembly of the People’s Representatives, where she sits on the Rights, Freedom and Foreign Affairs Committee. Educated in Italy, where her family lived in exile, her strong commitment to youth and family policies has made her a rising political star in a country that still struggles to define itself in the increasingly turbulent landscape of the MENA region. Ben Mohamed is a strong supporter of dialogue between cultures and religions.

Ahmed Ben Mussa is an energy expert with ten years of experience in operations and business development of the oil service industry in the United States, Egypt and Libya. He currently manages a creative construction company Majaal. Prior to this, Ben Mussa worked as Chief Commercial Officer at Tatweer Research, a leading Libyan technological organisation with a focus on nurturing the country’s young potential, supporting entrepreneurs and attracting international expertise and investment. Before that, he worked with the UN World Food Programme in Libya where he conducted food security assessments on the field.

Sophia is a Swedish entrepreneur, currently working with Cherry Ventures, a Berlin-based venture capital fund. She focuses on seed-stage investments in successful and sustainable businesses. Now an advisor, she previously worked as Partner at Atomico working on Nordic sourcing activities. Here, she advised founders on communications, marketing strategies as well as on opportunities to scale up their brand. As Global Marketing Director at Spotify from 2007-2014, she established a strong consumer brand from scratch, while launching and marketing the service globally. She also serves as a member of the Board of Directors at the non-profit organisation, Race For The Baltic, and the Viktor Rydberg School Foundation

Remus is CEO of DAW Benta Romania, a leading company in the field of construction, transportation, real estate and property management. The Benta Group has extended its activities all throughout Eastern Europe and holds showrooms in over 40 different locations. Since 2001 Remus and the DAW Benta Group have been rewarded on numerous occasions with First Place in the Top Businesses and Businessmen lists of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. In 2011 Remus was listed as one of the top 500 wealthiest people in Romania by Forbes Magazine.

Erenik is an award-winning Albanian film director and screenwriter based in Tirana. His films showcase the inner struggles of characters and highlight the comic, tragic or grotesque aspects of society. His latest short film, “The Van”, was in the running for the Short Film Palme d’Or at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival and shortlisted in the Live Action Short Film category for the 93rd Academy Awards. His earlier short films include “Bon Appetit”, “Alphonso” and “Seed Money”. Erenik’s works have featured in several internationally renowned film festivals, including the Melbourne International Film Festival, the Sarajevo Film Festival, the Vancouver International Film Festival and the Brussels Short Film Festival. He has also participated in the Sarajevo Talent Campus programme at the Sarajevo Film Festival as a screenwriter.

A graduate of the Paris Institute of Political Science and the University of Princeton, Marguerite began her career in 2004 as an auditor at France’s General Inspectorate of Finance, where she was responsible for auditing public bodies. She then served as an adviser to the French President on questions related to employment and social protection before heading the private office of the French Minister of Labour, Employment and Health. In 2012, Marguerite joined Groupe BPCE, the second-largest banking group in France. Four years later, she became a member of its Management Board and was appointed as Chief Executive Officer for Finance, Legal Affairs and Strategy. She has been a member of the French High Council of Public Finances since 2013.

Julien, known by his pseudonym Jul, is a French cartoonist and comic book author. He won third prize in the youth competition at the Angoulême comic book festival at the age of 12. He began his working life as a Professor of Chinese history, but then devoted himself entirely to comics. He has published cartoons in numerous newspapers and magazines including Les Échos, La Dépêche du Midi, Nouvel Observateur, and L’Humanité. His comic book series Silex and the City was adapted into a TV animation series and aired as of September 2012 on the franco-german channel Arte. He was appointed by the French government to the rank of Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters in September 2012.

Hervé Berville is a French economist and politician, who serves as the country’s State Secretary for the Sea, in which role he is responsible for the development and implementation of the government’s policy related to the sea, particularly the maritime economy. He has been elected twice to the French parliament, Assemblée nationale. Having authored a report on the modernisation of French foreign aid policy to support equal partnerships with Africa, Asia and Latin America, Berville was also the rapporteur of a programming bill on solidarity-based development and the fight against global inequalities. Both activities successfully led to the allocation of development funding. Berville began his political career as the spokesperson for La République en Marche parliamentary group, prior to which he worked as an economist for the French Development Agency in Mozambique and as a programme manager for the Stanford Institute for Innovation in Developing Economies in Kenya.

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.

Danae is the Managing director of Navigator Shipping Consultants LTD. One of her important achievements is the organisation of the Navigator Conference since 2001 which is considered to be one of the biggest shipping events gathering the decision makers of the shipping community and speakers from all over the world on an annual basis. Through her participation in lectures and seminars, Danae has travelled the world to promote and strengthen women’s entrepreneurship. Her latest venture includes the foundation of Greek Food Obsessions, a gourmet culinary company providing the Greek and international food market with high quality Greek gourmet products from all over Greece. Danae holds a Bachelor of Science in International Hospitality and Tourism Management from the University of Surrey.

Selene works for the Prosperity Unit at the UNDP in Kabul, Afghanistan as a Portfolio Specialist. She is the founder of several social ventures, including Plain Ink, which creates free, educational comics for children and communities in developing countries, and Youth Action for Change (YAC), which provides high-quality and free online courses for young change-makers in 130 counties. Selene also serves as a member of RENA, an Italian association of young professionals promoting innovation, merit, youth empowerment and a new generation of local public policies, and the Italian Economic Development Minister’s Taskforce on Innovative Startups. She has previously worked as a consultant, trainer and speaker for various organisations, including the UN, Amnesty International, the World Bank, Oxfam, OSCE, the Council of Europe, Columbia University and Microsoft. She is a recipient of the Mother Teresa Award for Social Justice.

Steffen has been a Member of the Bundestag since 2009 and Chairman of the North Württemberg district branch of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) political party since 2011. From 2018 to 2021 he served as Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure in the cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel. Since the 2021 elections, Steffen has been serving as one his parliamentary group’s deputy chairs, under the leadership of chair Ralph Brinkhaus. In this capacity, he oversees the group’s legislative activities on agriculture, environmental policy, nature conservation and consumer protection.