Generation Unlimited welcomes Kevin Frey as CEO

February 1, 2021 — Generation Unlimited is delighted to welcome Kevin Frey as its new CEO.

Alan Jope, Chair of Generation Unlimited’s Board of Trustees and CEO of Unilever said “It is not an over-exaggeration to say that the outlook for our young people around the world has never been more challenging. The Board is delighted that Kevin is joining Generation Unlimited at this critical moment. His experience in ed-tech, entrepreneurship, employment and international development will prove invaluable when tackling the issues ahead. I look forward to working with him to get the world’s youth back to learning and earning in the years to come”.

Generation Unlimited is a public-private partnership, convened by the UN Secretary-General in 2018, to ensure that the world’s 1.8 billion youth are connected to the internet, have access to world-class digital learning and skilling solutions, and are economically empowered with employment and entrepreneurial opportunities.

Frey’s arrival follows the planned leadership transition from the start-up phase of GenU. Since the launch of GenU in 2018, more than 100 million young people have been reached with better education, skills, employment, and entrepreneurial opportunities through innovative public-private partnerships and the mobilization of global leaders.

“I’m excited to be joining the GenU team and am looking forward to contributing to Generation Unlimited’s audacious vision,” said Frey about his new role. “It’s a vision that unites youth with governments, global leaders, CEOs, and world-leading organizations to ensure that the largest generation of young people in history will have the skills and opportunities they need to thrive.”

Frey is joining Generation Unlimited from Right To Play - an international development organization that works across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and North America - where he served as the Global CEO for the past five years. He is an ed-tech entrepreneur and co-founder of online tutoring, job matching, and teacher training and certification companies Skooli.com, TeachAway.com, and Klassroom.com. Frey has 15 years of experience in the international and higher education sectors, most recently as the Managing Director of the MBA program at the University of Toronto. His academic background includes an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management and a Doctorate from IE Business School where his research focused on entrepreneurship.

Frey will take over from the current Director, Roberto Benes, who led the design and establishment of Generation Unlimited since its inception, and whose dedication and leadership enabled the partnership to make a significant global impact for youth.  Benes will be leaving Generation Unlimited in a position of great strength to take up an exciting position as the newly appointed Director for UNICEF’s Tokyo Office.

“It has been a wonderful opportunity to be called to create GenU and help it grow and develop. I am proud to see that today GenU is present in more than 40 countries, with hundreds of partners and reaching millions of young people. It has been a fantastic team effort, and I am thankful to Henrietta Fore for this opportunity, and my amazing team,” said Benes. “Kevin is a great leader and I am sure that he will bring GenU to the next level of scale and results, and I wish him all success in this new journey.” 

On the leadership transition, Henrietta Fore, who is the Executive Director of UNICEF and Co-Chair of Generation Unlimited’s Global Leadership Council, said, “We welcome Kevin to the GenU team and thank Roberto for his extraordinary efforts to establish the Generation Unlimited partnership over the past two years. Building on the momentum established under Roberto’s leadership, Kevin and the GenU team have important work ahead of them to support the world’s youth as they recover from the educational and economic crisis caused by COVID19 and prepare for the new 21st-century world of work they are facing.”