Who We Are
Meet the groundbreaking group of people leading Generation Unlimited.
Generation Unlimited brings together partners from government, multilateral organizations, civil society, the private sector and young people from around the world.
Leaders
The most visible drivers of the partnership, leaders use their influence to open opportunities, advocate for Generation Unlimited and mobilize resources.
Mr. António Guterres (Co-Chair)
Secretary-General, United Nations
H.E. Mr. Paul Kagame (Co-Chair)
President, Republic of Rwanda
H.E. Paula Mae Weekes (Co-Chair)
President, Trinidad and Tobago
Sir Fazle Hasan Abed (In Memoriam)
Founder and Chair Emeritus, BRAC
Mr. Akinwumi Adesina
President, African Development Bank
Mr. Gordon Brown
UN Special Envoy for Education, United Nations
Ms. Julia Gillard
Chair, Global Partnership for Education
H.E. Ms. Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović
Former President, Republic of Croatia
H.E. Mr. Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta
President, Republic of Kenya
Ms. Graça Machel
Founder, Graça Machel Trust
Mr. Paul Polman
Co-Founder & Chair, Imagine
Global Board
Members of the Global Board provide expertise, strategic direction, resources and leadership, and oversee the partnership. Learn more about them here.
Dr. Tariq Al Gurg
CEO, Dubai Cares
Ms. Shamma bint Suhail bin Faris Al Mazrui
Minister of Youth, United Arab Emirates
Ms. Anne-Birgitte Albrectsen
Chief Executive Officer, Plan International
Ms. Alice Albright
Chief Executive Officer, Global Partnership for Education
Mr. Ahmad Alhendawi
Secretary-General, World Organization of the Scout Movement
Ms. Kanchan Amatya
Founder and Chief Executive Director, Sustainable Fish Farming Initiative
Ms. Audrey Azoulay
Director-General, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
Ms. Kate Behncken
Vice President and Lead, Microsoft Philanthropies
Ms. Jennifer Blanke
Vice President of Agriculture, Human and Social Development, African Development Bank
Mr. Steffen Braasch
Interim Chief Executive Officer, SOS Children’s Villages International
Mr. Sigve Brekke
Chief Executive Officer, Telenor Group
Ms. Sarah Brown
Executive Chair, Global Business Coalition for Education
Mr. Tijani Christian
Chairperson, Commonwealth Youth Council
Mr. John W.H. Denton AO
Secretary-General, International Chamber of Commerce
Ms. Annette Dixon
Vice President for Human Development, World Bank
Ms. Ilwad Elman
Director, Elman Peace Centre
Mr. Tony Elumelu
Founder, The Tony Elumelu Foundation
Mr. Moussa Faki Mahamat
Chairperson, African Union Commission
Mr. John Fallon
Chief Executive Officer, Pearson Education
Ms. Henrietta Fore
Executive Director, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
Mr. Michael Froman
Vice Chairman and President of Strategic Growth, Mastercard
Ms. Mariya Gabriel
Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, European Commission
Mr. Napoleón García
Youth Director, Nuestro Tiempo and Censura Cero
Mr. José Ángel Gurría
Secretary General, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
Mr. Ralph Hamers
Chief Executive Officer, ING Group
Ms. Kate Hampton
Chief Executive Officer, Children’s Investment Fund Foundation
Mr. Per Heggenes
Chief Executive Officer, IKEA Foundation
Ms. Sri Mulyani Indrawati
Minister of Finance, Republic of Indonesia
Mr. Alan Jope
Chief Executive Officer, Unilever
Mr. Mohammad Nouri Jouini
Vice President, Partnership Development, Islamic Development Bank
Ms. Sigrid Kaag
Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, The Netherlands
Ms. Natalia Kanem
Executive Director, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
Ms. Lise Kingo
CEO and Executive Director, United Nations Global Compact
Mr. Christian Klein
Co-Chief Executive Officer, SAP
Mr. Michael Kocher
General Manager, Aga Khan Foundation
Ms. Tsitsi Masiyiwa
Co-Founder & Co-Chair, Higher Life Foundation
Ms. Rosemary Mbabazi
Minister of Youth, Republic of Rwanda
Mr. Joseph Mucheru
Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of ICT, Innovation and Youth Affairs, Republic of Kenya
Ms. Chaeli Mycroft
Co-Founder & Global Ambassador, The Chaeli Campaign & Chaeli Foundation USA
Mr. Sobel Aziz Ngom
Founder and Executive Director, Social Change Factory
Mr. Ellis Rubinstein
President, The New York Academy of Sciences
Mr. Guy Ryder
Director-General, International Labour Organization (ILO)
Mr. Asif Saleh
Executive Director, BRAC Bangladesh
Mr. Saddam Sayyaleh
Founder & Director, I Learn Jordan Initiative
Ms. Vibhu Sharma
Co-Chair, Global Partnership for Disabilities Youth Council
Mr. Feike Sijbesma
Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Managing Board, DSM
Ms. Liesbet Steer
Director, The Education Commission
Mr. Achim Steiner
Administrator, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
Baroness Sugg
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for International Development and Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for Girl’s Education, United Kingdom
Mr. Justin W. van Fleet
President, Theirworld
Mr. Anko van der Werff
Chief Executive Officer, Avianca Holdings
Ms. Jayathma Wickramanayake
Secretary General's Envoy on Youth, United Nations
Ms. Saadia Zahidi
Managing Director, Centre for the New Economy and Society, World Economic Forum
Mr. Liu Zhenmin
Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations Department of Economics and Social Affairs (UN DESA)
*Representative to be confirmed:
• Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Republic of Germany
• PwC
Champions
In addition to the governance bodies, high-profile individuals support Generation Unlimited by lending their voices as Champions.
Mr. Nikolai Astrup
Minister of Digitalization, Kingdom of Norway
Ms. Doreen Bogdan-Martin
Director of the Telecommunication Development Bureau, International Telecommunication Union
Ms. Epsy Campbell Barr
First Vice President of the Republic of Costa Rica
Mr. Ciarán Cannon
Minister of State for the Diaspora and International Development at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Republic of Ireland
Mr. Alexander De Croo
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Development Cooperation, Kingdom of Belgium
H.E. Ms. Sheikh Hasina
Prime Minister, People’s Republic of Bangladesh
Her Royal Highness Princess Lamia Bint Majed Al Saud
Secretary General, Alwaleed Philanthropies
Her Royal Highness Princess Lalla Meryem
Kingdom of Morocco
Ms. Lucy Meyer
Official Spokesperson for the Special Olympics – UNICEF USA Partnership and Special Olympics athlete
Mr. Simon Segars
Chief Executive Officer, ARM
Mr. Wang Shi,
Chairman, Vanke Foundation
Ms. Vera Songwe
Executive Secretary, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
Mr. Adebola Williams
Co-founder and Group CEO, RED | For Africa
Ms. Ekaterina Zaharieva
Deputy Prime Minister for Judicial Reform to Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister, Republic of Bulgaria
Executive Committee
The Executive Committee approves annual strategic priorities and budget, and oversees the GenU Trust Fund, among other functions. Learn more about its members here.
Ms. Annette Dixon
Vice President for Human Development, World Bank
Dr. Tariq Al Gurg
Chief Executive Officer, Dubai Cares
Mr. Per Heggenes
Chief Executive Officer, IKEA Foundation
Mr. Alan Jope
Chief Executive Officer, Unilever
Mr. Robert E. Moritz
Chairman, PwC
Mr. Joseph Mucheru
Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Information and Communications of the Republic of Kenya
Mr. Ravi Venkatesan
Special Representative for Young People, UNICEF
Team
The ambitious goals set for Generation Unlimited require a lean and flexible team that can harness and coordinate the expertise of multiple partners from around the world. The GenU Global Team – led by Director Roberto Benes – brings together professionals with decades of experience in field work in all regions of the world, including in multilateral development agencies, civil society and private sector. The team includes capabilities in education, skills development, youth engagement, innovation, partnerships, communication and advocacy, including experience from senior management roles.
The team is responsible for the overall coordination of the partnership’s activities, its relations with governance groups – including the Global Board – as well as the support and coordination of the partnership’s work in countries to develop Country Investment Agendas. The Global Team is also responsible for making young people’s engagement and participation a concrete reality.
Photo at start: Members of the Generation Unlimited Global Board at the inaugural meeting in September 2018.