Professor Klaus Schwab is the Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum. Schwab has championed the multistakeholder concept since the Forum’s inception in 1971, and it has become the world’s foremost platform for public and private cooperation. In 1998, with his wife Hilde, he created the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, which seeks to identify, recognize and disseminate initiatives in social entrepreneurship that have significantly improved people’s lives and have the potential to be replicated on a global scale. In 2004 he established a new foundation: the Forum of Young Global Leaders. Seven years later, in 2011, he created the Global Shapers Community. The purpose of the two foundations is to integrate young people as a strong voice for the future into global decision-making processes and to encourage their engagement in concrete projects that address social problems. The Forum employs over 700 people, with its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, and additional offices in New York, San Francisco, Beijing, and Tokyo. An engineer and economist by training, Professor Klaus Schwab holds doctorates in Economics from the University of Fribourg, in Engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, and a Masters of Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He has received numerous international and national honours. His latest books are The Fourth Industrial Revolution (2016), a worldwide bestseller translated into 30 languages, Shaping the Fourth Industrial Revolution (2018), COVID 19: The Great Reset (2020), and Stakeholder Capitalism (2021) During the course of his wide-ranging career, Schwab has received numerous honours. He holds 17 honorary doctorates, and national medals of honour, including the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun of Japan, the Grand Cross with Star of the National Order of Germany, and the Knight of the Légion d’Honneur of France. He was also knighted by Queen Elizabeth II – Knight Commander of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (KCMG). Outside his work, he has a broad range of academic, cultural, and public service interests. He is a regular swimmer, mountain walker, and an enthusiastic participant in the Engadin Ski Marathon.

Mr. Schwab is a member of the Partnership for Central America’s Executive Advisory Board.