Adrian Monck; Managing Director, Head of Public Engagement, Public.Affairs@weforum.org
Geneva, Switzerland, 2 September 2020 – The World Economic Forum appointed two new members to its Board of Trustees today. Rwanda’s Minister of Information Communication Technology and Innovation Paula Ingabire and Chief Executive Officer of AXA Thomas Buberl join the group serving as guardians of the Forum’s mission and values, and which oversees the Forum’s work in promoting true global citizenship.
The Board of Trustees, the highest governing body of the World Economic Forum, is responsible for its strategy. Its composition reflects the multistakeholder concept, integrating leaders from governments, international organizations, business, civil society, and academia, with all major regions represented
“With the nomination of Minister Paula Ingabire, the Forum wants to highlight the strong relationship between Africa, and particularly Rwanda, and our organization, said Professor Klaus Schwab, Found and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum. “She also represents the voice of the Young Global Leaders community of the WEF, for which she is a member. Thomas Buberl, is a well-recognized European business leader who stands for the Forum's commitment to stakeholder capitalism."
"I am delighted to join the board of trustees of the World Economic Forum," said Thomas Buberl, Chief Executive Officer of AXA. "Its long-standing commitment to solving the great challenges of our time by bringing a diversity of people and ideas to the table is more relevant than ever.”
The Board of Trustees comprises outstanding leaders from business, politics, academia and civil society. To reflect its multistakeholder status, its membership is divided equally between representatives of the business community and leaders from international organizations and civil society.
Paula Ingabire has served as the Minister of Information Communication Technology and Innovation of Rwanda since October 2018. Prior to her appointment, she was Head of ICT at the Rwanda Development Board and the Head of the Kigali Innovation City initiative. She led the implementation of National ICT programmes and coordinated the creation of SMART Africa. She is part of Girls in ICT Rwanda and has worked to propel Rwanda forward in its rapid adoption of Fourth Industrial Revolution tools. In March 2020, she joined the Forum’s Young Global Leaders community.
Thomas Buberl has served as Chief Executive Officer of AXA since September 2016. He has been a member of the AXA executive committee since 2012 and held the role of Chief Executive Officer of AXA Konzern AG (Germany). Prior roles include the Chief Executive Officer for Switzerland for Zurich Financial Services and Member of the Management Board of Winterthur in Switzerland, first as Chief Operating Officer and then as Chief Marketing and Distribution Officer. In 2008, he was nominated as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.
As of 2 September 2020, the Members of the Board of Trustees of the World Economic Forum are:
Klaus SCHWAB* Chairman of the Board of Trustees, World Economic Forum
Peter BRABECK-LETMATHE,* Vice-Chairman, Board of Trustees, World Economic Forum, Chairman Emeritus, Nestlé SA, Switzerland
H.M. Queen Rania AL ABDULLAH of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
Mukesh AMBANI, Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries, India
Marc BENIOFF, Chair and Chief Executive Officer, Salesforce, USA
Thomas BUBERL, Chief Executive Officer, AXA, France
Mark CARNEY, Finance Adviser on the 26th Conference of the Parties to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Laurence FINK, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, BlackRock, USA
Chrystia FREELAND, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance of Canada
Orit GADIESH,** Chairman, Bain & Company, USA
Kristalina GEORGIEVA, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund, Washington DC
Fabiola GIANOTTI, Director-General, European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Geneva
Al GORE, Vice-President of the United States (1993-2001); Chairman and Co-Founder, Generation Investment Management LLP, USA
Herman GREF, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, Sberbank, Russian Federation
Angel GURRÍA, Secretary-General, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
André S. HOFFMANN,* Non-Executive Vice-Chairman, Roche Holding Ltd., Switzerland
Paula INGABIRE, Minister of Information Communication Technology and Innovation of Rwanda
Christine LAGARDE, President, European Central Bank (ECB)
Jack MA, Alibaba Board of Directors, Alibaba Group, People’s Republic of China
Yo-Yo MA, Cellist
Peter MAURER, President, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Switzerland
Luis MORENO,** President, Inter-American Development Bank, Washington DC
Patrice MOTSEPE, Founder and Executive Chairman, African Rainbow Minerals, South Africa
L. Rafael REIF, President, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA
David M. RUBENSTEIN, Co-Founder and Co-Executive Chairman, Carlyle Group, USA
Mark SCHNEIDER, Chief Executive Officer, Nestlé, Switzerland
Tharman SHANMUGARATNAM, Senior Minister of Singapore
Jim Hagemann SNABE,** Chairman, Supervisory Board, Siemens AG, Germany; Chairman, A.P. Møller-Maersk, Denmark
Feike SYBESMA,** Honorary Chairman, Royal DSM, Netherlands
Heizo TAKENAKA,** Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy of Japan (2002-2006)
Min ZHU,* President, National Institute of Financial Research, People’s Republic of China
*Member of the Governing Board
**Member of the Audit & Risk Committee
Notes to Editors
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