One Young World Switzerland National Congress 2024: Leadership with Integrity!
Circus Knie, Zürich (Switzerland), May 24, 2024 – Over 150 top young leaders came together in Zürich on May 23 and 24, 2024, to take action on empowering responsible leadership at the One Young World Switzerland National Congress 2024. On May 23, young leaders opened the event at the Bernhard Theatre, and then continued at the Circus Knie, at the Sechseläutenplatz.
What does it mean to be a Leader with Integrity – and why this important now more than ever? How can we reflect on how we lead ourselves, in order to empower how we lead others? These were some of the key guiding questions that set the tone of the discussions in the two-day event, in line with the purpose of the One Young World initiative, a global forum that identifies, promotes, and connects the world’s most impactful young leaders to create a better world.
“Each year, the National Congress is the highlight of the One Young World Calendar in Switzerland, because it acts as the inspiration point – the sparking point – for the positive impact that these top Young Leaders will drive in their organizations and communities throughout the year,” said Jessica Jones, Managing Director of the One Young World Switzerland National Board.
The event’s opening ceremony took place at the Bernhard Theatre in Zürich, where delegates reflected on their own leadership styles, and heard from top Young Leaders Iwan Hächler, and Grace Kagho, both Pioneer fellows at ETH Zürich.
The opening remarks at the Knie tent, were held by Professional Snowboarder, David Hablützel, who shared his inspiring story about the importance of leading yourself first with integrity and kindness. Experienced executives, managers, and start-up founders driving sustainability in their industries and fields offered insights and ideas on how to act. Circus Trainer, Ivan Knie, also spoke about his role leading the horse training and the history and journey of Circus Knie. Most importantly, the young leaders had opportunities to network and inspire each other.
One Young Leaders at the event described integrity briefly as “empathy, respect, better together, inspire, being responsible, courage, balancing head and heart, authenticity.” This was complimented by the speech of Emily Seelig, Head of Business Excellence, Smart Infrastructure Solutions & Services at Siemens, who spoke about her key take away’s leading a team, and emphasized that sometimes as leaders, we need to think about having courage over comfort – because often courage leads to comfort.
The opening remarks by Chair of the Switzerland National Board for One Young World, Stefan Scheiber, who said ‘the work we are doing as One Young World Switzerland, is to support and accelerate the positive impact these Young Leaders are having’.
The Young Leaders who attended the One Young World Switzerland National Congress 2024 are now part of the One Young World Switzerland Community, a network of over 500 changemakers from across Switzerland, and supported by the One Young World community globally. They will have the opportunity to connect with other Young Leaders, access mentoring and funding opportunities, and attend future events and summits. They will also continue to lead with integrity in their respective fields, and inspire others to do the same.
Voices from participants show that the network progressed successfully towards their vision. As many OYW National Champions noted, the congress sparked hope and empowerment, fueling a shared energy among like-minded leaders.
Managing Director Jessica Jones emphasized the importance of events like this being a chance for leaders to collaborate, take a step out of daily-business, and reflect on what are the next steps to take to make real impact.
Reflecting on the importance of events like this, Board Member Livia Altmann said, “Its vital that we bring together these passionate and talented Young Leaders from different regions and industries, because this community has the power to support and inspire them, to be true leaders with integrity within their organizations.”
Jessica Jones
Managing Director, One Young World Switzerland National Board
One Young World Switzerland
7050 Arosa
Email: jessica.jones@oneyoungworld.ch
Phone: +41 79 657 90 42
Livia Altmann
Member of the One Young World Switzerland National Board
Email: livia.altmann@gmail.com
Phone: +41 79 574 88 90
To date, Summits have taken place in London (2010), Zurich (2011), Pittsburgh (2012), Johannesburg (2013), Dublin (2014), Bangkok (2015), Ottawa (2016), Bogotá(2017), The Hague (2018), London (2019), Munich (2021) and Manchester (2022). The next Summit will be in Belfast, Northern Ireland between 2nd -5th October 2023 oneyoungworld.com
One Young World is the global community for young leaders. Its mission is to create a fair, sustainable future for all, by developing young leaders who are taking action to solve the world’s big challenges. It builds young leaders’ expertise, elevates their profiles and inspires them to increase their impact.
One Young World offers an unrivalled platform to affect change at a global level. With a network of more than 13,500 Ambassadors, innovative initiatives led by the One Young World community have directly impacted 41.56 million people globally since 2010. For every $1 invested, One Young World Ambassadors deliver $16 of social value.
In 2022, Ambassador projects supported 1,631,044 people access clean water and hygiene resources, mitigated of 28,000 tC02 through clean energy and secured $1.17m in investment to create sustainable industries.
Its annual Summit brings together the brightest young leaders from every country and sector who are working to accelerate social impact across the globe. Delegates from 190+ countries are counselled by influential political, business and humanitarian leaders such as President Mary Robinson, Dr Jane Goodall, Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus, and the Duchess of Sussex, amongst many other global figures.
One Young World National Boards are senior local missions of One Young World, contributing to the development, promotion and protection of the One Young World Movement in their nation, supporting the local community of One Young World Ambassadors.
One Young World National Boards ensure that all sectors work together towards the identification and promotion of their nation’s most talented young leaders in their countries, in accordance with the One Young World Charter.
Each One Young World National Board is led by a Chair and composed of board members from a diverse range of backgrounds and areas of expertise.
