My Story from Bishkek to Davos, World Economic Forum:
In 2014, when I came back from New York City after my graduation from Columbia University, I was holding my ambition about driving a change in my country, Kyrgyzstan. But it was unclear for me where to start from the ground. The founding curator of Global Shapers Community (GSC) Bishkek Hub, Mirsuljan, invited me to join a newly established team. GSC is the initiative of the World Economic Forum [link]
You most probably heard about WEF, there are two forums a year (one winter Davos in Switzerland; one summer Davos in China). The mission of WEF is “committed to improving the state of the world”. Annually, the world politicians, global 500 fortunes business leaders, as well as other prominent leaders and influencers gather at Davos WEF to exchange their ideas not only about what challenges they are facing today, but what should be coming tomorrow. That is the reason why WEF is fascinating for the global leaders to look forward to every year. I believe, there were only 1–2 times the representatives of Kyrgyz Government attended WEF so far.
The founder of the WEF, Klaus Schwab, decided that it is time to bring young leaders to the table. That was how Global Shapers Community was born. I had the honour to be the curator of GSC Bishkek Hub in 2015, and personally met with Klaus Schwab in Switzerland.
One of the most significant moments I’m proud of recalling in my 20s was that I organised the regional forum “Shape Eurasia 2015 — Go Nomad!” with Bishkek Hub shapers. As I mentioned in one interview to journalists, why only we were going out to seek for inspiration?! I dreamt about bringing the global young leaders to Kyrgyzstan, the place where we can inspire others, too. Indeed, my dream has become true! As the head of the organising team, I invited 100 young leaders from 26 countries in October 2015, as well as the representatives of the GSC/WEF. We inspired them by “Nomad Philosophy”. In the end of the forum, 100 young leaders all have declared to embrace “nomad spirit”, which has strongly connected us with the young leaders in these countries. Therefore, in order to put our country on the world map, we first need to recognise the values we inherit!
Since 2015, I’ve been serving the Global Shapers Community. Together with shapers, we have accomplished 14 projects and organised 17 events, mainly around education and youth leadership. We successfully engaged 265 partners. Together, Global Shapers Bishkek Hub has directly impacted more than 17,000 people in Kyrgyzstan until 2020. Moreover, I have been witnessing many generations of young leaders coming out from GSC till nowadays: Aisuluu, Saltanat, Aibek, Makhabat, Kunduz.
In 2020, when I was still in Singapore, I received a call from Geneva HQ. They told me that I am nominated to become the “Community Champion” for Central Asia & Azerbaijan. I can’t be more grateful that my community works in Kyrgyzstan can be recognized by a global organization, and even further scaled out to the wider region. Now I am supporting six GSC hubs in Almaty, Baku, Bishkek, Nur-Sultan, Sumgait, and Tashkent. 2019–2020 has been the most devastating time for our humankind globally. I am very impressed how young leaders in these hubs continue their community works despite all challenges, especially Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan going through serious political instability (even the war). These shaper leaders are my true Heroes!
Now the time ticks towards 2021. World Economic Forum is calling for the global leaders, including young leaders, to Reflect-Reimagine-RESET the world. WEF named it #DavosAgenda, so that we can continue action plans after this dialogue. I have my great honour to be one of 50 young leaders nominated by the GSC to this historical event! This is my first time that I have dialogues so closely with those world leaders. Overall, there are around 2,000 business and government leaders from more than 70 countries participating.
Because of the pandemic, this forum was transferred online. There were many sessions made accessible for the public virtually. So I strongly encourage you all to follow up #DavosAgenda at social media. After working hours, I was attending those public and personal sessions until the midnight. I was too excited to feel any digital fatigue. My hope is to make the maximum learning from this forum, so that I can share more with you all.
#DavosAgenda is not limited to Davos. This is only the beginning of the dialogues. It is time for us together to Reflect-Reimagine and RESET the local communities in 2021! What is the future of development do you see in your country?
Kindly follow my post with more sharing coming……