Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu named to head World Economic Forum’s Key Youth Leadership Initiative Posted on 16 Oct 09:31

Founds GLOBAL SHAPERS community in Addis Ababa; deploys cutting edge social media campaign to select a next generation of emerging leaders

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – World Economic Forum [WEF] Founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab has named Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu, founder and managing director of trailblazing footwear brand soleRebels and a WEF 2011 Young Global Leader, as Founding Curator of the Forum's newest and most critical venture, the Global Shapers community.

The Forum is establishing this special community of young people in their 20s to provide youth with a global platform to shape the future by integrating the personal, community, and global dimensions. Through the unparalleled convening power of the World Economic Forum, the GlobalShapers Community is diverse in demographics, geographical areas and sectors. However, it is united by a common desire to channel the members’ tremendous energy and enthusiasm into building a more peaceful and inclusive world.

Global Shapers will undertake activities that generate a positive impact by increasing each individual Shaper’s ability to improve the state of their community and by providing opportunities for Shapers to have local and global impact. The community will work in collaboration with the Forum of Young Global Leaders and will operate out of more than 75 local city hubs – from New York to Mexico City, from London to Amman, from Johannesburg to New Delhi, and from Addis Ababa to Adelaide

“I am deeply honored by Chairman Klaus’ designation of me to head this exciting initiative in Ethiopia. As a community grown entrepreneur myself I am excited to be pioneering this effort to engage and interact with talented youth as they strive to make their communities and the world at large a better place,” stated Bethlehem.

The Global Shapers Community is based on the concept of a global network of local hubs in the most important and the most challenging cities in the world. To that end, the Global Shapers Community will undertake events and activities that generate a positive impact within their local community but which also remain connected to global issues through the interactions generated inside each hub, between hubs, and on a global level.

Bethlehem has created a cutting edge strategy to build her Global Shapers community by selecting her group based on input received through outreach conducted via social media. Under the title COME CHANGE YOUR WORLD, she is inviting people to express why they or someone they know in the greater Addis Ababa area should be chosen as a Global Shapers. They can do this via several channels:

1. Post on the dedicated worldSHAPERS facebook page www.facebook.com/ComeChangeYourWorld
2. Twitter their nomination for a Global Shaper using the dedicated worldSHAPERS Twitter @worldSHAPERS
3. Come in person to the soleRebels store in Adams Pavilion at Saar Bayt and submit their nomination for a Global Shaper on a neatly PRINTED document [No handwriting will be accepted]

The written submissions can be no more than 150 words long, while the twitter submissions can not exceed TWITTERS maximum length.

The criteria for selection as a Global Shaper are:

• Between 20 and 30 years of age at the time of nomination
• From all walks of life and socio-economic backgrounds
• Highly committed to developing their leadership potential towards serving society
• Adhering to the highest standards of moral and intellectual integrity
• Possessing unique qualities that set them distinctly apart from the mainstream
• Entrepreneurial track record, having already initiated and delivered a major project or founded a company or organization, exceptionally contributing to serving society at large
• Ready to deeply engage in the community, reinforcing its mission and objectives and supporting fellow shapers in their individual and professional development

Bethlehem will choose and then lead a team of approximately 10 dynamic, passionate, and emerging young leaders aged 20-30, and forming them into a WEF Global Shapers hub over the course of a year. The hub established by Bethlehem and her team will then become an ongoing entity remaining in place as a permanent part of the World Economic Forums structures. Bethlehem will also pass leadership to a member of the community deemed to have demonstrated the greatest potential for continuing to lead + build upon what has been established by the founders. The entire hubs activities will be online at www.comechangeyourworld.com.

Bethlehem says her aim with using social media tools from the start is to create a LIVING + BREATHING grassroots community that from day one exists BOTH on the ground and in the social media realm. "Doing our outreach and interactions in this way means that everything – from the original selection of members through to the actual initiatives being implemented – can touch the largest number of people while also harnessing the greatest amount of real time input, insights and feedback. Ongoing collaboration is at the core of this initiative so what better way to expand the possibilities of collaboration than utilizing social media.”

The opportunity to become a Global Shaper is doubly exciting for those chosen because in the process of applying their skills to the world’s most pressing problems, Global Shapers will also be able to advance their own personal careers at the same time through the unique scope and depth of opportunities that are simultaneously available to sister organizations of the World Economic Forum. This includes interacting with Young Global Leaders, Social entrepreneurs, Technology Pioneers, Foundations Members, Global Agenda Councils, and many more.

For the next 4 weeks, Phase 1 of the initiative will be live with Bethlehem inviting everyone in the wider community to Twitter and post about who they feel are the most dynamic 20-30 year olds who should be in the inaugural Global Shapers community.

World Economic Forum Founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab expressed excitement over Bethlehem’s appointment and approach:

“We went looking for an excellent Founding Curator for the Global Shapers community and are delighted that Bethlehem has agreed to take on this unique role. As a Founding Curator Bethlehem leads the local Global Shaper Community in the first year of operation, the most critical year of this initiative as it sets the tone and vision and for all subsequent years for this critical community.“

More about the soleRebels/worldSHAPERS

Online at www.comechangeyourworld.com

More information about the Global Shapers Community

Global Shapers Community Brochure (PDF, 4 pages, 1.6 MB)
More information about the World Economic Forum at www.weforum.org
More information about the Forum of Young Global Leaders at www.younggloballeaders.org

Bethlehem speaking at World Economic Forum Summer Davos Meeting Posted on 27 Sep 07:32

soleRebels' founder, Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu, was invited to speak at the World Economic Forum's Summer Davos meeting held in Dalian September 14 - 16 2011.

Watch a clip of Bethlehem speaking at the conference below, and discussing soleRebels approach to global business.

Click here to watch the entire meeting

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in China Posted on 22 Sep 08:06

Friends,

I have just returned from Dalian China and the World Economic Forums SUMMER DAVOS meeting which I was privileged to attend in my capacity as a Young Global Leader and as a panelist.

The official spiel for the meeting says that the meeting: “… provides a platform for emerging, high-growth companies to work alongside already established global companies and top political and academic leaders to identify fresh new ideas and innovative new technologies that will lead to further global growth….” That’s another way to say it’s a hyper meeting featuring the planet’s most high powered bankers, mega business people, political honchos, super techies, [and of course , a shoemaker ]…. all coming together to mega wheel and deal and throw out various ideas on how to improve the state of the world. 

The whole thing is inspiring. It’s enlightening, and a bit intimidating, and even infuriating. Let’s face it: it takes some kind of OOOMPH to say you’ve got answers to the world’s problems.

The overall theme of this year’s jamboree was MASTERING QUALITY GROWTH. 

My Panel was titled New Frontiers of Consumption. Our aim with this panel was to examine emerging and frontier markets, youth consumer attitudes, the role of technology, and how to satisfy the demand for quality and sustainability. It was a discussion that was as dynamic as the subject and the forum itself.

Prior to your panel its full rock star treatment as you are sequestered backstage waiting to be brought out onto the stage. 

Once onstage, you realize there are people here. Lots of them. To see me!!!?!?! and listen to what I have to say!!!?!??!?? And wait a minute, is that the founder of GOOGLE ?!??!?! and Facebook ?!?!?!? and INFOSPACE !!!?!?!?!!?????? Ok. Quickly realize this thing is BIG. Then there is a long pause and, mercifully, the adrenaline kicks in….. so on we rolled!!!

I think I did ok [ ]

But there were some loud thuds in the audience during my talk - must have been marketing people falling off their chairs when I suggested that we stop looking at consumers as consumers and start looking at them as what they are: people!!!

Here are some more highlights:

• Future trends in consumption are being defined by emerging markets, whose demographic strength is shifting economic power away from the West.
• The spread of technology is allowing consumers, especially the young, have a greater say in what they consume, and has increased knowledge of the social impacts of production.
• The current model of consumption growth is environmentally unsustainable. There are simply not enough raw materials in the world to provide billions more consumers with the level of material consumption traditionally enjoyed by the West.

There is a debate over whether a shift to sustainable consumption should be driven by governments or consumers. While more informed consumers lead to more demand for sustainable consumption, advocates for government action argue that strong regulation – as well as accurate pricing of environmental and social costs – is needed to shift consumption growth from dwindling finite resources to non-material growth.