WYF Future Leaders session: Success stories

CAIRO – 7 November 2017: The second session of the World Youth Forum (WYF) titled “Future Leaders Examples” kicked off on Monday in Sharm El-Sheikh. The session was mainly an opportunity for individuals from different parts of the world to tell their success stories.

Les Morgan, the founder of QFOUR, said that a leader must work on achieving their goals as soon as possible, and not wait until they have been through the typical educational processes most people go through. “Trust is the only element that can change anything,” Morgan added.

Thomas Crampton, the founder of a marketing agency bearing the same name in Hong Kong, told his story which had started 20 years ago. He worked as a reporter for the New York Times in politics, economics, and culture, where he used to focus on the final product rather than how his colleagues got the information or what they were doing. “What matters is where I am now,” Crampton said.

“I found out that people were not interested in politics and journalism,” Crampton added; saying that he did not want to limit himself in one job although his work was appreciated by his superiors. Thus, he worked with a Chinese businessman in the housing industry, and later moved to a digital marketing company. “I motivated my team members to work increasing our productivity and garnering many prizes,” he said.

Crampton said that he made them feel that they own the business, and that he created a team whose main task is to keep up with new trends in different areas in the world. “That was the path to success,” he added.

AIESEC president Ayman Abdel Rahman said that the organization’s task is to create an effective generation in an ineffective environment. “We deal with youth in 122 countries. Our main goal is that these youth [cause] change in their countries when they return,” he said.

Regarding the difficulties people encounter when trying to apply what they learnt abroad, Suzan Hafez, an Egyptian expat who worked with many feminist NGOs in Australia, explained that development takes time and requires good communication skills. “I lived in Australia for 28 years and I want to tell young people to remain curious and vigilant of what is happening around them.”

Indian film producer Rahul Khan said that artists play a vital role in inspiring people, and that he contributed to educational programs in his homeland focusing on developing slum areas. He used to teach people values and principles by making them act in plays.

A 10-year-old boy called Yuma said he had started coding and developing applications at the age of six. At first his father helped him with coding along with reading a lot of books, and now he has six applications. Yuma stated that his idol is Steve Jobs, and that he would continue developing applications that facilitate people’s life.

The forum brings together 3,000 youth, represented by 60 delegations from around the world, to explore key issues facing their generation and determine their role in implementing global development goals and combating terrorism.

The idea of holding an international youth conference in Egypt was made during the third National Youth Conference in Ismailia, and it was approved by President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi. In July, the president announced organizing the WYF in Sharm El-Sheikh during the fourth National Youth Conference in Alexandria.

The seven-day gathering brings together youth representatives over 18 years of age, leaders of various youth networks, heads of state, media personnel and around 250 young Egyptian expats. It is held under the slogan "We Need to Talk".

WYF sends a message of peace, prosperity, harmony and love to the entire world. It is considered a strong opportunity for youth globally to communicate with each other.