Learning to Lead: The Georgetown Young Leaders Seminar

Georgetown School of Foreign Service in Qatar will host one of its primary annual outreach initiatives commencing on Friday. The Georgetown Young Leaders Seminar, a highly interactive, 3-day program, will bring together 18 young leaders from across Middle East, North Africa, East Africa and Southeast Asia to participate in intensive seminar discussions with Georgetown faculty and leading experts drawn from academia and the public and private sector, to examine some of the most significant global trends and the international issues affecting them. 

Reflecting on the goals of the GYLS conference, GU-Q’s Dean Gerd Nonneman said: ‘This program not only identifies emerging leaders, but provides them with an invaluable opportunity to discuss issues with top level experts. This will be a stepping stone in the cultivation of a long-term network that will buttress these young people’s roles in their own communities and the world beyond.’

The selected young leaders, representing a diverse range of professional industries including education, finance, management consulting, healthcare, sports, and non-profit organizations, will be given the opportunity to learn from and interact with experts such as Dr. Faleh Mohamed Hussain Ali, Assistant Secretary General for Policy Affairs from the Supreme Council of Health, Mr. Ibrahim Sharqieh, Deputy Director of the Brookings Doha Center, Dr. Patrick Meier, Director of Social Innovation, Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI) and Ms. Manjeet Kripalani, Executive Director, Gateway House, Indian Council on Global Relations.

“This year we have extended our outreach efforts to include greater involvement of our Qatar-based community partners.” said Jonathan Cartmell, Executive Director of Outreach and Business Development. “The expertise of local industry leadership will greatly enrich the GYLS program, while the participation of a significant number of rising young Qatari leaders will have a much longer-term impact on Qatar’s national development strategy.”

Major themes discussed will include South Asia’s transformed role in Global Affairs, water and food security, the impact of technology on humanitarian response, equity in Qatar’s health system and the influence of media on international relations among other global issues.A central highlight of the weekend program will be a formal dinner on Saturday evening, to which business and community leaders have been invited to meet and engage with the young leaders and Georgetown students. The event will feature a keynote address given by Mr. Hassan Al Thawadi, Secretary General for the Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee. 

This program—successfully launched in April 2012—complements the Georgetown Leadership Seminar in Washington, D.C.—, a premier executive education and network building program for senior leaders from the public, private, and non-profit sectors all over the world.