My Myanmar at a Click

When I heard the Forum was going to organize the 2013 YGL Annual Summit in Myanmar, I was thrilled at the idea of experiencing this amazing country at a time of immense historical change. I was aware that as foreigners, we’d normally only see one side of the story, so the focus had to come from within the hearts of the people of Myanmar. At the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in 2013, I discussed my idea of giving a voice to the people of Myanmar – I wanted to give them cameras to tell their own stories about their communities and what they wanted for their country. My fellow YGLs made a few introductions, and soon I had a sponsor in Agility, a Forum Partner, who gave me $4,500 to cover some of the costs of the project as well as to support local communities. The photos were displayed as part of an exhibition and I also created a book, My Myanmar at a Click, whose proceeds were again invested in Myanmar. YGLs stepped in to buy photos, and we collected $3,200 – enough to make an impact. There are now English language courses being run with this money, and a nunnery has a new classroom. YGL David Hertz went to Myanmar a week early and held an impromptu cooking session at a nunnery, and YGL Lucian Tarnowski donated a laptop for the nunnery school. These examples are entirely symbolic of the spirit and energy of the YGL community. 

My first YGL meeting in Puerto Vallerta, Mexico, was overwhelming – it was surreal to be among very powerful people who didn’t wear the label of who they were, were happy to work in a horizontal way, and were really open to knowing you. Being a YGL has taught me the value of people working together, of accepting my own vulnerability and asking for help when I need it. As a result of what I have learned, I have found that people have started noticing me a lot more and I enjoy more credibility. This is both because of the weight of the Forum’s name and because of the links I have been able to forge with other YGLs. For example, in 2012, with the support of Paul Polman, the chief executive officer of Unilever and one of the Forum’s Partners, as well as two fellow YGLs, Alfredo Capote and Alvaro Rodriguez Arregui, I presented an initiative at the B20 to support the training and inclusion of people with disabilities in the workplace. At the same time, being a YGL has been a reality check – it has helped me see that passion and creativity are not always enough. You need to understand that you may find barriers along the way, and you must find ways to work around them. And as a YGL, there’s always someone you can call whenever you’re stuck or want to celebrate a success. 

I’m currently working on a host of things with fellow YGLs – with Juan Carlos Ortiz from Colombia on a communication campaign for my foundation, Ojos que Sienten; with Tamas Landesz from Budapest on his Future of Our World in 50 Years project; and with Mina Al-Oraibi from Iraq on giving a voice to refugees from Syria. Here you see the power of the community and how in just a short period of time you can do so much.