Leaders Convene at Davos to Address Youth Capabilities and Cross-Sector Collaboration for an Uncertain Future

“The challenges we face are more complex than ever and our ability to meet them depends on how we develop the next generation,” said Wendy Kopp, CEO and Co-Founder of Teach For All. “We must equip young people with the agency, awareness, and leadership necessary to navigate and solve the urgent, interconnected challenges of our time.”

The gathering marks the third edition of Education House, an initiative born from the conviction that progress across the sustainable development goals requires reshaping the purpose and practices of education in the future ahead. Following successful convenings at the UN General Assembly in New York and in Doha, this Davos edition focuses on two interconnected questions critical to achieve sustainable and inclusive growth worldwide:

“At the Davos Edition of Education House we want to inspire practical partnerships that close the gap between learning and the demands of today’s economy,” says Lasse Leponiemi, Chairman of the HundrED Foundation. “For that, we need to both fundamentally rethink what young people need to thrive in a new world and economy, and how we can collectively use emergent technologies to ensure young people are supported”. 

Asheesh Advani, CEO of JA Worldwide, agrees. “Around the world, young people are navigating extraordinary change–technological, economic, and social–and they need both the skillset and mindset to shape what comes next. To achieve more inclusive growth, resilient economics, and thriving communities, we must rethink how young people learn and how society comes together to support them. Education House convenes leaders from all sectors who are prepared to turn shared ambition into action for youth.”

Confirmed speakers for the convening include Kitty van der Heijden, Deputy Executive Director, UNICEF; Ville Tavio, Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade, Finland; Rebecca Winthrop, Senior Fellow and Director at Brookings Institution Center for Universal Education; Asheesh Advani, President and CEO of JA Worldwide; David Edwards, General Secretary at Education International; Anna Koivuniemi, CEO at Google DeepMind Impact Accelerator; and Wendy Kopp, CEO and Co-Founder of Teach For All; among other government, business, and education leaders from multiple countries.

Presented as a dialogue, participants will be invited to participate in responding to the session title with their perspectives. 

The event is co-convened by HundrED, JA Worldwide, and Teach For All. Session partners are Dalberg, Education International, NFTE, Remake Learning, SEK, ShiksaLokam, Teach Billions Fund and Villars Institute. Event media partners are Devex and Diplomatic Courier. The event will be documented, but the discussions will follow Chatham House rules.