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Saadia Zahidi
Managing Director at the World Economic Forum
Saadia Zahidi is the Managing Director at the World Economic Forum (WEF), where she leads the Centre for the New Economy and Society and oversees the Global Communications Group. In her role, she collaborates with leaders across business, government, and civil society to promote economic opportunity and equitable growth. Zahidi has been instrumental in producing key reports such as the Future of Jobs, Global Gender Gap, and Global Risks Reports.13
Education and Career
Zahidi holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics from Smith College, a Master's in International Economics from the Graduate Institute of Geneva, and a Master's in Public Administration from Harvard University. She began her career at WEF in 2004 as an economist and became the youngest managing director in 2018.13
Publications and Recognition
She authored Fifty Million Rising, which explores the rise of working women in the Muslim world and was longlisted for the FT/McKinsey Business Book of the Year in 2018. Zahidi has received several accolades, including being named one of BBC's 100 Women in 2013 and 2014, and winning the inaugural FT/McKinsey Bracken Bower Prize for young authors in 2014.145
Personal Background
Born in Pakistan, Zahidi is also a Swiss citizen and is fluent in four languages. She has traveled extensively, visiting over 70 countries.3 Her work focuses on critical issues such as gender parity, economic development, education, and skills training.24
Highlights
Delighted to host the Labour Ministers' Lunch on #AI's role in #job augmentation and #productivity growth at the World Economic Forum. We discussed AI's impact on jobs, essential skills for the future, and ensuring gender inclusivity in the AI-driven job transition.
Thank you to Ministers Bienvenido Laguesma, Secretary of Labour and Employment of the #Philippines; Mario Arizti, Minister of Labour and Social Security of #Uruguay; Heng Sour, Minister of Labour and Vocational Training of #Cambodia and Steven Sim, Minister of Human Resources of #Malaysia for joining - looking forward to continuing our collaboration.
Elselot Hasselaar Till Alexander Leopold
Today, the World Economic Forum has published the latest edition of its Global Gender Gap Report. #gendergap24
While there have been some areas of improvement, progress towards #gender parity remains too slow. There's an urgent need for renewed commitments to closing the global gender gap - in particular in the economic and political spheres. Simply put, we cannot wait until 2158 for parity. The time for decisive action is now.
From the impact of #AI to some of the countries making the fastest progress, the latest report is essential reading to understand how we can accelerate change and take action.
With thanks to our partners LinkedIn, Coursera, PwC, and to the team Silja Baller, Kim Piaget, Kusum Kali Pal, Attilio Di Battista, Eoin Ó Cathasaigh.
Discover the report in full here: wef.ch/gendergap24
