World Economic forum announces Dave Duarte a Young Global Leader

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Cape Town: Tuesday, 11 March 2014:  The World Economic Forum (WEF) today announced South African Dave Duarte as a Young Global Leader (YGL). Globally recognised as a top expert on digital marketing for business, Duarte joins 215 leaders from around the world that will make up the class of 2014, including South African actress Charlize Theron.

Annually, thousands of candidates go through a qualified nomination process and are assessed according to rigorous selection criteria. Only the best are selected to form a community of the world’s next generation leaders.

“Young Global Leaders are not just exceptional people in their own right: they are leaders that already have a track record in improving the state of the world. We welcome the Class of 2014 into our community and look forward to collectively engaging them to deliver change of genuine global significance,” says David Aikman, Managing Director and Head of the New Champions at the World Economic Forum.

As an entrepreneur and educator, Duarte has travelled the world providing insights and strategic advice, his passion being digital leadership. This opportunity is a testament to his work in the field, “I am honoured to have the opportunity join this diverse and dedicated group of leaders and committed to affect real global change. I am also thrilled to be working with fellow South African and social entrepreneur, Marlon Parker, founder of Reconstructed Living Labs  who will form part of the class of 2014,” says Duarte. 

Duarte has a long list of achievements including pioneering the first Social Media and Mobile Marketing courses in Africa with the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business. Currently he focuses on his latest venture, Treeshake, an educational production company that invests in initiatives that could grow Digital Leadership in Africa.

He has spent the past few years working with executive teams in Africa and globally to influence this new form of leadership since the advent of digital has changed the pace of business.  

“Digital Leadership is, I believe, the most critical new form of management and business development that is needed on the continent. It is about being able to innovate in response to challenges and opportunities using digital technologies that are incredibly quick to build, launch and scale. Ultimately, it is about aligning leadership to the speed, scale and sophistication of business today,” adds Duarte.

Besides his responsibilities as a YGL, Dave also helps identify the top African technologies to be awarded at the Netexplo forum at UNESCO in Paris later this month.

Duarte now joins an elite group of young leaders that in the past have recognised people like Larry Page, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Google, Michael Jordaan, former chief executive officer at FNB and Mark Shuttleworth, internet entrepreneur and Afronaut .

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