I had quite an adventure getting from Atlanta to Davos, Switzerland last week, preparing to speak at the Wall Street Journal House on our Financial Literacy for All Initiative, where I also attended the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2023, in Davos. But I finally made it on Tuesday, January 17th, 2023. It was just like, old times.
My first time in Davos, was 2004, when I first traveled there at an inaugural member of the first class of the Forum of Young Global Leaders. I remember the first call I received from Professor Klaus Schwab, asking me what I thought about his vision for the then newly formed Forum of Young Global Leaders, later to be called YGLs.
I was honored to join fellow YGLs, who have now become lifelong friends, like HRH Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, and Professor Pekka Himanen of Finland. Together we did a lot of good together, including the founding of Global Dignity, which expanded its work to more than 80 countries.
It was through the World Economic Forum, that I first became a global citizen. Attending the regional meetings of the Forum, on most every continent of the world, helped me to gain a better understanding, of most parts of the world. And their cultures. I have now traveled more than 100 countries, and at least a quarter of them were the direct result of my involvement with the Forum meetings.
Returning to Davos, more than a dozen years later, felt exactly as it did when I first entered the hall for the first time, almost 20 years ago.
The Financial Literacy for All Initiative
This time in Davos, my precise mission was different. Doug McMillon, CEO of Walmart and myself now co-chair a powerful new initiative designed to embed financial literacy into the business plan of all major businesses, education and society. It’s called the Financial Literacy for All Initiative.
I was honored to be invited by Almar Latour, CEO of Dow Jones and Publisher of the Wall Street Journal, to help lead an important roundtable conversation at the WSJ House in Davos. And that we did — Almar Latour, Doug McMillon and myself. And it was strong.
A special thank you to other FL4ALL members in attendance, including founding member Dan Schulman, CEO of PayPal, who has been a super strong supporter of our mission, vision and work from the very start.
We will be announcing our newest slate of Members for FL4ALL in coming weeks and months, including many that joined during the week at Davos. And so, the work and a new generation of collective action continues. It is possible to do well and do good too.
Let’s go…
John Hope Bryant