A FIREWORK OF INSPIRATION
Who We Are
We live in a world we don’t understand. We know more and more about less and less. We have hunkered down in our own silos and WORLD.MINDS decided to do something about it.
Founded in Switzerland in 2008, today, we are a by-invitation-only community of 1500 individuals from a wide range of countries who are making proven contributions in science, business, government and the arts.
As an organisation, we build bridges between these different fields, to further interdisciplinary thinking, allowing for open dialogue and curating fertile grounds for new ideas to find footing.
WORLD.MINDS members strive for deep understanding. Our goal is to improve the quality of our decisions as private individuals and as citizens of this planet.
The Power of Community
At WORLD.MINDS we cultivate serendipity. Out of this forward-looking view from a thousand perspectives comes the power to recognise brilliant answers to questions not yet formulated. We propel them forward.
Our members strive for deep understanding and excellence. All our members are unapologetically curious, believe in the importance of life-long learning and in the power of community to do good in the world. Only with an open mind can true innovation run its course.
The term “community” is essential. WORLD.MINDS is a real community of real people sharing real insights.
Your Intellectual Home
around the globe
WORLD.MINDS members operate at the frontier of global progress. To strengthen interdisciplinary collaboration, we meet virtually during our “ESPRESSO” calls on a weekly basis and host our renowned Annual Symposium and community Salons around the globe.
Curious Minds,
New horizons
WORLD.MINDS curates a rare space for visionary leaders to come together. In private, Chatham House Rule conversations, we foster trust, authentic dialogue, and meaningful relationships. This unique interdisciplinary community provides fertile ground for innovation and true human ingenuity to flourish.
DRIVEN
BY SCIENCE
Science and scientific breakthroughs are the primary engines of future progress, as they unravel the mysteries of our universe, empower technological innovations, and provide solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges, driving human potential and societal advancement forward. We bring the world’s best scientists, Nobel Laureates, and pioneers of discovery to inspire action for lasting change.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Defense Symposium
UPCOMING ESPRESSOS
Vice Chairman of PIMCO
September 24
13:00 CET
Former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO
October 1
15:00 CET
Member of the Nobel Prize Committee
October 8
15:00 CET
Founder and President of India’s preeminent geopolitical think tank, the Observer Research Foundation
October 8
13:00 CET
Co-Founder of CrowdStrike and one of the most influential people in cyberwarfare
October 15
16:00 CET
Visionary biotech entrepreneur behind Moderna and countless other groundbreaking ventures
October 22
16:00 CET
Chief Energy Economist at the International Energy Agency (IEA)
November 5
13:30 CET
20-time Grand Slam champion
November 6
13:00 CET
Executive Advisory Board
Jorge Paulo Lemann
Investor and Entrepreneur, Founder of 3G Capital
General David Petraeus
Former Director of the CIA, Chairman of the KKR Global Institute
Dmytro Kuleba
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ukraine
Niall Ferguson
Historian and Author at Stanford, Harvard and Tsinghua
Neri Oxman
Legendary architect, designer and inventor, CEO of OXMAN Inc.
Fred Kempe
President and CEO of The Atlantic Council
Anne Neuberger
Lecturer at Stanford University; Former Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Technology, The White House; Strategic Advisor at a16z
Matt Kaminski
Editor-at-Large of POLITICO
Shéhérazade Semsar-de Boisséson
Former CEO of POLITICO Europe and Executive Director of the McCourt Institute
Christian H. Kälin
Chairman of Henley & Partners, Co-Founder of Arnova Capital
Daniela Schwarzer
Board Member, Bertelsmann Foundation
Matt Ridley
Former Member of the House of Lords, Best-selling author and former Editor of “The Economist”
Ana Brnabić
President of the Serbian Parliament, former Prime Minister
Peter Singer
Moral philosopher and best-selling author, Princeton and University of Melbourne
Martina Hirayama
State Secretary for Education, Research and Innovation of Switzerland
Stefan Hell
Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Director of the Max Planck Institute
Joseph E. Stiglitz
Nobel Prize in Economics, Former Chief Economist of the World Bank
Kishore Mahbubani
Former President of the UN Security Council
Alon Chen
President of the Weizmann Institute
Tenley E. Albright
Director of the MIT Collaborative Initiative, Board member of the Bloomberg Foundation, Olympic Gold Medalist
Uli Sigg
Former Ambassador to China, Largest private collector of contemporary Chinese Art
Kurt Wüthrich
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Marc Walder
CEO of Ringier and Founder of digitalswitzerland
Jöel Mesot
President of ETH Zurich
Uwe Krüger
Senior Managing Partner at TEMASEK (Singapore Sovereign Wealth Fund)
Thomas Schmidheiny
Founder and Chairman of Spectrum Value Management
Wojciech Szczepaniak
Chairman and Partner of Sparrowland Capital
Anna Fontcuberta i Morral
President of EPFL
Kiana Aran
Founder of Cardea Bio, Professor of Bioengineering at UC San Diego Medical School
Markus Pertl
Chairman of the Stern Stewart Institute
our TEAM
Executive Chairman
Founder
CEO
Chief of Staff & Producer
Head of CEO Office
Director, Operations
Vice President, Partnerships
Director, Middle East
Head of Events
Digital Solutions Architect
Events Producer
info@worldminds.org
Our charter limits the number of business members to 500 globally. It also stipulates that at least 51% of our community members have to be scientists, so we never devolve into a business club.
The not-for-profit WORLD.MINDS FOUNDATION is based in Switzerland and regulated by Swiss law. Funding is provided by our international business community and generous individuals. WORLD.MINDS Management Ltd. is the event management company that organizes our events on an international level. The event management company is jointly owned by the WORLD.MINDS-team and Axel Springer.
WORLD.MINDS is run by an outstanding board of trustees, with strategic input from our first-class executive advisory board.