About us
Global Shapers Community
Founded in 2011 as an initiative of the World Economic Forum, the Global Shapers Community groups together ambitious and talented young people who drive positive change. Over the years, the community grew and expanded, currently counting more than 17’000 members and alumni in 500 city-based Hubs in over 150 countries.
The Community aims at giving the young generation the opportunity to take an active role in shaping the future, being vital to solution-building, policy-making and lasting change. Our mission is to inspire, empower and connect young individuals to reach their full potential, in order to improve decision-making processes and generate positive impact in communities around the world. Since 2011, Global Shapers have implemented over 2’200 projects reaching more than 2 million beneficiaries.
The Global Shapers Community is a non-profit, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. It is structured in city-based teams, called Hubs, which count at least 20 members each and have a significant degree of freedom and independence in deciding which projects to implement and how to carry out operations. Hubs are grouped into regions, ensuring a balanced global representation and interconnectivity, and engage with each other through global and regional events, virtual platforms, and annual meetings, allowing Shapers to exchange ideas, share best practices, and inspire each other to make an even bigger impact. Projects developed by the Global Shapers revolve around areas such as education, environment, health, and innovation.
As part of the Global Shapers Community, the Lugano Hub offers its members rich networking opportunities that transcend geographical boundaries. Within our local Hub, members engage with people from diverse backgrounds, fostering mutual learning and collaboration on community projects. Beyond Lugano, we are part of a global network of motivated young leaders, which allows members to connect with Shapers worldwide. Additionally, our link with the World Economic Forum provides opportunities to dialogue with global decision-makers, allowing us to impact key global agendas and broaden our reach further. Please refer to the official website of the Global Shapers Community for further information.
Lugano Hub
The Lugano Hub of the Global Shapers Community was founded back in 2015 by Andrea Guida who, thanks to his significant experience in leadership and consultancy, tried to encourage a new culture open to change and innovation. The Hub quickly established beneficial collaborations within the Ticino ecosystem with different stakeholders, aiming at finding consistent solutions to tackle the ambitious challenges of the future.
In line with its objectives, the Lugano Hub immediately embarked on a multitude of initiatives, including the renowned "Champion of Innovation 4.0" project in collaboration with the Ticino Chamber of Commerce (Cc-TI), with the goal not only to identify and reward the most innovative and sustainable companies in Canton Ticino, but also to help defining best practices and analyze the status of the regional economic environment.
Afterwards, in reaction to the spread of Covid-19, the Hub established SwissConverge, a website platform aiming at supporting the mental and physical well-being of vulnerable individuals within our community. In the summer of 2020, we identified education as an area particularly impacted by the lockdown, and consequently we launched SwissConverge 4 School, offering free, online classes to middle-school and high-school students in a variety of subjects.
More recently, the Hub started Lugano Dona, an initiative to bring gifts to the refugees of Canton Ticino which has now become a regular activity since a couple of years. In addition, we also carried out a project related to the start-up ecosystem. In the meanwhile, the Lugano Hub continued growing with renewed enthusiasm, redefining its internal structure and operations.
