We are thrilled to share that our founder and publisher Sophie Schmidt has been chosen as a 2024 Young Global Leader (YGL) by the World Economic Forum. This prestigious honor recognizes Sophie’s advocacy for overlooked global tech users and her vision for Rest of World, a pioneering news organization that explores the untold stories of technology’s impact outside the West. 

Each year, the World Economic Forum invites a global group of promising leaders under the age of 40 to join its esteemed Forum of Young Global Leaders and to participate in a three-year leadership development program. Sophie is one of 91 individuals from around the world to be selected in the class of 2024. As a YGL, Sophie joins a distinguished community of innovators, thought leaders and entrepreneurs who are committed to solving the world’s hardest problems.  

“I am wildly humbled to be named a Young Global Leader,” said Sophie. “This recognition is shared with my team at Rest of World, who scour the earth for bold and ambitious stories about how tech-driven change is being experienced at every level of society, especially in places usually overlooked by mainstream media.”

Sophie was inspired to start Rest of World after a decade of trying to answer a single question: why were so few people in the West talking about how digital technology was transforming the non-Western world? She identified a critical information gap — not enough accessible tech reporting — and in 2019 she founded Rest of World, an innovative media nonprofit that would produce rigorous and immersive international tech journalism while also training the next generation of tech reporters in their native countries. Under her leadership, Rest of World has published more than 1,500 stories from over 100 countries in its first four years and recently won the National Magazine Award for Design.

Congratulations, Sophie!

Read more about the Forum for Young Global Leaders and this year’s class here.