Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, the former captain of the Bangladesh cricket team, was named amongst the 112 Young Global Leaders for 2021 by World Economic Forum.
The list was published on Wednesday.
The World Economic Forum said that aside from cricket, Mashrafe, also a lawmaker of Narial-2 Constituency from the ruling party Bangladesh Awami League, has also played a significant role in helping people move out of poverty trap in his hometown of Narail in southwestern Bangladesh.
He launched the Narail Express Foundation, which looks to achieve six goals: offer modern facilities for citizens and a specialized education system, help start an ethical and humane education system, create employment opportunities, increase cultural activities, provide sports training, set up a tourism hub in Chitra river, and transform Narail into an information and communications technology and environmentally friendly town.
Mashrafe’s role to combat against deadly virus Covid-19 also played a role in selecting him.
The World Economic Forum said, over the past year, the world has dealt first hand with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, systemic inequalities, discrepancies in our healthcare systems, economic downturns and education shifting to digital.
While many leaders call on the need to ‘fix’ what is broken, the more urgent need is to take immediate action. Young leaders around the world are leading by example and paving the way for action on these issues.
Each year, the Forum of Young Global Leaders goes through a rigorous selection process to identify, select and commemorate remarkable leaders under 40 who come from different communities and industries worldwide. These young leaders exemplify what we need most today: hope, empathy, authenticity, and the drive to develop solutions that can change the world for the better.
A total of 10 South Asians, including Mashrafe, have made the list.
The other South Asians to make the list are – Aditi Avasthi (founder and chief executive officer, Embibe, India), Maleeka Bokhari, (parliamentary secretary for law and justice, Ministry of Law and Justice of Pakistan, Pakistan), Srikanth Bolla, (chief executive officer, Bollant Industries Pvt Ltd, India), Nirvana Chaudhary, (managing director, Chaudhary Group, Nepal), Gazal Kalra, (co-founder, Rivigo, India) Shreevar Kheruka, (managing director, Borosil Ltd., India), Ameya Prabhu (managing director, NAFA Capital, India), Hriday Ravindranath ( global chief technology and information officer, BT Group Plc, India), Hitesh Wadhwa (vice-president, Strategic Initiatives, Tech Mahindra, India)
