NEW YORK–The Tallberg Foundation announced on October 17 the winners of the 2018 Eliasson Global Leadership Prizes awarded annually for extraordinary leadership – in any field and any country- to those who are courageous, optimistic, dynamic, rooted in universal values, and global in application or in aspiration.

The 2018 laureates to be honored:

SharmeenObaid-Chinoy, a multi-award-winning Pakistani filmmaker, journalist and activist who uses her world-class storytelling skills to focus global audiences on issues that affect marginalized communities with the aim of changing minds and impacting legislation.

Rafael Yuste, Professor of Biological Sciences at Columbia University, leading neuroscientist, inspirer of the U.S. Brain Initiative (2013), and a leading advocate to frame cutting edge neuroscience and AI research within an ethical context.

Imam Omar KobineLayama, president of the Central African Islamic Community; Cardinal DieudonneNzapalainga, the Archbishop of Bangui; andNicolas Guerekoyame-Gbangou, president of the Evangelical Alliance of the Central African Republic; the founders of the Plateforme des Confessions Religieuses de Centrafrique (PCRC) who seek peace, reconciliation, and social cohesion amidst the violence that has plagued their country and region.

“These leaders, working in very different contexts, share a common commitment: to make the world less what it is and at least a little more like what it should be,” said Alan Stoga, Tallberg Foundation chairman.

“Taken together, we view this as an incredibly positive andpowerful statement about the kinds of leadership we need in the world today,” he continued.

Winners of the Eliasson Global Leadership Prize, originated in 2005 and given in its current form since 2014, are nominated at large through an open, online process and are ultimately selected by a jury of people who themselves are accomplished leaders from a range of countries and disciplines. Each of the three prizes includes a$50,000 honorarium. The Eliasson prizes are generously supported by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).

“The Eliasson Global Leadership Prize identifies and honors leaders, whose creative, bold and principled leadership is desperately needed today,” said Andreas Dracopoulos, SNF co-President.

This year’s winners will be honored on November 15 at a public colloquium in Mexico City that is being co-sponsored by the InstitutoTecnologicoAutonomo de Mexico (ITAM), Mexico’s leading non-profit private research university. “We are delighted to welcome these amazing individuals to Mexico, and look forward to the opportunity for our students, faculty and alumni to engage with and learn from them,” said ITAM’s rector, Arturo Fernandez.

Rafael Yuste- Professor of Biological Sciences at Columbia University. Photo: Courtesy of The Tallberg Foundation

The winners were chosen from among 825 nominees from 130 countries and dozens of different occupations, positions, and causes. The jury’s selections reflected the following considerations:

SharmeenObaid-Chinoy, filmmaker; because of her increasingly insistent and effective leadership not just in changing minds, but in addressing the facts that create outcomes that should be unacceptable in the 21st century.

Rafael Yuste, neuroscientist; because of his vision and leadership in contributing to the pursuit of new understanding of how the brain works, as well as his deep commitment to promoting a global conversation about the ethical implications of rapidly accelerating neuro-technology.

Imam Omar KobineLayama, Cardinal DieudonneNzapalainga and Pastor Nicolas Guerekoyame-Gbangou; because they are demonstrating that deeply rooted moral leadership can overcome the divisions of tribe, ethnicity, and religious identification in the name of our common humanity.

Cardinal Dieudonne Nzapalainga, the Archbishop of Bangui; Nicolas Guerekoyame-Gbangou, president of the Evangelical Alliance of the Central African Republic; and Imam Omar Kobine Layama, president of the Central African Islamic Community; founders of the Plateforme des Confessions Religieuses de Centrafrique. Photo: Courtesy of The Tallberg Foundation