KINGSTON, Jamaica — A Jamaican woman has been selected as the sole representative of the English and Spanish-speaking Caribbean in the World Economic Forum’s 2017 cohort of Young Global Leaders (YGL), a high profile, growing network of bold and action-oriented young leaders from across the world.

Nadeen Matthews, Chief Digital and Marketing Officer for the NCB Group, joins the ranks of an impressive group including Mariame McIntosh Robinson, Imani Duncan Price and Marlene Malahoo Forte – who were also selected in previous years for outstanding contributions in their respective fields.

At 37, Matthews is the youngest female Head of a Division at National Commercial Bank Jamaica Limited, the largest financial services institution in Jamaica.

She adds to the 54 per cent female makeup of the YGL Class of 2017. All of the selected leaders are under 40 years.

“It is an honour and privilege to be selected as a part of the 2017 class of Young Global Leaders. I look forward to collaborating with my peers in The Forum from all over the world and harnessing the valuable educational opportunities this experience provides to serve as a force for good for Jamaica and the broader Caribbean.

“I also look forward to positively representing Jamaica in this forum with some of the foremost political and business leaders shaping the world today,” Matthews said.

The Forum of Young Global Leaders was established by the World Economic Forum as a unique, multi-stakeholder community, which now boasts a catalogue of over 900 exceptional young leaders.

This year’s batch includes a tech entrepreneur whose mobile app has helped more than 100,000 smallholder farmers in Africa, a Yale graduate who shunned a big-city salary to help millions of villagers in rural China, and a micro-insurance pioneer who is providing a safety net for the most vulnerable segments ofsociety and transformative scientists who are pioneers in gene therapy, artificial intelligence, experimental psychology and mathematics.

Since inception of YGL in 2004, the Forum has honoured 200 outstanding young leaders yearly from around the world for their professional accomplishments, demonstrated commitment to society and potential to contribute to shaping the future of the world.

Past awardees include: Leonardo DiCaprio (actor), Larry Page (Google), Anderson Cooper (CNN), and Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook).