Four New Laureates Join the Newly Redesigned Global Business Hall of Fame
May 26, 2022
The Global Business Hall of Fame, presented by JA Worldwide, features entrepreneurs and business leaders spanning the last two centuries. From the inventor of blue jeans to the co-founder of one of the world’s leading biotech companies, visitors to our digital showcase find inspiring influencers to kindle their entrepreneurial spirit.
About the Global Business Hall of Fame
The Global Business Hall of Fame is not only reflective of JA’s global reach, the diversity of JA students in 115 countries, and a wide range of global industries, but also prioritizes nominees who are working toward the Global Goals for Sustainable Development (SDGs), reinforcing to young people that they have the power to be a force for global good.
In addition, nominees for new laureates are grouped into two categories:
Leader: An executive-level professional who inspires others, the Leader’s contributions have advanced the landscape of business with a focus on improving lives. As a result, the Leader has led companies and initiatives toward the Global Goals and is a role model who exhibits social values, inclusivity, and a global point of view. The Leader is likely to have led ventures with a large scope of responsibility, resources, and talent.
Innovator: Under 40 years of age, entrepreneurial in spirit, and community focused, the Innovator is changing the landscape globally or has recently emerged on the global stage. The Innovator is an inspiration, full of energy, passionate about work, courageous, and a promoter of change and innovation on behalf of the global good.
Each of our new laureates joins a digital exhibit with immersive, aspirational content, redesigned this year—thanks to the support of Delta Air Lines—to look and feel like a hall-of-fame exhibition. The Global Business Hall of Fame inspires young people through laureate stories and achievements.
The Global Business Hall of Fame 2022 Laureates
We’re pleased to announce our 2022 laureates:
Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu (Leader/Ethiopia): When Bethlehem saw skilled artisans in her community living with chronic unemployment, she built a company that would showcase their skills and provide well-paying, sustainable jobs. Today, she is founder and Executive Director of soleRebels, Africa’s fastest-growing footwear company. She has approached her other startups—The Republic of Leather, Garden of Coffee, Made by Ethiopia, Selam Bank, GIZA digital, NoodFoods, and TeffTastic—with the same goal: provide employment and economic prosperity in her community, while dispelling the myth that Ethiopians and Africans don’t know how to create their own prosperity.
Alisée De Tonnac (Innovator/Switzerland): Alisée is CEO and co-founder of Seedstars World, the largest global competition for startups in emerging and fast-growing startup ecosystems, which connects entrepreneurs with investors and grants. Alisée has managed competitions in more than 85 cities and has a physical presence in 15 strategic co-working hubs around the world. As a result, more than 40,000 entrepreneurs from emerging markets have taken part in Seedstars’ events and programs, fundraising more than US$250 million and creating more than 2,500 jobs. After the outbreak of COVID-19, Alisée also launched #SeedstarsCares, an initiative that facilitates discussions and forums via webinars, podcasts, and videos about the pandemic and other important world issues.
Marcos Galperin (Leader/Argentina): As founder and CEO of Mercado Libre, the largest ecommerce and fintech ecosystem in Latin America, Marcos has empowered the Latin American entrepreneurial community by leveling the playing field between large companies, small businesses, and entrepreneurs. Under Marcos’s leadership, Mercado Libre seeks to foster entrepreneurship through educational initiatives that encourage financial literacy and inclusion and support entrepreneurs whose projects contribute to environmental, social, and economic goals, which the company calls “triple impact entrepreneurs.” Through Mercado Libre, Marcos has brought decent work and economic growth to 18 countries in the Americas, enabling more than one million families to make their livelihoods by operating in the platform.
Audrey Cheng (Innovator/Kenya): Audrey is co-founder, former CEO, and board member of Moringa School, a learning accelerator headquartered in Kenya that teaches skills to African youth that increase their employability potential and launch their careers. Moringa School provides digital education—including a technology bootcamp—that gives rising developers and data scientists the skills they need to enter the booming tech workforce. Today, the school also offers scholarships to low-income students and women in an effort to even the socioeconomic and gender imbalance in tech. As a natural outgrowth of the school, Audrey co-founded LendHer Capital, which funds Kenyan, female-led businesses.
The Global Business Hall of Fame nomination process is designed to engage diverse stakeholders from around the world and to ensure protocols are followed in the selection of laureates. To ensure fairness and transparency, the annual process involves checking performed by PwC, the Global Process Integrity Partner of the Global Business Hall of Fame. PwC oversees JA Worldwide's processes for entry evaluation, manages the committee selection of finalists, and provides a platform for the Voting Jury.