Contributions of AYLP alumni to The Shape of (Central) Europe 2019 conference

The AYLP aims to support young leaders from various professional fields. They gather to participate in discussions, workshops, lectures and experience-sharing in order to think about the impact of their activities on the world, society and future. But participation in the program is only the first step. AYLP alumni keep in touch with us. We involve them in our projects, including the Aspen annual conference. This year was no exception.

Some alumni contributed with their expertise to pre-conference public debates and roundtables, including Petr Ducháček, CETIN manager, Soňa Jonášová, founder and director of Circular economy institute, Michal Kadera, director of external affairs of Škoda Auto, Ladislav Kučera, manager of the Škoda Auto endowment fund, and Tomáš Pospíšil, founder and CEO of the Exekutor má smůlu.cz project.

Some of them significantly contributed to expert research analyses – Lukáš Kovanda, chief economist of CZECH FUND, wrote an article on Developments in Competitiveness and Matěj Petrásek, partner at DigiLion, contributed to Developments in Quality Governance.

Others provided us with short essays included in the conference book. They also formulated their thoughts concerning the shape and future of the Czech Republic and Central Europe.

The AYLP contributors to the Czech version of the conference book were:

• Andrea Procházková, journalist at Respekt magazine, who wrote Generace narozená do svobody,
• Pavlína Louženská, founder of #HolkyzMarketingu, who wrote V týmech nám dlouhodobě nechybí jen ženy, ale i celá škála příběhů,
• Jan Laštůvka, CEO and co-founder of Monkey Data, who wrote Česko – inspirativní a globální a
• Jan Delong, PR and coordination manager of the Třinec library, who wrote Přešlapování na místě a jedinečná infrastruktura.

The AYLP contributors to the English version of the conference book were:

• Łukasz Pawłowski, managing editor of Kultura Liberalna, who wrote Paling into insignificance?,
• Sara Boutall, CEO of Anthropologica, who wrote Central Europe – a leader, or a follower of global trends?,
• Melinda Miklós, CEO of WeAreOpen, who wrote Looking good? and
• Zuzana Vikarská, assistant professor at Masaryk University, who contributed with All the best in the 2020s, dear Central Europe!

Some alumni joined the discussion on the conference panels, which provided them with an opportunity to share their professional experience. These include Andrej Pančík, co-founder of Prizeo and Reprezent, and Juraj Bóna, chief country officer of T-Mobile Czech Republic.