The Global Shapers Communications Strategy aims to amplify the voices, impact and expertise of our community. Ultimately, our goal is to empower every Global Shaper to become a credible and influential voice—effectively shaping youth outcomes and enriching global conversations through their local experiences, professional expertise and lived realities.
Our communications efforts four key priorities:
- Amplify Youth Priorities: Share insights, trends and perspectives through the Youth Pulse report, Generation Now newsletter, and the Monthly Show.
- Elevate Hub Impact: Showcase impactful projects, initiatives and partnerships through compelling stories published in the Annual Report, social media or the community newsletter, demonstrating how Hubs are driving change in their communities.
- Celebrate Shaper Achievements: Highlight awards, recognitions, speaking engagements, publications and other accomplishments that position Shapers as emerging leaders and experts.
- Build Thought Leadership: Equip and encourage Shapers to contribute to public discourse through articles, interviews, social media, events and other platforms that connect local experiences to global challenges and opportunities.
In this guide, you will find detailed information on how to align your Hub's communication strategy with the official community strategy of the community:
- Branding
- Impact Stories
- Social Media
- Thought Leadership
- Write for the World Economic Forum
- Contribute to Generation Now
- Building Your Profile
- Collaborative Inbox
Branding
Colours
Colour plays a vital role in establishing the identity of the Global Shapers Community across platforms and should be used consistently. Below are the core colours in our palette:
- Dark Blue: #0038A8
- Clear Blue: #7AB1E8
- Black: #000000
- White: #FFFFFF
- Grey: #A6A6A9
Logos
Hub Logo: Every Hub has its own unique logo, provided when the Hub opens. Should you not find it, please do not try to recreate one yourself, and contact your Community Manager to request a new one from our designer. You are responsible for saving the logo in your Hub's team folder and maintaining it in your institutional memory for easy access. Using your Hub logo on both online and printed materials enhances your Hub's visibility. Establish clear standards for how others may use the logo to maintain its integrity. For example:
- Use your Hub’s logo for all communications and materials related to any activity, project, or event.
- Do not let institutions, companies, or individual Shapers use your Hub’s logo without permission.
- Do not alter the logo’s design or color.
- Ensure your correct Hub logo is listed among project/event contributors on dedicated pages/websites. Do not let your partners omit your Hub logo when listing contributors, regardless of the size of your Hub's role.
Global Shapers Community Logo: Hubs can request to use the Global Shapers Community logo only when collaborating with HQ. For any questions, contact your Community Manager. If granted permission to use the Global Shapers logo, do not alter its design or color. Remember, your views are your own and may not represent the entire community. Unauthorized use of the logo could jeopardize your Hub’s participation in the network. World Economic Forum Logo: The World Economic Forum's logo cannot be used by Hubs. The World Economic Forum’s name and logo are reserved for its own activities, initiatives, and meetings. Hubs are not allowed to use the Forum’s logo in promotional materials, as doing so could also jeopardize your Hub's participation in the network. Partner Logos: Acknowledge your partners at all official events, as they are key to our community's impact.
Hub Websites and Domain Names
No individual Hub can represent the Global Shapers Community or represent it in any specific region or country. When creating websites or Hub-specific email addresses, ensure you represent only your Hub. Do: www.globalshapersbangkok.org / globalshapersmanila.org Don't: globalshapers.org.ma / globalshapers.es
Referencing your Hub
Do: Calgary Hub is part of the Global Shapers Community. The Global Shapers Community is an initiative of the World Economic Forum. Don't: Calgary Hub is an initiative of the World Economic Forum.
Referencing Your Membership
When sharing your engagement with the Global Shapers Community in your networks, for example on LinkedIn, be sure to indicate clearly indicate that you are affiliated with the Global Shapers Community as a member of your Hub, not as an employee. For example:
"John Smith, member of the Global Shapers Atlanta Hub at Global Shapers Community."
Claiming to work at the World Economic Forum because you are part of a Hub is not accurate and may require amendment by your Curator or Community Manager. Ensure your personal social media profiles prominently display your Hub name and the Global Shapers Community to enhance the visibility and strength of the Global Shapers brand. Be proud to show the world that you are part of the Shapers Community!
Referencing the Community
Direct people to our website and link to our community videos. Here’s some language that you can use:
Founded by the World Economic Forum, the Global Shapers Community is a network of over 10,000 young changemakers under the age of 30, working together to address global challenges through local solutions.
Communication on Behalf of Hubs or the Global Shapers Community
Every member should adhere to the principle that the Global Shapers Community is impartial, independent and not tied to any political, ideological or partisan interests. Hubs must remain impartial and independent and therefore cannot be formed on any political, cultural, racial, religious or thematic/topical basis. As such, Global Shapers should not issue any statements or messages on behalf of the Global Shapers Community or any of its affiliated Hubs.
Impact Stories
As Global Shapers, it is not enough to simply do good work—we also want you to tell the story of your impact. Sharing your work helps strengthen its credibility, inspire others, and gives us an opportunity to celebrate your achievements. When writing an impact story, aim to answer the following questions:
- What challenge were you addressing, and how was it affecting your community or city?
- How did you respond? What activities, initiatives, or interventions did you implement?
- What changed as a result? Include measurable outcomes, impact metrics, policy changes, or other tangible results whenever possible.
To bring your story to life, accompany it with supporting materials such as photos, videos, testimonials, or quotes from participants, beneficiaries, partners, or other stakeholders involved. Your impact story could be in the form of a written article, a video, or a social media post. Please share as many impact stories and visuals via the Highlights Tracker and drop your photos and videos in our common library.
Social Media
The Global Shapers HQ uses social media as a powerful vehicle to amplify impact and elevate the voices of our members and community through:
- Showcasing collective achievements of Hubs and their communities.
- Highlighting Shapers' contributions to Forum meetings and other high-level events.
- Promoting our community culture.
- Fostering dialogue on critical issues.
Always remember to tag us on social media so we can reshare your Hub's great work.
Use hashtags to maximize visibility. Here are some we love: #GlobalShapers #ShapersImpact
Best practices
Do:
- Use catchy visuals like photos and videos to accompany every post
- Celebrate your Hub's and members' achievements
- Connect your posts to wider global conversations
- Explore what other Hubs are doing, and if possible, collaborate
- Maintain active Instagram and LinkedIn accounts
- Uphold the impartial and independent position of this community across all content
Don't:
- Overbrand your visuals, this prevents us from being able to reshare
- Ignore sensitive topics; show empathy
- Post without considering if it adds value
- Share unverified information that can affect your Hub's credibility
Social media should be engaging, timely, and thoughtful. Ask yourself: Would you engage with this content?
Posts We Love...
For any questions on social media, communications and branding, please contact your Community Manager.
Thought Leadership
Global Shapers are uniquely positioned to contribute to local, regional and global conversations. Through your lived experiences, professional expertise and community leadership, you can help shape discussions on the issues that matter most to young people today. We encourage all Shapers to actively build their thought leadership profile and share evidence-based perspectives that advance positive change.
Write for the World Economic Forum
Global Shapers are encouraged to contribute articles to the World Economic Forum, particularly on topics that reflect youth perspectives, emerging trends and solutions from their communities.
- Focus on issues that matter to young people and where you can provide unique insights
- Ground your articles in evidence, local examples and practical solutions
- Connect local challenges and innovations to broader regional or global conversations
- To ensure equitable opportunities across the community and avoid overwhelming editorial teams, please limit article pitches to no more than two submissions per year.
Contribute to Generation Now
Generation Now, the Global Shapers LinkedIn Newsletter, is a platform for sharing perspectives, lessons and stories from across the community. We welcome contributions that:
- Highlight emerging youth priorities and trends.
- Provide personal perspectives on intergenerational partnerships.
Building Your Profile
Shapers are encouraged to keep your Forum Spaces bio and LinkedIn profile up-to-date, so that you can be considered for opportunities based on your thematic expertise. Please be accurate in your descriptions of your achievements. You are also encouraged to publish thought leadership pieces and participate in public speaking opportunities to strengthen your public brand.
Collaborative Inbox
When a new Hub opens, HQ sets up an official Google group hosted on Google with the globalshapers.org domain. The Collaborative Inbox feature allows members of a Google group (who have a Gmail account and have the right permissions) to manage a shared email inbox. Some of the main features include sending emails using the Hub’s official mailbox, assigning responsibility for a conversation to other group members, mark a conversation as complete, duplicate, or no action needed and search for conversations according to resolution status or assignee. Thanks to Google Groups, all the applications to the Hub from the website and the emails sent to this address are distributed to all members of the group, primarily including the Hub's email address, and the Hub's curatorship emails (if the previous curatorship transferred the manager rights). Normally, the Hub's Curatorship has managerial roles. We trust the Curatorship to use Hubs’ Inboxes responsibly. As managers, each one has the possibility customize the Google group's settings to add new members and change the status of each member (Owner / Manager / Member). Managers can also personalize Group’s settings, including Privacy settings:
- Getting started with Google Groups
- Managing group settings and members (who can see and join, set auto replies, change languages, etc.)
- Moderating conversations and using labels
Transition of the Manager Rights At the end of each curatorship year (30 June) the outgoing Curatorship team should ensure a proper cleaning and maintenance of the Hub's documents and platforms, including this Google group inbox. This includes handover of all pending messages and important conversations, removing everyone from the group, and adding the new Curatroship team with the role of managers for them to decide how to manage the inbox during their mandate.
Moving forward, the Global Shapers HQ will favor having the Hub's email address (created by Shapers themselves) to be the sole manager of this Google Group to avoid issues related to the transition of manager rights over the years. All the emails sent to this address as well as the website applications to the Hubs would be distributed directly and only to the Hub's email address.