About

Ejaj Ahmad developed the idea of the Bangladesh Youth Leadership Center (BYLC) while he was a graduate student at Harvard and established the nonprofit in Bangladesh in early 2009 with the vision of creating a more just, prosperous, and inclusive society by training the next generation of leaders. Over the past fourteen years, he has overseen the organization’s rapid growth. To date, there are over 6,500 BYLC alumni, many of whom have gone on to leadership roles across Bangladesh.

Ejaj founded the Global Youth Leadership Center (GYLC) in 2022 to mobilize youth to tackle the climate crisis, especially to benefit youth from the most climate vulnerable countries. GYLC’s mission is to expand youth’s knowledge about climate science, equip them with leadership skills to take individual and collective action, and enable them to launch businesses that contribute to climate mitigation or adaptation.

For his work, Ejaj has been the recipient of numerous national and international awards and fellowships, most notable of which are the Ashoka Fellowship, Eisenhower Fellowship, and Harvard Kennedy School’s Rising Star Award. Currently, Ejaj serves as a Global Network Advisory Member of Eisenhower Fellowships, a Global Council Member of Asia Society, and as an Independent Director of Renata Limited, a listed pharmaceutical company in Bangladesh with a market cap of more than $1bn.

Earlier in his career, Ejaj worked as an economist on several World Bank/UNDP/Bangladesh Government projects pertaining to banking, international trade, sustainable environment management, and private sector development. He holds a Master’s in Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School and a Master of Arts with Honors in Economics from the University of St. Andrews.

Ejaj divides his time between Dhaka, Bangladesh and Northern California, USA where he lives with his wife and their two children. In his free time, he enjoys running and cooking plant-based meals.

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