January 18. 2022
Sahra-Josephine Hjorth is the only Dane nominated to participate in this year’s Obama Foundation’s Leaders Europe program. Together with 35 other European leaders, she will inspire modern leadership development through an intensive digital program delivered through a series of seminars and weekly workshops taking place during the first half of this year.
As a Dane, I am extremely proud to have been selected to contribute to the Obama Foundation’s work to inspire leadership in and for a better world
As a Dane, I am extremely proud to have been selected to contribute to the Obama Foundation’s work to inspire leadership in and for a better world
For Sahra-Josephine Hjorth, the appointment is a great honor.
“As a Dane, I am extremely proud to have been selected to contribute to the Obama Foundation’s work to inspire leadership in and for a better world. I approach the task humbly and with curiosity, but I also believe that, with my Danish background, I have something special to offer. I am supported by a strong social safety net and am borne of the Nordic social welfare model, one built on autonomy and in which we value equality and equal opportunity highly. The principles of my culture, I believe, also ground my views on ethical leadership and management,”says Sahra-Josephine Hjorth, CEO and co-founder of CanopyLAB.
The Obama Foundation’s Leaders Europe program 2022 focuses on promoting a leadership style that emphasizes justice, inclusion, development, and sustainability. These are weighty words but they are closely linked to the foundation of CanopyLAB’s mission. The company’s starting point is the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal # 4, which is to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
CanopyLAB is a social learning experience platform powered by artificial intelligence. The platform is both targeted at enterprise clients seeking to upskill employees, but also at charitable initiatives that together seek to give more people around the world free and equal access to skill- and knowledge-building around a wide range of topics, including in such themes as sustainability, sexual rights and democracy.
Will be a role model for young girls
Sahra-Josephine Hjorth hopes that participating in the Obama Foundation’s Europe Leaders program can inspire more young girls to take on leadership roles.
I will use my participation in the program to open the dialogue on how to lead ethically and inclusively.
I will use my participation in the program to open the dialogue on how to lead ethically and inclusively.
We who are leaders have a special responsibility to create future leaders. It is us who make decisions that have an outsized effect on our employees and, additionally, on the users of our products. We must be aware of that responsibility. I will use my participation in the program to open the dialogue on how to lead ethically and inclusively. And I want to work to be a role model – especially for young girls who dream of taking on similar leadership roles and who may decide to found their own companies,” says Sahra-Josephine Hjorth.
Sahra-Josephine Hjorth has been nominated for the Obama Foundation’s program by former Prime Minister and Secretary General of NATO Anders Fogh Rasmussen’s Alliance of Democracies Foundation which also collaborates with the Obama Foundation.
“I am so excited that Sahra-Josephine Hjorth has been selected by former President Obama and his Foundation. Sahra-Josephine is a great choice with a unique blend of entrepreneurial spirit, solid values and international outlook,” says Jonas Parello-Plesner, Director of the Alliance of Democracies Foundation.
Parello-Plesner continues: “Anders Fogh Rasmussen and I met in October with former President Obama. I had the pleasure of nominating Sahra-Josephine as a Fellow of the Obama Foundation. Therefore, I am completely convinced that the Obama Foundation has made an excellent choice with Sahra-Josephine and the best Denmark has to offer in terms of international talent.”
About the Obama Foundation Leaders Europe Program
Obama Foundation’s Leaders Europe 2022 is a six-month, virtual leadership development and civic engagement program that seeks to inspire, empower, and connect emerging leaders from across Europe. The Leaders Europe program identifies emerging leaders working in government, civil society, and the private sector who have demonstrated a commitment to advancing the common good. It aims to build a growing network of innovative and ethical changemakers who seek to drive change in their communities while developing and supporting one another. The program is delivered through several weekly workshops from January through June 2022.