The ACG’s American-German Young Leaders Conference brings together up to 50 rising stars from government, business, journalism, academia, the military, and the non-profit sector for a week of intensive dialogue concerning domestic, bilateral, and global issues affecting both countries. In addition to enhancing participants’ understanding of the current international agenda, the conferences deepen mutual understanding among the next generation of thought leaders and decision-makers from the United States and Germany.
Young Leader Conferences have four main goals:
- To provide a forum for bright, informed, and sophisticated young professionals to discuss major issues on the transatlantic agenda in an informal setting;
- To encourage participants to deal frankly with pressing policy issues in their own terms, and to explore and debate their differences and common interests;
- To engage a new generation of Germans and Americans in programs and activities designed to strengthen the transatlantic partnership; and
- To create an enduring network of leaders from the “successor generation” on both sides of the Atlantic.
Young Leaders come away with much more than background knowledge and a week of dialogue; they gain a new understanding of the complex nuances of bilateral and global affairs and an enduring connection with a network of individuals who will strengthen and carry the transatlantic relationship into the future. The Young Leaders of today will go on to serve as key leaders of federal governments, multinational corporations, banks, the press, and more.
Conferences are held annually in Germany, and the working language is English.
Alumni include:
Michael F. Bennet (1997)
United States Senator for Colorado
Gerrard Bushell (1999)
Executive Chair
New Terminal One Development Project
JFK International Terminal
Rep. Joaquin Castro (2009)
Member of Congress, Texas
Rohit Chopra (2014)
Director, Consumer Financial Protection Service
Federal Reserve System
Heather Conley (2007)
President
German Marshall Fund of the United States
Affie B. Elllis (2017)
Member, Navajo Nation
State Senator, 8th District, Wyoming
Jeffrey Feltman (1986)
Former Under Secretary General for Political Affairs at the United Nations
Francis Fukuyama (1985)
Author and Political Scientist
Hubertus Heil (2003)
Federal Minister of Labor and Social Affairs
Robert D. Hormats (1978)
Former Under Secretary for Economic, Energy, and Agricultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State
Wolfgang Ischinger (1978)
Former German Ambassador to the
United States
Kenneth I. Juster (1989)
Former U.S. Ambassador to India
Jonathan Karl (1994)
Chief White House Correspondent
ABC News
Thomas de Maizière (1989)
Former German Federal Minister of the Interior
Catherine Cortez Masto (1998)
United States Senator for Nevada
Martin Ney (1991)
German Ambassador to Portugal
Cem Özdemir (2001)
German Minister of Food and Agriculture
Hester M. Peirce (2007)
Commissioner
U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission
Frederik Pferdt (2012)
Chief Innovation Evangelist
GOOGLE
Hans-Gert Poettering (1973)
Former President of the European Parliament
Reihan Salam (2009)
President
The Manhattan Institute
Charles Schumer (1975)
United States Senator for New York
Jens Weidmann (2004)
Former President of the Deutsche Bundesbank
