Lee Howell

Lee is the Executive Director of the Villars Institute, a nonprofit foundation dedicated to accelerating the transition to a net zero and nature positive economy through systems leadership and intergenerational collaboration. Lee was the Managing Director at the World Economic Forum (WEF) responsible for its Annual Meeting in Davos and for Global Programming from 2009 until 2021.

Lee is a board member of the EAT Foundation, a science-based global platform for food system transformation based in Oslo, Norway. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Geneva’s School of Economics and Management (GSEM) and created courses on the Fourth Industrial Revolution and Disruptive Technologies. Lee also lectures at the University of St. Gallen where he completed his PhD and teaches a popular seminar on Disruption and Innovation in International Business for their top ranked CEMS program.

His articles and interviews have appeared in China’s People’s Daily, Japan’s Asahi Shimbun, India’s Economic Times, New York Times as well as Foreign Affairs, New Scientist and TIME magazines. He also regularly contributes articles to the Global Agenda (WEF).