Personal statement Based on my leadership potential and commitment to contribute to improving the world, I was nominated to be a Global Shaper, a program for young leaders run by the World Economic Forum ("WEF"). Why me? Maybe because I adopt an entrepreneurial approach to creating change. My instinct is not to wait for decisions from authority, but to propose solutions, to reach out to my network and to start movements, to build things. In January 2015, I represented the voices of the Youth in Davos WEF discussions on gender parity, economic growth strategies and banking and financial regulations. This year at World Economic Forum only 17% of the 2,500 attendees were women. I was fortunate to debate on the equality of women's and men's salaries with brilliant barrister Cherie Blair. She is the wife of former Prime Minister of the UK — Tony Blair. Also, I listened to the speech of Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund. Then, we shared the dinner table with her where she told me about her legal career which I have already known by heart. Mrs Lagarde admired that as a native Russian speaker and a professional athlete, I graduated at the top of the class with Highest Honors (900 students) in French Corporate Law at Sorbonne Law School. Then, she told me that there is a shortage of knowledgeable specialists in French, Russian and American laws. This legendary woman encouraged me to fulfill my dream to sit for American Bar exam. To interact with the world's smartest French lawyer and to learn from her made me confident that one day I will do just as good as she did starting her career at Baker&McKenzie in 1981. It was probably even a more significant and life changing experience for me than my participation in 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin as the youngest member of the Russian National Team. In fact, at the age of 14, I had to negotiate my first sponsorship contract with O'Neil clothes brand. Since then, reading