St. Gallen Symposium

Name

St. Gallen Symposium

Legal name

St. Gallen Symposium

Website

https://symposium.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1971

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Leadership Conference & Dialogue Forum Services

NAICS

Business, Professional, Labor, Political, and Similar Organizations (8139), Business Associations (813910), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Academic & Education Conference Organizers (THAHACAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Academic & Scientific Conferences (MPAGAGAD), Executive Leadership Summits (C-Suite, Board, Strategy Offsites) (THAHAMAA)

Keywords

• Intergenerational dialogue platform
• Leadership conference services
• Global forum events
• Young leaders programme
• Essay competition

Headquarters

HQ city

Saint Gallen

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Corporate Sponsorships & Partnerships: Over 300 partner organizations represent the bedrock of the global, cross-generational community. Senior executives from partner companies attend the symposium, demonstrating commitment to cross-generational dialogue and long-term thinking in business and politics.
2. Participant Fees: Attendance fees for participants at the annual symposium. The 54th St. Gallen Symposium brought together around 600 international decision-makers and 300 young talents from over 80 countries.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The St. Gallen Symposium is a student-led, non-profit initiative that organizes an annual international forum bringing together 1,400+ senior leaders from business, politics, academia, and civil society alongside 300 young Leaders of Tomorrow selected through the Global Essay Competition. It delivers the annual symposium, SGS in Town public events, leadership development and reverse mentoring programmes, strategic initiatives with partners such as the Club of Rome and University of Oxford, and research outputs including the Voices of the Leaders of Tomorrow report, all centered on intergenerational dialogue.

Product overview

The St. Gallen Symposium is a student-led initiative organized by the International Students' Committee (ISC) that operates as a platform for intergenerational dialogue on economic, political, and social developments. The core offerings include the annual symposium (55th edition in 2026) featuring 60+ sessions across multiple formats (break-out sessions, plenary panels, SGS in Town events), the Global Essay Competition that identifies and convenes Leaders of Tomorrow, and various initiatives including the New Generational Contract (with Club of Rome), Young Leaders on Board, Global Leadership Challenge (with University of Oxford), and the Monika & Wolfgang Schürer Preis. Research outputs include the Voices of the Leaders of Tomorrow annual report and a publications library. The organization also offers a Reverse Mentoring Programme and Excellence Scholarship for students.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Global Essay Competition: Annual essay competition inviting young thinkers to submit bold ideas on the symposium's theme, with winners participating as Leaders of Tomorrow.
• Leaders of Tomorrow
• New Generational Contract
• Young Leaders on Board
• Global Leadership Challenge
• Monika & Wolfgang Schürer Preis
• Excellence Scholarship

Products and services

• Annual St. Gallen Symposium Annual international conference bringing together senior executives, political leaders, academics, civil society representatives, and selected young Leaders of Tomorrow for over 60 sessions and hundreds of bilateral meetings, focused on intergenerational dialogue on economic, political, and social developments.
• Global Essay Competition Annual essay competition inviting young thinkers worldwide to submit bold ideas on the symposium's theme; winning essays are celebrated in a plenary ceremony and winners qualify as Leaders of Tomorrow.
• Leaders of Tomorrow Programme

Quantifiable outcome

• 55th Symposium: 1,400+ participants from 92 nations across 60+ sessions
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• Club of RomecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTogether with the Club of Rome, St. Gallen Symposium fosters long-term thinking and systems transformation through the 'A New Generational Contract' initiative.
• Zukunft-Fabrik.2050coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTogether with Zukunft-Fabrik.2050, St. Gallen Symposium equips organisations for the future through the 'Young Leaders on Board' initiative.
• University of OxfordcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTogether with the University of Oxford, St. Gallen Symposium empowers the next generation of responsible leaders through the 'Global Leadership Challenge'.
• ZEAMcoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerDelivers the Reverse Mentoring programme as part of the SGS Impact Initiative 'A New Generational Contract', developed with InTent.
• UN Youth OfficeflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint publication with UN Youth Office and Club of Rome in MIT Sloan Management Review titled 'Bridge the Intergenerational Leadership Gap', making the case for age-diverse leadership.
• Nuremberg Institute for Market DecisionscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerConducts the annual 'Voices of the Leaders of Tomorrow' survey in partnership with St. Gallen Symposium, revealing striking divergences between generations on key issues like AI responsibility.
• InTentcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDeveloped the SGS Impact Initiative 'A New Generational Contract' together with St. Gallen Symposium, focusing on intergenerational equity and long-term thinking.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• World Economic Forum: The WEF Annual Meeting in Davos is the most direct comparable: a high-profile, invitation-only forum convening heads of state, CEOs and civil society leaders for multi-stakeholder dialogue on global issues, run as a non-profit foundation.
• Munich Security Conference: MSConferences is the leading global security policy forum, comparable in that it convenes senior decision-makers annually for substantive dialogue, run as a non-profit foundation with corporate partners. Co-Chair Christoph Heusgen just rotated out of MSC chairmanship.
• One Young World: Annual summit identifying and convening young leaders from 190+ countries alongside corporate sponsors; directly comparable in its youth-talent pipeline model (akin to St. Gallen's Leaders of Tomorrow / Global Essay Competition) and corporate partner monetization.
• Concordia Summit: Non-profit, non-partisan forum convening heads of state, CEOs and nonprofit leaders around public-private partnership solutions; structurally similar to St. Gallen as a recurring high-profile summit with sponsorship-driven revenue.
• World Business Forum (WOBI): WOBI runs global business leader forums in major cities, comparable in bringing senior executives together for high-level dialogue, with corporate sponsorships and participation fees as core revenue.
• Halifax International Security Forum: Annual invitation-only security and policy forum convening ministers, senior officials and thought leaders; small-scale non-profit summit analogous to St. Gallen in format, prestige positioning and partner-driven funding.

Broad incumbents

• Aspen Institute: US-based non-profit hosting leadership seminars (including the Aspen Strategy Group and Ideas Festivals), comparable in mission-driven convening of senior executives and policy leaders around long-term issues, but with a broader, year-round programmatic footprint.
• Clinton Global Initiative: CGI pioneered the convening model of multi-stakeholder 'Commitments to Action' that maps onto St. Gallen's intergenerational dialogue format; broader scale and broader partner base make it a benchmarking incumbent rather than a head-to-head rival.
• TED Conferences: Mission-driven conference organization whose TED/TEDx events convene global leaders for idea-based talks; comparable in community-led dialogue positioning and digital content distribution (video library), though commercial rather than non-profit.

Regional players

• GLOBSEC: Bratislava-based non-profit organizing annual global security and policy forums (e.g., GLOBSEC Forum) convening leaders across sectors; comparable in non-profit forum model with elite policy audience, though narrower thematic focus on security/tech policy.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/sg__symposium
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCZ1k8hQ3V3QxF1cKpqN2H0w
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/st--gallen-symposium
• Facebookfacebook.com/stgallensymposium

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about St. Gallen Symposium