Dr. Matthias Catón is Associate Director for the Global Redesign Initiative at the World Economic Forum in Geneva. He is also a Global Leadership Fellow. Before joining the Forum he was a Programme Officer at International IDEA, an international organization based in Stockholm and a Research Associate and Lecturer at the Institute of Political Science at the University of Heidelberg.

Matthias studied Political Science, Economics and Medieval and Contemporary History at the University of Heidelberg and the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile in Santiago. He holds a Master degree and a doctorate from the University of Heidelberg.

Well trained in didactics, he has developed and delivered lectures and workshops for many different audiences. Matthias has also published extensively on a range of issues and has given speeches around the world. In his different positions he has always been involved in developing and managing innovative projects that were of strategic importance to the organisation, such as the Effective Party Assistance initiative at International IDEA and the Global Redesign Initiative at the World Economic Forum.

Through the World Economic Forum's Global Leadership Fellows programme he continues to broaden his management and leadership skills, among other things through executive education training at INSEAD, The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and Thunderbird School of Global Management.

Matthias is part of the German Foreign Ministry's experts' roster for civilian personnel in peace operations and election observation and has recently served as an election observer for the OSCE in Kyrgyzstan.