Alibaba founder and Executive Chairman Jack Ma has been elected to the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum (WEF), joining leaders from business, government and academia in a group that includes Renault-Nissan Alliance CEO Carlos Ghosn, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde, and PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi.

Announcing several new additions to its 24-member Foundation Board, the WEF cited Ma’s “achievements in building Alibaba into one of the largest global Internet brands and his commitment to championing small business around the world,” saying his experience as one of China’s most notable entrepreneurs “will bring value to the Forum in its continuous efforts to foster entrepreneurship globally.”

Based in Geneva, Switzerland, the World Economic Forum is a non-profit international institution committed to improving the state of the world by shaping global, regional and industry agendas through public-private cooperation.

Also joining the organization’s board are Susan Hockfield, President Emerita and Professor of Neuroscience at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Alcoa Chairman and CE Klaus Kleinfeld; and Jim Hagemann Snabe, who sits on the boards of SAP AG, Siemens AG, and Allianz SE.

Ma also serves as chairman of The Nature Conservancy’s China board of directors and is a director of its global board of directors. In September 2013, he joined the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences Foundation as a director.