Christine Lagarde, M.D. International Monetary Fund
“The financial industry is a service industry. It should serve others before it serves itself.” Vision: Foreseeing global opportunities and challenges in a globalized world. Action: Oversees global growth and economic stability at the world’s most powerful financing institution on behalf of 188 member countries. She works with developing nations to achieve stability and reduce poverty, and […]
Indra Nooyi, CEO, PepsiCo
“To be a CEO is a calling. Don’t do it because it’s a job. It’s a calling, and you have to be involved with your head, heart and hands.” Vision: Performance with purpose. Action: Delivering sustainable growth by investing in a healthier future for people and planet. By tackling obesity and improving the nutritional value […]
Scilla Elworthy, Founder, Oxford Research Group
“If the mantra of last century was ‘what can I GET?’, the mantra of this century ( for those ahead of the curve) is ‘what can I GIVE?” Vision: To enable leaders to make wiser decisions so that there is less suffering as a result of war. Action: Elworthy has brought nuclear weapons policy makers into […]
Dick Simon, Changemaker
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness.” – Mark Twain Vision: A world in which there is no “them” – the most dangerous four- letter word in the English language. Action: Leads delegations to countries that are understood only as adversaries and that are traditionally difficult to access to hear local perspectives and gain understanding […]
Helen Clark, Administrator, UN Development Program
“Never look back is my philosophy.” Vision: Achieve the UN Millenium Development Goals. Action: The most powerful woman in the United Nations, Clark has an annual budget of US$5 billion and a staff of 8,000 in 182 countries. She is leading the charge towards the UN’s Millennium Development Goals by 2015. The former prime minister of New […]
Simon Mainwaring, Founder, We First Branding
“The future of profit is purpose. Your brand must be the celebrant, not celebrity of your customer. Be a mission with a company, not a company with a mission.” Vision: A world in which business becomes a global force for positive social change. Action: Mainwaring wrote We First: How Brands and Consumers Use Social Media […]
Anu Sridharan, Founder, NextDrop
“I’ve made so many mistakes, been in so many ‘ wow, this is nuts’ situations.” Vision: A society that nurtures tolerance and understanding among all people. Action: Twenty-something Sridharan invented a mobile app that provides real-time information on water availability in India via SMS. In addition to serving the needs of women in developing countries she has […]
Maria Klawe, President, Harvey Mudd College
“If you want me to do something tell me it’s not allowed for girls and then I definitely, absolutely would do it, whatever it is.” Vision: To make science, technology, engineering and math accessible to diverse groups. Action: Klawe is closing the computer science (CS) gender gap and having stunning success in getting more women […]
Richard Branson, Founder, Virgin Group
“There is an incredible opportunity to make a difference – now.” Vision: A new vision for the future where “business is unusual.” Action: Business has the power to drive change. The time is right for a radically different approach to business – one that puts people and planet at the core of how business is done. Branson […]
Lucy Siegle, Journalist
“The global economy creates a global ignorance, in which producers and consumer cannot know or care about one another. The degradation of products, places, producers and consumers is inevitable.” Vision: To convince everybody they have a vested interest in fighting for the environment – however disenfranchised they feel. Action: Creator of the Observer Ethical Awards, Siegle […]
