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 […]
Felix Finkbeiner, Founder, Plant For The Planet
“A mosquito cannot do anything against a rhino, but a thousand mosquitoes can make the rhino change its direction.” Vision: A world in balance, where climate justice prevails and children no longer have to fight for survival. Action: The 17-year-old passed his target of planting a million trees in his home country Germany, and kept on […]
Muhammad Yunus, Founder, Grameen Bank
“I believe that we can create a world without poverty because it is not the poor that create poverty.” Vision: To serve society’s most pressing needs by unlocking the potential of the world’s greatest entrepreneurs – the poor. Action: With a mission to interact, incubate and create, Yunus created the world’s first bank for the […]
Álvaro Rodríguez Arregui, CoFounder, IGNIA Partners
“We need a more inclusive world!” Vision: A world that delivers quality and inclusion to the majority. Action: The biggest exclusion in the world is the lack of access to quality products and services – healthcare, education, basic services and housing. Arregui believes this is a market failure, and he’s invested in innovative business models that eradicate […]
Ben Rattray, Founder, Change.org
“I want to see a world in which social movements and organizing is an everyday experience.” Vision: A world where no one is powerless and creating change is part of everyday life. Action: The world’s first online platform for change has provided a petition tool for more than 87 million users since 2007. Rattray’s mission is […]
Carol Hansen, CEO, Tatonka Capital Corporation
“Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Vision: A world where little girls know they can grow up to be a leader if they have a mind to. Action: As the immediate past Chair of the Women’s YPO Network (WYN) Carol gave a powerful organization a voice it never […]
Kathy Giusti, CEO, Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation
“The most important thing a leader can do is set a vision and don’t stray.” Vision: To change existing cancer research techniques to one of collaboration, not competition. Action: The medical research model has long been built upon a system of competition – funding (grants) and accolades. Diagnosed with multiple myeloma (cancer of the blood), […]
Cynthia Sin Nga Lam, Founder, H2prO
“I think people around the world don’t really understand how serious water pollution and the energy crisis is.” Vision: Affordable clean water and electricity. Action: The 17-year-old developed a device that purifies dirty water and seperately extracts energy from the waste to create clean energy. Lam hopes her device can be scaled up to industrial size […]
