At The CEO Magazine, we know that leadership today means more than driving profits – it’s about building a legacy of positive impact.
For our inaugural 2025 Social Impact Power List, we called on executives across North America and Europe, using business as a powerful force for good.
The response was overwhelming. From technology pioneers to social entrepreneurs, sustainability champions and education advocates, the caliber of nominees made narrowing the list down a true challenge.
But today, we proudly unveil the leaders whose impact is undeniable. These individuals are redefining business success while reshaping a brighter future.
Let’s hear it from the changemakers:
Muhammad Yunus
Founder & Managing Director, Grameen Bank
“We have to build another civilization of sharing and caring. And core to the whole civilization will be the social business. Here, people enjoy doing business – it allows them to be creative in solving the problems of the world.
“If everybody brings their creativity to the world, it will be flourishing with solutions to make a happy world. That’s what super happiness is all about.”
Verena Riedler
Chief Impact Aficionada & Managing Partner, crowd4projects
“All investment-ready projects on our platform have a clear positive impact for a good life for all on a healthy planet. That’s what we mean by triple return: financial, social and ecological added value. Let’s think of it whenever we invest.”
Dennis Lennartsson
Innovation Manager, RBU
“My focus is on creating sustainable, long-term solutions and expanding meaningful activities that foster inclusion and community engagement. The importance of scalability cannot be overstated; it is the key to achieving impact.”
Suvankar Mishra
Co-Founder & CEO, FLO Agri Neo Fund
“At FLO, we’re addressing the critical agri-financing gap in agriculture in the Global South, by digitizing trust and cash flows across the agri value chain – enabling fair, data-backed access to capital for farmers and agribusinesses.
“When innovation serves inclusion, impact becomes inevitable.”
Geetha Murali
CEO, Room to Read
“Room to Read’s model demonstrates how a nonprofit can operate with the precision of a high-performing business while delivering systemic social change. Our programs focus on two pillars: literacy and gender equality.
“During my time as CEO, we’ve scaled to benefit more than 50 million children across 28 countries, delivering measurable literacy, gender equality and life outcomes.”
Natalia Kinga
Founder & Executive Director, Kontakt Kollektiv
“We train individuals to become community connectors, creating a ripple effect of sustainable, community-led engagement. By challenging social norms and promoting inclusivity, we’re building a scalable, systemic solution for social cohesion and equity. And this is just the beginning.”
Hugo Menino Aguiar
Co-Founder, SPEAK
“At SPEAK, we believe the most powerful way to build inclusive communities is to create real human connections. Through our language and culture exchange program, we connect newcomers – migrants and refugees – with locals, helping to break down barriers, foster friendships and celebrate cultural diversity. Social impact for me means reshaping the systems that divide us and empowering people to build their own paths to belonging.”
Andrew Bastawrous
CEO & Co-Founder, Peek Vision
“Social impact is the foundation of everything we do. In 2015, we made the decision to set up Peek as an independent organization, when it started to grow beyond its origins in academic research. We took the unusual step of establishing Peek as a not-for-profit social enterprise, wholly owned by a charitable foundation.
“I was acutely aware that establishing a profit-making business based on high-income markets could take years and by the time we were ready to start reinvesting, it would be too late for millions of people.”
DeVone Boggan
Chief Visionary Officer, Advance Peace
“Helping a city or community reduce gun violence reduces trauma and harm exposure to the impacted communities, as well as to those first responders who must respond and investigate to such violence.
“Safer cities have greater community and economic development opportunities that can support an increased tax base. This revenue can be used to increase opportunities for vulnerable communities.”
Bill Drayton
Founder & CEO, Ashoka
“The most important right is the right to give. That’s what brings health, happiness and longevity. But you can’t be a giver in a world defined by change unless you’re a changemaker. Our mission is everyone a changemaker.”
Graciela Rojas
Founder & President, Movimiento STEM+
“I firmly believe that collaborative work is what achieves the greatest impact, which is why I always seek to create alliances. Our work in Mexico is highly recognized and consolidated, and we want our intervention model to reach all the countries in the region.
“There is incredible talent all around us, and we need to nourish it through STEM Education with a social and inclusive vision for the sake of sustainable development and social wellbeing. We are at the perfect time to work cooperatively with benefits for everyone.”
Blake Mycoskie
Founder, TOMS
“Most people yearn to contribute, make the world a better place and have success. Make sure to give your business a background, a mission and a story. That might be the most important step of any venture. And remember, giving may be the best investment you ever make.”
Sofia Appelgren
Founder, Mitt Liv
“Kind is my favorite word. In Swedish, it means snäll. If we had more of this, the world would, for sure, be a more peaceful and generous place.”
Jenifer Shahin
Founder & CEO, SocialWise VR
“For us, social impact isn’t a side goal; it’s the reason we exist. We’re here to make sure innovation reaches the people who need it most.
“As a woman building in both the tech and social impact spaces, I also feel a deep responsibility to challenge who gets to lead and shape the future of empathy-driven technology. I think representation matters not just in who we serve, but in who is doing the building.”
Frédéric Bardeau
Co-Founder, Simplon.co
“Social impact, to me, is measurable liberation – people gaining choices they never had before. Simplon’s 120 inclusive bootcamps across 25 countries are a global laboratory for that idea: refugees reinvent themselves as data analysts, single parents become AI developers and rural youth launch digital startups. Our north star is simple yet radical: a tech industry where the creators of tomorrow’s algorithms look like the societies they’re meant to serve.”
Daniel Kerber
Founder & CEO, More Than Shelters
“Social design is always based on the participation of all actors. Across disciplines, hierarchies and cultures, all people who are part of the situation are involved in a social design process. Especially the people who are often forgotten: those affected and marginalized. The truly comprehensive and complete solutions that we all need can only come about if everyone works together.”
Giulia Detomati
CEO, InVento Innova
tion Lab
“All of us as citizens, students, parents, trainers, whatever our role, can try to listen to our talents, put them on the line and work together to build a better world.”
Yvon Chouinard
Founder, Patagonia
“Instead of ‘going public’, you could say we’re ‘going purpose’. Instead of extracting value from nature and transforming it into wealth for investors, we’ll use the wealth Patagonia creates to protect the source of all wealth.”
Sundar Pichai
CEO, Google
“I’ve been reflecting on the commitment from our original Founder’s letter in 2004: ‘to develop services that improve the lives of as many people as possible – to do things that matter.’
“With AI, we have the opportunity to do things that matter on an even larger scale. One million people are already using generative AI in Google Workspace to write and create. Flood forecasting now covers places where 460-plus million people live. A million researchers have used the AlphaFold database which covers 200 million predictions of protein structures, helping with advances to cut plastic pollution, tackle antibiotic resistance, fight malaria and more.
“And we’ve demonstrated how AI can help the airline industry to decrease contrails from planes, an important tool for fighting climate change. Still, there is so much more ahead.”
Darshani Persadh
Co-Founder, DARJYO
“DARJYO’s social impact journey is deeply rooted in my personal experiences and values. After a life-changing health scare in 2018, I gained a new perspective on life and business, leading me to prioritize meaningful contributions to society through my work.
“This transformative experience inspired me to co-found DARJYO, with a mission to create technology solutions that not only drive innovation but also address real-world challenges, particularly in sustainability and social equality.”
David Bach
President and Nestlé Professor of Strategy and Political Economy, IMD Business School
“Science is science, economics are economics, and values are values, regardless of the policy environment, and at IMD we remain committed to the important work of developing leaders who transform organizations for a more prosperous, sustainable and inclusive world.”
John W Rogers
Founder, Chairman, Co-Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer, Ariel Investments
“Like the late congressman John Lewis used to say, ‘Make good trouble’. Whatever leadership roles we have and whatever opportunities, we must have a meaningful impact.”
Björn Axelsson
Executive Vice President and Head of HR, Sandvik
“One of the things I’m most proud of at Sandvik is how we take an active role in the communities we’re part of around the world. From childcare initiatives in India to supporting girls’ education in Tanzania and improving hygiene in Indonesia – these aren’t just projects. They’re part of who we are.
“Strong communities create strong companies. And I’ve found that when people see their work making a real impact, they’re more motivated, more connected and more inspired. That’s the kind of culture we’re building.”
Tom Wilson
Chair, President and CEO, The Allstate Corporation
“We help people at Allstate figure out what their personal purpose is. We’ve helped 65,000 people do it since I started it 18 years ago, and it’s the thing I’m most proud of at the company.
“In society, we’re very big on youth empowerment. We did a thing called WE Day, where we got two-and-a-half million volunteers celebrating children in concerts across the country for their service. I love our youth – they’re going to change the world.”
Galahad Clark
Co-Founder and Chief Ecosystem Officer, Vivobarefoot
“At Vivobarefoot, we are committed to being a regenerative business both inside and out. This means our business is one that supports the connection to natural systems for the people that work in our company, those who make our products and the people that wear them.
“We want to foster a working environment where people feel welcome to bring their whole selves to work and therefore are able to discover more of their natural creative spark. I believe this humanness invites innovation, collaboration and purposefulness into the heart of everyday meetings and decision-making.”
Piet Colruyt
Founder, Impact House
“In my opinion, we need social organizations to become more entrepreneurial and we need businesses to become more socially aware. We need both sides with their unique expertise to come together more often.”
