The Thinkers50 Regenerative Business Award celebrates an individual who has profoundly advanced our understanding of regenerative organisations and regenerative business.
Regenerative business recognises that long-term success is inextricably linked to the health of the social and ecological systems in which it operates. Rather than focusing solely on growth, regenerative businesses aim to restore, renew, and enrich – leaving their ecological, social, economic environments healthier and more resilient than they found them.
At its core, regenerative business shifts the question from “How can we succeed?” to “How can we help the whole system thrive?” Regenerative business follows the principle that true prosperity comes not from extraction, but through active participation in the ongoing renewal of people, communities, and the planet. Regenerative business represents the next evolution of conscious business: moving from minimising harm to maximising positive impact.
Sponsored by Deloitte, the Thinkers50 Regenerative Business Award recognises a body of work that illuminates how organisations can embed regenerative thinking into business strategy, culture, and leadership. It celebrates individuals whose ideas help organisations go beyond sustainability to net-positive contribution – giving more than they take, and strengthening the systems on which they depend: people, planet, and place.
Regenerative organisations aspire to create enduring value, not just for shareholders, but for future generations. They operate with a deep sense of responsibility, investing in long-term resilience and vitality. This Award spotlights the insights, tools, and practices that support that transformation – and seeks to foster a growing community of thinkers and doers building the regenerative economy.
Regenerative business is the future of business. A regenerative business moves beyond sustainability by seeking to restore, renew, and enhance the natural and social systems it depends upon. The Thinkers50 Regenerative Business Award salutes the work of those helping organisations take the step from net zero to net positive outcomes for the environment, society, and the economy.
Founder and president of Green Project Management (GPM), Joel Carboni is a globally recognised pioneer in sustainable project management. A champion of regenerative practices, he has developed educational methodologies for integrating sustainability into project frameworks. Joel is the architect of the P5 Standard for sustainability in project management and created the first performance-based competence standard for sustainability leadership. He has been an active participant in the United Nations Global Compact since 2013.
for Becoming Regenerative: A Leadership Journey for Those Who Refuse to Burn Out (Bowker, 2025)
Former executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Christiana Figueres has been an active figure in climate change negotiations since 1995. Together with Tom Rivett-Carnac, her former senior strategy advisor and senior political strategist for the Paris Agreement, they are founding partners of Global Optimism, a purpose driven enterprise focused on social and environmental change, and hosts of the podcast Outrage & Optimism. The Future We Choose is Christiana and Tom’s first co-authored book.
for The Future We Choose: Surviving the Climate Crisis (Manilla Press, 2020)
Stuart L. Hart is professor in residence at the University of Michigan’s Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise. He also serves as the Steven Grossman Distinguished Fellow and co-founder of the Sustainable Innovation MBA Program at the University of Vermont’s Grossman School of Business and the Samuel C. Johnson Chair Emeritus in Sustainable Global Enterprise at Cornell University’s Johnson School of Management. He is the founder of the Base of the Pyramid Global Network, president and co-founder of Enterprise for a Sustainable World, and author of Capitalism at the Crossroads.
for Beyond Shareholder Primacy: Remaking Capitalism for a Sustainable Future (Stanford Business Books, 2024)
Paul Hawken is the founder of Regeneration and Drawdown. A pioneering architect of corporate reform, he is dedicated to changing the relationship between business and the environment and consults with heads of state on economic development, industrial ecology, and environmental policy. Paul’s work has been profiled or featured in hundreds of articles including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Newsweek, Washington Post, Forbes, and Business Week. His nine books include six national and NYT bestsellers: Growing a Business, The Next Economy, The Ecology of Commerce, Blessed Unrest, Drawdown, and Regeneration.
for Regeneration: Ending the Climate Crisis in One Generation (Penguin, 2021) and Carbon: The Book of Life (Viking, 2025)
André Hoffman is vice-chair of the board at Roche, co-chair of the World Economic Forum, and co-chair of InTent, a platform which aims to accelerate sustainable solutions by building bridges and connecting people. He helped establish the Hoffmann Institute at INSEAD and chairs its advisory board, and the Hoffmann Center for Sustainability at the Graduate Institute in Geneva. Peter Vanham is the editorial director of leadership at Fortune, where he writes about the global economy, sustainability, stakeholder capitalism, and ESG. He is co-author with Klaus Schwab of Stakeholder Capitalism.
for The New Nature of Business: The Path to Prosperity and Sustainability (Wiley, 2024)
Ayana Elizabeth Johnson is a marine biologist, policy expert, teacher, author of What If We Get It Right? Visions of Climate Futures, and presenter of the What If We Get It Right podcast. Ayana is also co-founder of the Urban Ocean Lab, a think tank that cultivates rigorous, creative, equitable, and practical climate and ocean policy for coastal cities, and co-founder of the All We Can Save Project. Previously, she developed U.S. federal ocean policy at the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Ayana is the Roux Distinguished Scholar at Bowdoin College.
for her work at Urban Ocean Lab
Innovation and leadership advisor, Navi Radjou is the co-creator of the concept of jugaad, a Hindi word for improvised solutions born out of ingenuity in resource-constrained settings, as presented in his 2012 book, Jugaad Innovation. In The Frugal Economy, he chronicles the rise of a new multi-trillion-dollar economy fuelled by three mega-trends: business-to-business (B2B) sharing, distributed manufacturing and hyper-local value chains, and regenerative business principles. Navi is also co-author of From Smart to Wise: Acting and Leading with Wisdom and Frugal Innovation: How to Do More with Less.
for The Frugal Economy: A Guide to Building a Better World With Less (Wiley, 2024)
Christian Sarkar is an author, artist, and activist. He is involved in numerous public-education projects including The Wicked7 Project, ActivistBrands.com, FIXCapitalism.com, and the $300 House Project. Philip Kotler is known as “the father of modern marketing.” He is the S. C. Johnson Distinguished Professor of International Marketing at the J.L. Kellogg School of Management, where he has taught for over 50 years. Philip and Christian have co-authored several books including Wicked Problems: What Can We Do in this Time of Collapse? Losing Our Democracy, and Brand Activism: From Purpose to Action.
for Regeneration: The Future of Community in a Permacrisis World (with Enrico Foglia, IDEA BITE PRESS, 2023) and establishing the Regenerative Marketing Institute
Nominations for the Regenerative Business Award are open
1 May to 30 June 2025.
Nominations for the Regenerative Business Award will be assessed on five key criteria:
A shortlist of eight nominees will be announced in September 2025 and the recipient of the Award will be unveiled on stage at the Thinkers50 London Summit & Awards Gala on 4 November at London’s Guildhall.
Nominations will be considered by the Regenerative Business Award Panel of Advisors, selected for their expertise in regenerative thinking and practices.
Director of IMD World Competitiveness Center, Lausanne, Switzerland
Arturo Bris is Professor of Finance at IMD and has led the world renowned IMD World Competitiveness Center since 2014. From 2009-2014, he was the director of Advanced Strategic Management, and he has also directed programs for senior executives in several industries and continents.
Prior to joining IMD, Arturo was the Robert B & Candice J. Haas Associate Professor of Corporate Finance at the Yale School of Management (USA). As a research associate of the European Corporate Governance Institute and a member of the Yale International Institute for Corporate Governance, he has worked extensively on issues of corporate governance, financial regulation, and international valuation. His research and consulting activities focus on the international aspects of financial regulation, in particular on the effects of bankruptcy, short sales, insider trading, and merger laws.
Arturo has also researched and lectured on the effects of the Euro on the corporate sector, as well as on the valuation impact of corporate governance changes. He is passionate about global competitiveness, financial development, and macroeconomics and his latest research identifies the relationship between income inequality, social mobility, and competitiveness. He is also developing a competitiveness-based investment portfolio that track the best and worst economies.
Arturo’s work has been published in the Journal of Finance, the Journal of Financial Economics, the Review of Financial Studies, the Journal of Legal Studies, and the Journal of Business.
Founder and CEO of Tent Futures, Singapore
Cheryl Chung is the founder and CEO of Tent Futures, a strategic foresight research, advisory and training practice focused on building long-term public good. Cheryl is concurrently Senior Director, Insights and Strategy, at The Majurity Trust, a philanthropic organisation that works with donors and social impact partners to build a thriving and sustainable community for all in Singapore.
A seasoned public sector futurist, Cheryl has two decades of experience working with senior decision makers in Singapore and the region to identify trends, understand policy implications, create alternative scenarios and develop strategies to prepare for the future. She is an experienced and sought-after practitioner, educator, coach, and speaker across the public, private, people, and academic sectors.
Cheryl was most recently the Head of Singapore for Kantar Public, a specialist research, evidence and advisory business focussed on the public realm. She joined Kantar Public from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy where she led strategic planning and government relations, and then became Programme Director for Executive Education Singapore Futures, overseeing the Singapore and Open Enrolment markets, as well as establishing the School’s Futures training and consulting practice.
Cheryl has spent the majority of her career in the Singapore Government, working across policy, strategy, and futurist roles in various economic and infrastructure agencies, including the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the Centre for Strategic Futures (under the Prime Minister’s Office), and the Ministry of Transport.
Chief Executive of Nesta, London
Ravi Gurumurthy is the chief executive of Nesta, the UK’s innovation foundation. Nesta’s mission is to design, test, and scale solutions to society’s biggest challenges, from sustainability and health to educational inequality. He also leads the UK’s Behavioural Insights Team (BIT), known as the “Nudge Unit.” BIT has grown from a small team in No 10 Downing Street to a 250-person global social purpose consultancy, and subsidiary of Nesta.
Prior to joining Nesta, Ravi co-founded and led the Airbel Innovation Lab at the International Rescue Committee, where he was responsible for designing new products and services for people affected by crises in over 40 countries. From 1999 to 2013, Ravi worked in the UK government. He was an advisor and speechwriter to the foreign secretary, David Miliband; led the creation of Every Child Matters and the Children Act 2004; and the world’s first legally binding climate legislation. Ravi has held several non-executive roles and is currently a governor of the Heath Foundation.
Executive Director of MIT Solve, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Hala Hanna is the executive director of Solve, an MIT initiative that finds and scales tech-based solutions to global challenges. Hala’s global career is about advancing equity and sustainability for all. It includes roles at the World Economic Forum, the World Bank, and various UN agencies, as well as degrees from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and the American University of Beirut. She is co-executive producer of The Big Idea, an award-winning docu-series about Solve.
Hala’s writing about using tech and innovation to close equity gaps has appeared in numerous publications including TechCrunch, The Boston Globe, and Project Syndicate. She frequently speaks at industry events including SXSW, the World Economic Forum, and Aspen.
President of the Japan Innovation Network, Tokyo
Noboru Konno is a professor emeritus and special appointed professor at Tama Graduate School of Business. He is known for his work in the fields of knowledge creation and innovation management. Noboru’s research focuses on developing theories and practices that help organisations create and manage knowledge effectively. Recognised in particular for his work on the concept of “Ba,” which refers to shared ontological place (dynamic context) that facilitate knowledge creation, Noboru has authored several books, including Intellectualizing Capability, Business Design Thinking, and Knowledge Creation Enterprises, which have contributed to both academic and practical understanding of knowledge management.
Beyond his academic contributions, Noboru engages with business leaders and practitioners to apply knowledge creation principles in various industries. His work has influenced how organisations approach innovation and knowledge management and his dedication to advancing the field of knowledge creation continues to inspire both scholars and practitioners.
President of the Royal Academy of Management, Oman
Dr. Ali Q. Jawad Al Lawati is the founding president of the Royal Academy of Management in Oman, where he leads efforts to advance leadership development across the region. Earlier in his career, he directed a socio-economic think-tank appointed by His Majesty the Sultan of Oman and was a strategic advisor for the government of Abu Dhabi. He also previously worked as a consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton.
In academia, he was appointed Executive-in-Residence at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, Scholar-in-Residence at INSEAD, and Visiting Scholar at Yale School of Management. Dr. Ali Lawati is the author of Government Reimagined (2020) and lead author of Leadership Intelligence: The 5Qs for Thriving as a Leader (2018), both of which have shaped leadership.
Co-founder, Thinkers50, London
Des Dearlove is the co-founder of Thinkers50. A former columnist to the London Times and contributing editor to Strategy+Business, Des is also the co-editor of The Financial Times Handbook of Management. He is an internationally recognised expert on management thinking and thought leadership.
Des is the author of multiple books including Gravy Training: Inside the Business of Business Schools, Generation Entrepreneur, Certain Uncertainty, and most recently Connectedness: How the Best Leaders Create Authentic Human Connection in a Disconnected World. He is a visiting professor at IE Business School and an associate fellow at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford.
Deloitte works with organisations around the world to help them navigate complex sustainability challenges and build a more resilient, inclusive, and low-carbon future. Through its global sustainability practice, Deloitte supports businesses in addressing and moving beyond compliance toward strategies that create long-term value for their business, society and the environment.
With a focus on innovation, collaboration, and impact, Deloitte supports leaders in embedding sustainability and regenerative thinking into core business strategy, operations, and culture. Deloitte is committed to helping clients embed sustainability — and regenerative thinking — into the heart of their operations and decision-making.
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“The organisations that will be able to thrive in the decades ahead won’t just be those that do less harm – they’ll be the ones that actively restore and regenerate the systems they touch. At Deloitte, we believe regenerative business can be a strategic advantage. When companies move beyond sustainability to regeneration, they can unlock innovation, build deeper stakeholder trust, and create value that compounds across generations. That’s why we’re proud to sponsor the Thinkers50 Regenerative Business Award – to celebrate the visionary leaders who prove that revenue and renewal go hand-in-hand.”
– Steve Goldbach, US Sustainability Practice Leader, Deloitte
Deloitte works with organisations around the world to help them navigate complex sustainability challenges and build a more resilient, inclusive, and low-carbon future. Through its global sustainability practice, Deloitte supports businesses in addressing and moving beyond compliance toward strategies that create long-term value for their business, society and the environment.
With a focus on innovation, collaboration, and impact, Deloitte supports leaders in embedding sustainability and regenerative thinking into core business strategy, operations, and culture. Deloitte is committed to helping clients embed sustainability — and regenerative thinking — into the heart of their operations and decision-making.
Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a UK private company limited by guarantee (“DTTL”), its network of member firms, and their related entities. DTTL and each of its member firms are legally separate and independent entities. DTTL (also referred to as “Deloitte Global”) does not provide services to clients. In the United States, Deloitte refers to one or more of the US member firms of DTTL, their related entities that operate using the “Deloitte” name in the United States and their respective affiliates. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting. Please see www.deloitte.com/us/about to learn more about our global network of member firms.
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Thinkers50 Limited
The Studio
Highfield Lane
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Thinkers50 Limited
The Studio
Highfield Lane
Wargrave RG10 8PZ
United Kingdom
Nominations for the 2025 Regenerative Business Award are open until 30 June 2025. The Award will honour an individual who has profoundly advanced our understanding of regenerative organisations and regenerative business. Nominations are open and inclusive and all submissions are welcome.
Nominations are closed.
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