Ten Leaders Creating an Impact in the Social Space

This article comprises of ten CEOs/Founders/Executive Directors from around the world who have dedicated themselves to creating an impact with their expertise and innovative thinking in the social impact sector.

Mark Suzman, CEO, Board Member, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Mark Suzman leads the organization in service of the mission – to help every person have the opportunity to live a healthy, productive life. Mark's upbringing in apartheid South Africa instilled in him a desire to use the advantages afforded to him to help tackle injustice and inequality. He began his career doing that through journalism, writing for the Johannesburg Star and then the Financial Times, where he covered international trade policy, welfare reform, and political issues, including the historic 1994 election of Nelson Mandela. Mark joined the foundation in 2007 as director of Global Development Policy, Advocacy, and Special Initiatives. Prior to becoming CEO, he served as managing director of Country Offices, president of Global Policy and Advocacy, and chief strategy officer. Mark holds a doctorate in international relations from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. He earned his bachelor's degree, summa cum laude, from Harvard University.

Joanna Messing, Executive Director, Growald Climate Fund

Joanna joined Growald Climate Fund in 2007 as the founding Executive Director. Growald Climate Fund is a high-impact venture philanthropy fund focused on driving a rapid transition to a clean energy future. Guided by a mission to catalyze climate innovation and leadership, they identify bold leaders, invest in promising solutions, and support radical collaboration to address the climate crisis. Joanna brings over 20 years of experience in venture philanthropy, social entrepreneurship, and business planning to the field of strategic climate philanthropy. Prior to Growald Climate Fund, Joanna ran her own company Positive Ventures, a philanthropic and social enterprise strategy consulting firm. Joanna received her MBA from the University of Massachusetts. Having grown up well off the grid, she brings a deeply rooted ethic of sustainability to both her role at the Growald Climate Fund and her own household.

Jacqueline Novogratz, Founder & CEO, Acumen

Jacqueline’s work began in 1986 when she quit her job on Wall Street to co-found Rwanda’s first microfinance institution, Duterimbere. The experience inspi-red her to write the bestseller, The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap between Rich and Poor, and create Acumen. . Twenty years later, under Jacqueline’s leadership, Acumen has invested $135 million to build 136 social enterprises across Africa, Latin America, South Asia, and the United States. These companies have leveraged an additional $746 million and brought basic services like affordable education, health care, clean water, energy and sanitation to more than 308 million people. She holds an MBA from Stanford and a BA in Economics/International Relations from the University of Virginia.

Dr. Rukmini Banerji, CEO, Pratham Education Foundation

Rukmini Banerji was trained as an economist at St. Stephen’s College (Delhi) and the Delhi School of Economics. She was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University (1981-83) and completed her PhD at the University of Chicago in 1991. Rukmini returned to India in 1996 and joined Pratham. Over the years, she has worked extensively in Pratham’s education programs in rural and urban areas. Along with her teams, she has played a major role in designing and supporting large scale partnerships with state governments in India, for improving children’s learning outcomes. Rukmini led Pratham’s research and assessment efforts including the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) exercise from 2005 to 2014. Since 2015, she has been the CEO of Pratham. Originally from Bihar, she is now based between New Delhi and Pune. Rukmini writes frequently on education in both Hindi and English dailies in India and enjoys writing books and stories for children.

Dr. Rajiv J. Shah, President, The Rockefeller Foundation

Dr. Shah serves as President of the Rockefeller Foundation, a global institution with a mission to promote the well-being of humanity around the world. The Foundation applies data, science, and innovation to improve health for women and children, create nutritious and sustainable food systems, end energy poverty for more than a billion people worldwide, and enable meaningful economic mobility in the United States and around the world. In 2009, he was appointed USAID Administrator by President Obama and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Dr. Shah reshaped the $20 billion agency’s operations in more than 70 countries around the world by elevating the role of innovation, creating high-impact public-private partnerships, and focusing US investments to deliver stronger results. Raised outside of Detroit, Michigan, Dr. Shah is a graduate of the University of Michigan, the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and the Wharton School of Business. He has received several honorary degrees, the Secretary of State’s Distinguished Service Award, and the U.S. Global Leadership Award.

Muhammad Yunus, Co-Founder, and Chairman, Yunus Social Business 

Professor Muhammad Yunus co-founded Yunus Social Business and currently serves as the Chairman of the Board. He is the founder of Grameen Bank and father of microcredit, an economic movement that has helped lift millions of families around the world out of poverty. Today, Grameen Bank has over 8.4 million members—97 per cent of who are female and has lent over US$12.5 billion since its inception. Professor Yunus is also the creator of social business and since 2006 has focused on spreading and implementing the concept. Among Professor Yunus’ many awards and honors he has received all three highest US Civilian awards (Presidential Citizens Medal, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal).

Jean Case, CEO, Case Foundation

Jean Case is a philanthropist, investor, and internet and impact investing pioneer who advocates for the importance of embracing a more fearless approach to innovating and bringing about transformational breakthroughs. A passionate believer in all things digital and the amazing potential of technology to change the world for the better, Jean has been profiled in a wide number of publications including the New York Times, CBS, CNN, FOX, the PBS NewsHour, MSNBC and CNBC for her writing and speaking about Be Fearless and her leadership in the impact investing movement. Before starting the Case Foundation, Jean was a senior executive at America Online, Inc. where she directed the marketing and branding as AOL brought the internet to the masses. Jean was an advisor to the U.S. National Advisory Board to the Social Impact Investing Task Force established by the G8 and served in two appointed roles leading strategic public-private efforts, including the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation, to which she was appointed as Chair by President George W. Bush, and as Co-chair of the U.S.-Palestinian Partnership.

Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum

Professor Klaus Schwab was born in Ravensburg, Germany in 1938. He is Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. He founded the Forum in 1971, the same year in which he published Moderne Unternehmensführung im Maschinenbau (Modern Enterprise Management in Mechanical Engineering). Under his leadership, the Forum has been a driver for reconciliation efforts in different parts of the world, acting as a catalyst of numerous collaborations and international initiatives. In 1998, with his wife Hilde, he created the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, which seeks to identify, recognize and disseminate initiatives in social entrepreneurship that have significantly improved people’s lives and have the potential to be replicated on a global scale. Schwab has encouraged the establishment of communities providing global expertise and knowledge for problem-solving. Among them is the Network of Global Future Councils, the world’s foremost interdisciplinary knowledge network dedicated to promoting innovative thinking.

Leslie Johnston, CEO, Laudes Foundation

As its first CEO, Leslie Johnston leads the development and execution of Laudes Foundation’s strategy and operating model to deliver on its vision in which global markets value all people and respect nature. Leslie currently serves on the boards of the European Venture Philanthropy Association, Fashion for Good BV and Stichting, GoodWeave International, the Platform for Accelerating the Circular Economy (PACE), and the Philanthropy Coalition for Climate. Leslie has over 20 years of management experience across business, entrepreneurship, development and philanthropy. Previously, she headed C&A Foundation as its first Executive Director, repositioning it as a global catalyst to make fashion a force for good. She also served as Executive Director of the Argidius Foundation, Deputy Director for TechnoServe in Africa and a management consultant for McKinsey & Company. 

Per Heggenes, CEO, Ikea Foundation

Per Heggenes is the CEO of the IKEA Foundation, based in Leiden, The Netherlands. Prior to joining the foundation, Heggenes was the Global Head of Corporate Affairs and member of the Global Executive Team for the shipping and logistics company Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics. Before joining WWL he was the UK President and CEO for the global public relations firm Burson-Marsteller and Co-CEO for Europe. He served as a journalist with the Headquarters Defense Command in Norway and graduated from the University of Augsburg in Germany with a “Diplom Oekonom” (MBA).