Announcing the 2021 Meaningful Business 100

Award recognises outstanding business leaders, across the world, combining profit and purpose to help achieve the UN Global Goals

Meaningful Business, a global platform for leaders combining profit and purpose, has announced the 3rd edition of the Meaningful Business 100 (MB100) recognising outstanding contributions of individuals in support of the UN Global Goals, sponsored by EY.

The award received over 500 nominations from 70 countries, following a global nomination process. Curated by an expert panel of 21 judges, including Nikhil Seth, Assistant Secretary-General, UN; Stasia Mitchell, Global Entrepreneurship Leader, EY; Paul Lindley, Founder, Ella’s Kitchen; Moky Makura, Executive Director, Africa No Filter and Jessica Cheam, Founder and Managing Director, Eco-Business, each nominee was scored across five key areas: Durability, Impact, Innovation, Leadership and Scope.

The 100 business leaders include corporate CEOs, entrepreneurs, micro-entrepreneurs, sustainability leaders, functional heads and impact investors from 33 countries. Industries that dominate the list include healthcare, financial services, agriculture, energy and education.

Commenting on the MB100, Tom Lytton-Dickie, Founder & CEO, Meaningful Business said, “Congratulations to this year’s MB100 who represent the best of what business, entrepreneurship and social innovation can be. These individuals are dedicating their work to tackling the world’s most pressing issues, providing hope and inspiration to us all. Thank you to our judging panel who had an extremely difficult task in choosing from the incredibly high standard of entries submitted.”

As one of the MB100 judges, Stasia Mitchell, EY Global Entrepreneurship Leader, said, “It was an honour to join the judging panel for the Meaningful Business 100 award. I truly believe that today’s most innovative leaders are those who are driven by purpose to impact, looking to achieve long-term value for the world with a focus on diversity, equity and inclusiveness. This group represents all of that and more. Congratulations to the class of 2021.”

Meaningful Business is devoted to creating a unified platform for these leaders to collaborate and share knowledge in order to amplify their positive impact in support of the UN 2030 agenda.

The 2021 MB100 winners are:

• Aaron Fishman, Founder & CEO, East Bali Cashews (Indonesia)
• Abdulrhman Elhalafawy, Chief Business Officer, Cupmena (Egypt)
• Abeer Abu Ghaith, CEO, MENA Alliances (UK)
• Abraham Auzan, Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer, Sehati TeleCTG (Indonesia)
• Adebowale Onafowora, MD & CEO, Bic Farms Concepts (Nigeria)
• Adeshina Adewumi, CEO, One Kiosk (Nigeria)
• Adesuwa Okunbo Rhodes, Founder & Managing Partner, Aruwa Capital Management (Nigeria)
• Adi Reza Nugroho, Co-Founder & CEO, Mycotech Lab (Indonesia)
• Alexandre Amorim, Co-Founder, Ago Social (Brazil)
• Alice Hung, Co-Founder & CEO, Micro PC (Taiwan)
• Alisee de Tonnac, Co-Founder & Co-CEO, Seedstars (Switzerland)
• Amy Clarke, Chief Impact Officer, Tribe Impact Capital (UK)
• Anna Zhenchuk, Managing Director, BioAnalyt (Germany)
• Antoine Hubert, Co-Founder & CEO, Ynsect (France)
• Antonio Henrique Dianin, CEO, Project Company (Brazil)
• Arnolda Shiundu, Head of Sustainability and Community engagement, Kenya Breweries (Kenya)
• Ashish Khanna, President - Renewables Tata Power (India)
• Ashok Shah, Group CEO, APA Apollo Group (Kenya)
• Asonele Kotu, Founder, FemConnect (South Africa)
• Ben Jeffreys, CEO, ATEC Australia-International (Australia)
• Brandon Burke, Co-Founder & CEO, LegWorks (US)
• Bryan Eagle, CEO, Glanris (US)
• Celia Pool, Co-Founder, DAME (UK)
• Chad Robertson, Co-Founder & CEO, Regenize (South Africa)
• Chinonso Opurum, CEO, SOSO CARE ( Nigeria)
• Chioma Ukonu, Co-Founder & CEO, RecyclePoints (Nigeria)
• Corine Tap, SVP, Danone Waters South-East Asia, (Indonesia)
• Darius Habamenshi, Managing Director, Abahizi Rwanda (Rwanda)
• David Valentine, Co-Founder, CEO & CTO, Niunet PNG (Papua New Guinea)
• Divin Kouebatouka, Founder & CEO, Mvutu (Congo)
• Dominik Campanella, Co-Founder, Concular (Germany)
• Chidozie Igweilo, Founder & CEO, QuadLoop (Nigeria)
• Emily Ewell, Founder & CEO, Pantys (Brazil)
• Eric Kim, Co-Founder & CEO, Dot Inc (South Korea)
• Eunice Sampson, Head of Sustainability, Dangote Cement (Nigeria)
• Fran Beer, Founder, The Beeswax Wrap Co. (UK)
• Francesco Piazzesi, CEO, Echale a Tu Casa (Mexico)
• Gemma McCall, Co-Founder & CEO, Culture Shift (UK)
• Ghirmay Abraham, Managing Director, Aptech Africa (Uganda)
• Gideon Olanrewaju, Founder & CEO, DigiLearns (Nigeria)
• Gihan Amarasiriwardena, Co-Founder & President, Ministry of Supply (US)
• Graham Chipchase, CEO, Brambles (Australia)
• Halima Iqbal, Founder & CEO, Oraan (Pakistan)
• Harit Soni, Founder & President, Strategic Partnerships, Ecolibrium (India)
• Hira Rizvi, Co-Founder, SheKab (Pakistan)
• Ian Shapiro, CEO, Reall Housing (UK)
• Ifeanyi Ossai, Co-Founder & CEO, CribMD (Nigeria)
• Irene Etyang, Founder & CEO, Already Foods (Kenya)
• James Mwangi, Group Managing Director & CEO, Equity Group Holdings (Kenya)
• James Reinhart, Founder & CEO, ThredUP (US)
• Jane Nakasamu, CEO, Greenbelt Energy (Zambia)
• Jeremiah Thoronka, Founder & CEO, Optim Energy (Sierra Leone)
• Jerrica Kirkley, Co-Founder & Chief Medical Officer, Plume (US)
• João Leal, CEO, Árvore (Brazil)
• Josephine Suleiman, Founder & CEO, Olivelink (Kenya)
• Juliet Namujju, Managing Director, Kimuli Fashionability (Uganda)
• Kate Brandt, Chief Sustainability Officer, Google (US)
• Keely Cat-Wells, CEO, C Talent (US)
• Kentaro Kawamori, Co-Founder & CEO, Persefoni (US)
• KR Sridhar, Founder, Chairman & CEO, Bloom Energy (US)
• Lena Pripp-Kovac, Chief Sustainability Officer, Ikea (Sweden)
• Madeline Rotman, Head of Sustainability, Imperfect Foods (US)
• Marisa Drew, Chief Sustainability Officer & Global Head, Sustainability Strategy Advisory and Finance, Credit Suisse (UK)
• Mauricio Meza, Co-Founder & CEO, Komodo OpenLab (Canada)
• Melis Buyuksan, Founder, MEDLIS (Turkey)
• Michael Dean, Founding Partner, Agfunder (Australia)
• Michael Maggio, President, iWrc (US)
• Michelle Adelman, Founder & CEO, Accite Holdings, GoFresh!, Infinite Foods & Crossover Meats (US)
• Michelle Egger, CEO & Co-Founder, Biomilq (US)
• Mohamed Dhaouafi, CEO, Cure Bionics (Tunisia)
• Nathalia Arcuri, Founder & CEO, Me Poupe! (Brazil)
• Naveen Krishna, Founder & Managing Director, SMV Green Solutions (India)
• Nneka Mobisson, Co-Founder & CEO, mDoc (Nigeria)
• Olcay Silahlı, Co-Founder & CEO, Fazla Gıda (Turkey)
• Olivier Reinaud, Co-Founder & Head of Carbon Credits, NetZero (France)
• Prashant Pachisia, Founder & CEO, Care Netram (India)
• Raffi Schieir, Co-Founder & Director, Bantam Materials (UK)
• René Espinoza, CEO, Lazarillo (US)
• Richardos Lebbos, Founder & CEO, Startchy (Lebanon)
• Rikesh Gurung, Founder & Managing Director, The Green Road (Bhutan)
• Rob King, Co-Founder & CEO, Zedify (UK)
• Robert Falck, CEO, Einride (Sweden)
• Ryan Gersava, Founder & President, Virtualahan (Philippines)
• Sarah Paiji Yoo, Co-Founder & CEO, Blueland (US)
• Sean Molloy, Co-Founder, Avertana (New Zealand)
• Shely Aronov, Co-Founder & CEO, InnerPlant (US)
• Shona McDonald, Founder & CEO, Shonaquip (South Africa)
• Siobhan Toohill, Group Head of Sustainability, Westpac (Australia)
• Sofie Blakstad, CEO, hiveonline (Denmark)
• Steve Oldham, CEO, Carbon Engineering (Canada)
• Tarun Jami, Founder, GreenJams (India)
• Tess Michaels, Founder & CEO, Stride Funding (US)
• Thomas Norman Canguilhem, CEO, EcoTree International (Denmark)
• Thomas Gradek, President, RHST Industries (Canada)
• Tom Szaky, Founder & CEO, TerraCycle (US)
• Tülin Akın, Founder, Tabit Smart Farming Technologies Inc. (Turkey)
• Vaibhav Tidke, Co-Founder & CEO, S4S Technologies (India)
• Yohanes Sugihtononugroho, Co-Founder & CEO, Crowde (Indonesia)
• Zakia Moulaoui Guery, CEO, Invisible Cities (UK)
• Zhang Yue, Founder, Chairperson & CEO, Broad Group (China)

Find out more about the 2021 MB100, here: https://meaningful.business/mb-100-2021/

About Meaningful Business:

Meaningful Business is a curated network of progressive leaders across the world, combining purpose and profit to help achieve the UN Global Goals. The platform is focused on content creation, knowledge sharing and meaningful connections, bringing leaders together across geography, industry, role and company-size, to share and collaborate, resulting in increased positive impact. The community consists of Founders, CEOs, Impact Investors, Sustainability Heads, Humanitarian leaders and academics across 90+ countries.. To learn more, visit: https://meaningful.business/

About EY:

EY exists to build a better working world, helping to create long-term value for clients, people and society and build trust in the capital markets.

EY Ripples, the EY global corporate responsibility programme, sets forth a vision to positively impact one billion lives by 2030. Through EY Ripples, individuals and organisations in the EY network can create a positive impact by supporting the next generation workforce, working with impact entrepreneurs, and accelerating environmental sustainability.

EY refers to the global organisation, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. Information about how EY collects and uses personal data and a description of the rights individuals have under data protection legislation are available via ey.com/privacy. EY member firms do not practice law where prohibited by local laws. 

For more information, please visit ey.com/eyripples.

For any media enquiries, please reach out to:

Leena Sapre

Director of Programmes

E: leena@meaningful.business

T: +44 (0) 4765745214