The following list of 100 individuals represents those that had significant impact in the realm of business ethics over the course of the last year.
Although many listed here are deserving of a lifetime achievement award, this list recognizes those that have made a significant impact specifically during 2011.
These individuals represent ten distinct categories; Government and Regulatory; Business Leadership; Non-Government Organization (NGO); Design and Sustainability; Media and Whistleblowers; Thought Leadership; Corporate Culture; Investment and Research; Academics; and Philanthropy.
Some are world famous and some are unknown, but from law changing hunger strikes to using recycled materials to create $10,000, energy efficient homes, the following 100 individuals have impacted the world of business ethics in ways that will continue to resonate for many years.
Click their name to learn why they made the list!
- #1 Anna Hazare – Indian Anti-Corruption Activist, Independent
Category: Thought Leadership - #2 Jed Rakoff – U.S. District Judge, Department of Justice
Category: Government and Regulatory - #3 Alexei Navalny – Blogger, Navalny.ru
Category: Media and Whistle-blower - #4 Irving Picard – Trustee, Madoff Estate
Category: Investment and Research - #5 Joaquín Almunia – Commissioner Responsible for Competition, European Commission
Category: Government and Regulatory - #6 Lanny Breuer – Assistant Attorney General, Department of Justice
Category: Government and Regulatory - #7 Preet Bharara – U.S. Attorney Southern District of New York, Department of Justice
Category: Government and Regulatory - #8 Richard Alderman – Director, Serious Fraud Office
Category: Government and Regulatory - #9 Mary Schapiro – Chairman, Securities and Exchange Commission
Category: Government and Regulatory - #10 Nick Davies – Reporter, The Guardian
Category: Media and Whistle-blower - #11 Eric Schneiderman – Attorney General, New York
Category: Government and Regulatory - #12 Hector Sants – Chief Executive, Financial Services Authority
Category: Government and Regulatory - #13 Andrew Cuomo – Governor, New York
Category: Government and Regulatory - #14 Wael Ghonim – Former Director of Marketing for Middle East, Google
Category: Thought Leadership - #15 Mike Duke – CEO, Wal-Mart
Category: Business Leadership - #16 Julius Genachowski – Chairman, Federal Communications Commission
Category: Government and Regulatory - #17 Ai Weiwei – Chinese artist and activist, Independent
Category: Media and Whistle-blower - #18 Howard Schultz – CEO, Starbucks
Category: Business Leadership - #19 Muhtar Kent – Chairman and CEO, The Coca-Cola Company
Category: Business Leadership - #20 Huguette Labelle – Chair, Transparency International
Category: Non-Government Organization (NGO) - #21 Maria Bashir – Prosecutor, Afghanistan
Category: Government and Regulatory - #22 Phil Knight – Co-Founder and Chairman, Nike
Category: Business Leadership - #23 Gregg Steinhafel – Chairman, President and CEO, Target
Category: Business Leadership - #24 Jeffrey Swartz – CEO, Timberland
Category: Business Leadership - #25 Mark Pieth – Chairman, OECD Bribery Working Group
Category: Non-Government Organization (NGO) - #26 Mary Ellen Iskenderian – President and CEO, Women’s World Banking
Category: Non-Government Organization (NGO) - #27 Hu Shuli – Editor-in-Chief, Caixin Media
Category: Media and Whistleblowers - #28 Robert Zoellick – President, World Bank
Category: Government and Regulatory - #29 (tie) Michael Porter – Professor, Harvard Business School
Category: Academic - #29 (tie) Mark Kramer – Founder and Managing Director, FSG
Category: Thought Leadership - #31 Christine Lagarde – Managing Director, International Monetary Fund
Category: Government and Regulatory - #32 Steve Kroft – Journalist, 60 Minutes
Category: Media and Whistleblowers - #33 Pierre Omidyar – Founder and Chairman, eBay
Category: Business Leadership - #34 Brian Dunn – CEO, Best Buy
Category: Business Leadership - #35 Huaguoshan Zongshuji – Activist and Blogger, China
Category: Media and Whistleblowers - #36 Annie Kishen – Director of CSR, PepsiCo India
Category: Business Leadership - #37 Panthep Klanarongran – President, National Anti-Corruption Commission of Thailand
Category: Government and Regulatory - #38 Sean McKessey – Chief, SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower
Category: Government and Regulatory - #39 Sean Mason – Former Employee, Medline
Category: Whistle-Blower - #40 Duncan Niederauer – CEO, NYSE Euronext
Category: Business Leadership - #41 Azim Premji – Founder, Azim Premji Foundation
Category: Philanthropy - #42 Dilma Rousseff – President, Brazil
Category: Government and Regulatory - #43 Monique Villa – Executive Director, Thomson Reuters Foundation
Category: Non-Government Organization - #44 Charles Elson – Director, John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance, University of Delaware
Category: Academic - #45 Mike Bellamente – Project Director, Climate Counts
Category: Thought Leadership - #46 Kathrin Belliveau – Vice President, Corporate Responsibility, Hasbro
Category: Business Leadership - #47 Sepulveda Pertence – President, Brazilian Ethics Commission
Category: Government and Regulatory - #48 Stephen Colbert – Satirist, The Colbert Report
Category: Media and Whistleblowers - #49 John Githongo – Activist, Kenya
Category: Media and Whistleblowers - #50 (tie) Yalmaz Siddiqui – Director, Environmental Strategy, Office Depot
Category: Design and Sustainability - #50 (tie) Leo Bonanni – CEO, Sourcemap
Category: Design and Sustainability - #52 Bob Corcoran – Vice President of Corporate Citizenship, General Electric
Category: Business Leadership - #53 Ted Turner – Philanthropist, Independent
Category: Philanthropy - #54 Laurence D. Fink – Chairman and CEO, BlackRock, Inc.
Category: Business Leadership - #55 Georg Kell – Executive Director, UN Global Compact
Category: Non-government Organization (NGO) - #56 Caroline Casey – Founder, Kanchi
Category: Non-government Organization (NGO) - #57 Tarja Halonen – President, Finland
Category: Government and Regulatory - #58 Michelle Obama – First Lady, United States
Category: Government and Regulatory - #59 Dongsoo Kim – Chairman, Fair Trade Commission Republic of Korea
Category: Government and Regulatory - #60 Danielle Brian – Executive Director, Project on Government Oversight
Category: Non-government Organization (NGO) - #61 Mark Ohringer – General Counsel, Jones Lange LaSalle
Category: Business Leadership - #62 Stephen Jordan – Senior Vice President and Executive Director, Business Civic Leadership Center, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Category: Non-government Organization (NGO) - #63 Garth Saloner – Dean, Stanford Graduate School of Business
Category: Academic - #64 Jack Dorsey – Founder and Executive Chairman, Twitter
Category: Business Leadership - #65 Paul Collier – Professor, Oxford University
Category: Academic - #66 Marc Gunther – Blogger, MarcGunther.com
Category: Media and Whistleblowers - #67 Mari Kuraishi – President and Founder, GlobalGiving Foundation
Category: Non-Government Organization (NGO) - #68 Liz Maw – Executive Director, Net Impact
Category: Thought Leadership - #69 Tony Hsieh – CEO and Founder, Zappos.com
Category: Business Leadership - #70 Dean Krehmeyer – Executive Director, Business Roundtable Institute for Corporate Ethics
Category: Non-Government Organization (NGO) - #71 Carter Roberts – President and CEO, World Wildlife Fund
Category: Non-Government Organization (NGO) - #72 James Skinner – Vice Chairman and CEO, McDonald’s
Category: Business Leadership - #73 Mary Jacoby – Founder and Editor, MainJustice
Category: Media and Whistleblowers - #74 Warren Bennis – Professor, University of Southern California
Category: Academic - #75 Darrel Steinberg – State Senator, California
Category: Government and Regulatory - #76 Todd Ahlsten – Chief Investment Officer and Portfolio Manager, Parnassus Investments
Category: Investment and Research - #77 Chris MacDonald – Author, Business Ethics Blog
Category: Media and Whistleblowers - #78 Richard Edelman – President and CEO, Edelman
Category: Thought Leadership - #79 Karin Lissakers – Director, Revenue Watch Institute
Category: Non-Government Organization (NGO) - #80 Salil Shetty – Secretary General, Amnesty International
Category: Non-Government Organization (NGO) - #81 Judith Rodin – President, The Rockefeller Foundation
Category: Philanthropy - #82 (tie) Barbara Krumsiek – President and CEO, Calvert Investments
Category: Investment and Research - #82 (tie) Joseph Keefe – President and CEO, Pax World Investments
Category: Investment and Research - #84 Luis Alberto Moreno – President, Inter-American Development Bank
Category: Investment and Research - #85 Dick Cassin – Author, FCPA Blog
Category: Media and Whistleblowers - #86 Wim Elfrink – Chief Globalisation Officer and EVP of Emerging Solutions Group, Cisco
Category: Design and Sustainability - #87 Michael Woodford – CEO, Olympus
Category: Media and Whistleblowers - #88 Patrick Alley – Co-founder and Director, Global Witness
Category: Non-Government Organization (NGO) - #89 Marianne Jennings – Professor, Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School of Business
Category: Academic - #90 Manish Bapta – Interim President, World Resources Institute
Category: Non-Government Organization (NGO) - #91 Matt Kelly – Editor-in-Chief, ComplianceWeek
Category: Media and Whistleblowers - #92 Jacquelynn Henke – Real Estate Green Strategy Officer, TD Bank
Category: Design and Sustainability - #93 John Rogers, Jr. – Chairman, CEO and Chief Investment Officer, Ariel Investments
Category: Investment and Research - #94 Dennis Smith – National Clean Cities Director, Department of Energy
Category: Government and Regulatory - #95 Michael Hershman – President and CEO, The Fairfax Group
Category: Thought Leadership - #96 Ramon del Rosario – Chairman, Makati Business Club
Category: Business Leadership - #97 John Peoples – Director-Home Storage, SC Johnson
Category: Business Leadership - #98 Fukushima 50 – Various, The Tokyo Electric Power Company, Incorporated
Category: Corporate Culture - #99 Jocelyn Wyatt – Co-Lead and Executive Director, IDEO.org
Category: Non-Government Organization (NGO) - #100 Dan Phillips – Contractor and Home Builder, Independent
Category: Design and Sustainability
Government and Regulatory
- #2 Jed Rakoff – U.S. District Judge, Department of Justice
Category: Government and Regulatory - #5 Joaquín Almunia – Commissioner Responsible for Competition, European Commission
Category: Government and Regulatory - #6 Lanny Breuer – Assistant Attorney General, Department of Justice
Category: Government and Regulatory - #7 Preet Bharara – U.S. Attorney Southern District of New York, Department of Justice
Category: Government and Regulatory - #8 Richard Alderman – Director, Serious Fraud Office
Category: Government and Regulatory - #9 Mary Schapiro – Chairman, Securities and Exchange Commission
Category: Government and Regulatory - #11 Eric Schneiderman – Attorney General, New York
Category: Government and Regulatory - #12 Hector Sants – Chief Executive, Financial Services Authority
Category: Government and Regulatory - #13 Andrew Cuomo – Governor, New York
Category: Government and Regulatory - #16 Julius Genachowski – Chairman, Federal Communications Commission
Category: Government and Regulatory - #21 Maria Bashir – Prosecutor, Afghanistan
Category: Government and Regulatory - #28 Robert Zoellick – President, World Bank
Category: Government and Regulatory - #31 Christine Lagarde – Managing Director, International Monetary Fund
Category: Government and Regulatory - #37 Panthep Klanarongran – President, National Anti-Corruption Commission of Thailand
Category: Government and Regulatory - #38 Sean McKessey – Chief, SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower
Category: Government and Regulatory - #42 Dilma Rousseff – President, Brazil
Category: Government and Regulatory - #47 Sepulveda Pertence – President, Brazilian Ethics Commission
Category: Government and Regulatory - #57 Tarja Halonen – President, Finland
Category: Government and Regulatory - #58 Michelle Obama – First Lady, United States
Category: Government and Regulatory - #59 Dongsoo Kim – Chairman, Fair Trade Commission Republic of Korea
Category: Government and Regulatory - #75 Darrel Steinberg – State Senator, California
Category: Government and Regulatory - #94 Dennis Smith – National Clean Cities Director, Department of Energy
Category: Government and Regulatory
Business Leadership
- #15 Mike Duke – CEO, Wal-Mart
Category: Business Leadership - #18 Howard Schultz – CEO, Starbucks
Category: Business Leadership - #19 Muhtar Kent – Chairman and CEO, The Coca-Cola Company
Category: Business Leadership - #22 Phil Knight – Co-Founder and Chairman, Nike
Category: Business Leadership - #23 Gregg Steinhafel – Chairman, President and CEO, Target
Category: Business Leadership - #24 Jeffrey Swartz – CEO, Timberland
Category: Business Leadership - #33 Pierre Omidyar – Founder and Chairman, eBay
Category: Business Leadership - #34 Brian Dunn – CEO, Best Buy
Category: Business Leadership - #36 Annie Kishen – Director of CSR, PepsiCo India
Category: Business Leadership - #40 Duncan Niederauer – CEO, NYSE Euronext
Category: Business Leadership - #46 Kathrin Belliveau – Vice President, Corporate Responsibility, Hasbro
Category: Business Leadership - #52 Bob Corcoran – Vice President of Corporate Citizenship, General Electric
Category: Business Leadership - #54 Laurence D. Fink – Chairman and CEO, BlackRock, Inc.
Category: Business Leadership - #61 Mark Ohringer – General Counsel, Jones Lange LaSalle
Category: Business Leadership - #64 Jack Dorsey – Founder and Executive Chairman, Twitter
Category: Business Leadership - #69 Tony Hsieh – CEO and Founder, Zappos.com
Category: Business Leadership - #72 James Skinner – Vice Chairman and CEO, McDonald’s
Category: Business Leadership - #96 Ramon del Rosario – Chairman, Makati Business Club
Category: Business Leadership - #97 John Peoples – Director-Home Storage, SC Johnson
Category: Business Leadership
Non-Government Organization (NGO)
- #20 Huguette Labelle – Chair, Transparency International
Category: Non-Government Organization (NGO) - #25 Mark Pieth – Chairman, OECD Bribery Working Group
Category: Non-Government Organization (NGO) - #26 Mary Ellen Iskenderian – President and CEO, Women’s World Banking
Category: Non-Government Organization (NGO) - #43 Monique Villa – Executive Director, Thomson Reuters Foundation
Category: Non-Government Organization - #55 Georg Kell – Executive Director, UN Global Compact
Category: Non-government Organization (NGO) - #56 Caroline Casey – Founder, Kanchi
Category: Non-government Organization (NGO) - #60 Danielle Brian – Executive Director, Project on Government Oversight
Category: Non-government Organization (NGO) - #62 Stephen Jordan – Senior Vice President and Executive Director, Business Civic Leadership Center, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Category: Non-government Organization (NGO) - #67 Mari Kuraishi – President and Founder, GlobalGiving Foundation
Category: Non-Government Organization (NGO) - #70 Dean Krehmeyer – Executive Director, Business Roundtable Institute for Corporate Ethics
Category: Non-Government Organization (NGO) - #71 Carter Roberts – President and CEO, World Wildlife Fund
Category: Non-Government Organization (NGO) - #79 Karin Lissakers – Director, Revenue Watch Institute
Category: Non-Government Organization (NGO) - #80 Salil Shetty – Secretary General, Amnesty International
Category: Non-Government Organization (NGO) - #88 Patrick Alley – Co-founder and Director, Global Witness
Category: Non-Government Organization (NGO) - #90 Manish Bapta – Interim President, World Resources Institute
Category: Non-Government Organization (NGO) - #99 Jocelyn Wyatt – Co-Lead and Executive Director, IDEO.org
Category: Non-Government Organization (NGO)
Design and Sustainability
- #50 (tie) Yalmaz Siddiqui – Director, Environmental Strategy, Office Depot
Category: Design and Sustainability - #50 (tie) Leo Bonanni – CEO, Sourcemap
Category: Design and Sustainability - #86 Wim Elfrink – Chief Globalisation Officer and EVP of Emerging Solutions Group, Cisco
Category: Design and Sustainability - #92 Jacquelynn Henke – Real Estate Green Strategy Officer, TD Bank
Category: Design and Sustainability - #100 Dan Phillips – Contractor and Home Builder, Independent
Category: Design and Sustainability
Media and Whistleblowers
- #3 Alexei Navalny – Blogger, Navalny.ru
Category: Media and Whistle-blower - #10 Nick Davies – Reporter, The Guardian
Category: Media and Whistle-blower - #17 Ai Weiwei – Chinese artist and activist, Independent
Category: Media and Whistle-blower - #27 Hu Shuli – Editor-in-Chief, Caixin Media
Category: Media and Whistleblowers - #32 Steve Kroft – Journalist, 60 Minutes
Category: Media and Whistleblowers - #35 Huaguoshan Zongshuji – Activist and Blogger, China
Category: Media and Whistleblowers - #39 Sean Mason – Former Employee, Medline
Category: Media and Whistle-Blower - #48 Stephen Colbert – Satirist, The Colbert Report
Category: Media and Whistleblowers - #49 John Githongo – Activist, Kenya
Category: Media and Whistleblowers - #66 Marc Gunther – Blogger, MarcGunther.com
Category: Media and Whistleblowers - #73 Mary Jacoby – Founder and Editor, MainJustice
Category: Media and Whistleblowers - #77 Chris MacDonald – Author, Business Ethics Blog
Category: Media and Whistleblowers - #85 Dick Cassin – Author, FCPA Blog
Category: Media and Whistleblowers - #87 Michael Woodford – CEO, Olympus
Category: Media and Whistleblowers - #91 Matt Kelly – Editor-in-Chief, ComplianceWeek
Category: Media and Whistleblowers
Thought Leadership
- #1 Anna Hazare – Indian Anti-Corruption Activist, Independent
Category: Thought Leadership - #14 Wael Ghonim – Former Director of Marketing for Middle East, Google
Category: Thought Leadership - #45 Mike Bellamente – Project Director, Climate Counts
Category: Thought Leadership - #68 Liz Maw – Executive Director, Net Impact
Category: Thought Leadership - #78 Richard Edelman – President and CEO, Edelman
Category: Thought Leadership - #95 Michael Hershman – President and CEO, The Fairfax Group
Category: Thought Leadership
Corporate Culture
- #98 Fukushima 50 – Various, The Tokyo Electric Power Company, Incorporated
Category: Corporate Culture
Investment and Research
- #4 Irving Picard – Trustee, Madoff Estate
Category: Investment and Research - #76 Todd Ahlsten – Chief Investment Officer and Portfolio Manager, Parnassus Investments
Category: Investment and Research - #82 (tie) Barbara Krumsiek – President and CEO, Calvert Investments
Category: Investment and Research - #82 (tie) Joseph Keefe – President and CEO, Pax World Investments
Category: Investment and Research - #84 Luis Alberto Moreno – President, Inter-American Development Bank
Category: Investment and Research - #93 John Rogers, Jr. – Chairman, CEO and Chief Investment Officer, Ariel Investments
Category: Investment and Research
Academic
- #29 (tie) Michael Porter – Professor, Harvard Business School
Category: Academic - #29 (tie) Mark Kramer – Founder and Managing Director, FSG
Category: Thought Leadership - #44 Charles Elson – Director, John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance, University of Delaware
Category: Academic - #63 Garth Saloner – Dean, Stanford Graduate School of Business
Category: Academic - #65 Paul Collier – Professor, Oxford University
Category: Academic - #74 Warren Bennis – Professor, University of Southern California
Category: Academic - #89 Marianne Jennings – Professor, Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School of Business
Category: Academic
Philanthropy
- #41 Azim Premji – Founder, Azim Premji Foundation
Category: Philanthropy - #53 Ted Turner – Philanthropist, Independent
Category: Philanthropy - #81 Judith Rodin – President, The Rockefeller Foundation
Category: Philanthropy
Anna Hazare
Hazare had a huge impact on governance within the world’s largest democracy. Through a series of hunger-strikes, Hazare caused new laws preventing corruption within his country and drew international attention to his cause.
Jed Rakoff
Judge Rakoff rejected a proposed settlement between the Securities and Exchange Commission and Citigroup because the settlement did not require Citigroup to admit or deny blame, therefore making it impossible for Rakoff to agree on the size of the settlement. This decision inspired a number of other judges to deny similar settlements between the SEC and other organizations.
Alexei Navalny
Navalny made headlines throughout 2011 for running his blog on corruption in Russia, known as navalny.ru. Despite the risks in exposing corruption within the country, Navalny fearlessly reports on the latest corruption issues occuring within the highest levels of the government.
Irving Picard
Picard is relentless in recouping the money lost in Bernie Madoff’s massive Ponzi scheme. Even sports teams aren’t safe as a high profile clash between Picard and the owners of the NY Mets continued as a prominent headline throughout the year.
Joaquín Almunia
The EC is one of the most active antitrust enforcers in the world (if not THE most), and that is in large part from Almunia’s work. The regulator blocked a number of high-profile mergers throughout the year, many of which are decisions that will be argued for and against for several years.
Lanny Breuer
Breuer runs the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and used his role in 2011 to continue to aggressively enforce (and expand the influence of) the FCPA around the world.
Preet Bharara
The new “Sheriff of Wall Street.” Bharara took on a number of tough, high-profile cases including the case that shook Wall Street more than any others in 2011 when he successfully charged Raj Rajaratnam with insider trading.
Richard Alderman
Although the UK Bribery Act is labeled as a 2010 law, it officially came into effect in July of this year. Alderman runs the shop responsible for enforcing one of the most talked about new laws of the past few years.
Mary Schapiro
Despite some high profile set backs late in the year, Schapiro has continued to lead an aggressive SEC throughout 2011, including new provisions to the Dodd-Frank Act that allow whistle-blowers to receive 10 to 30 percent of fines received from a successful prosecution and going so far as to respond to the recent high-profile online hacking attacks by requiring companies to disclose in more detail the impact of data breaches including financial losses. The SEC also adopted Say-on-Pay rules this year, which allow shareholders to have a greater say in executive compensation and golden parachutes.
Nick Davies
Davies was the Guardian’s lead reporter on this year’s News of the World phone hacking saga and threw a grenade at the four-year stagnant powder keg of a story when he broke the July bit about the paper’s alleged hacking of murdered 13-year-old Milly Dowler’s cell phone. After that article … the rest is history.
Eric Schneiderman
Among other achievements, Schneiderman is asking over 900 cities in New York state to show their Code of Ethics in an effort to demonstrate self-policing.
Hector Sants
Influential group regulating UK financial system. 2011 saw regulators, including the FSA, begin to actively go after executives for improper activity that lead to 2008 financial crisis, including claw back provisions to huge compensation packages.
Andrew Cuomo
Cuomo is a regular member of the 100 Most Influential List over the years and throughout his various government positions. This year he makes the list for a number of reasons, including in January requiring New York State employees to go through ethics course refreshers every two years. He also oversaw the new Clean Up Albany Act of 2011, a law that created independent commission which would enforce ethics and other state laws.
Wael Ghonim
Ghonim was one of the leading faces of the “Arab Spring” this year, using his Internet savvy to spread and coordinate protests which lead to the eventual toppling of a number of autocratic governments in the region.
Mike Duke
Duke is one of the most influential business leaders in the world as the head of the U.S.’ second largest employer. This year, under Duke’s leadership, Wal-Mart announced a new healthy diet campaign, reducing the amount of fats and sugar in its packaged foods, and lowering the costs of the fruits and vegetables sold in the store.
Julius Genachowski
In September the FCC published its long awaited guidance on the net neutrality rules passed in 2010. The new rules help clarify the rules and lend a hand in protecting consumers’ access to competing sets of information.
Ai Weiwei
Ai was thrown in jail this year by the Chinese government after a series of confrontations against its opaque and authoritarian governance — particularly around allegations the government covered up the death count in natural disasters over the past couple years. He makes this list for his work promoting transparency in the world’s most populous country. More transparency, better governance, better business.
Howard Schultz
Starbucks continued as a concerned global citizen in 2011, including launching one of Schultz’ personal projects, the INDIVISIBLE campaign which aims to help create jobs in the U.S.
Muhtar Kent
Coca-Cola in March announced the creation of the Coca-Cola Japan Reconstruction Fund which pledged to give $31 million in donations towards the relief and reconstruction efforts following the massive powerplant failure in Fukushima.
Huguette Labelle
Transparency International is “the” group when it comes to sharing and encouraging adoption of best practices in anti-corruption around the world. In 2011 the organization only increased its influence and the group’s Corruption Perception Index was cited in major media around the world.
Maria Bashir
Afghanistan has a LONG road towards prosperity ahead of it. If there can be any positive spin on that situation, baby steps are being taken by brave individuals across the country to improve the country’s economic situation. Bashir is one of those individuals, fighting to open economic and educational opportunities for Afghanistan’s women.
Phil Knight
Nike’s brand is one of the strongest and most recognized in the world largely thanks to the creative vision of Knight. Recently, the co-founder and chairman of the company has been using the company’s brand to focus on environmentally-friendly and sustainable product design while maintaining the overall aesthetic appeal. Nike has done everything from creating 100% recycled sports jerseys to shoes created from used products.
Gregg Steinhafel
In good times and bad, Target gives 5% of its income to local communities and other philanthropic causes. Steinhafel kept this six-and-a-half decade old policy in tact despite the recent financial downturn. 2011 marks the 65th year of that policy.
Jeffrey Swartz
Swartz has made this list several years now as he built a business with a strong focus on corporate responsibility. His efforts have paid off to the tune of $2 billion after VF Corporation agreed to buy Timberland this summer. The role of Swartz in the new company is yet unclear.
Mark Pieth
Pieth has been recognized on this list for a number of years, and this year he makes the cut for his work publishing a text on anti-corruption for the OECD.
Mary Ellen Iskenderian
Women’s World Banking is a non-profit organization that specializes in providing micro-finance loans to women entrepreneurs in the developing world. Iskenderian oversees the group and its 39 micro-finance institutions which operate in 27 countries.
Hu Shuli
After her previous employer wasn’t aggressive enough in going after corruption in China, Hu moved to Caixin Media and is now an outspoken critic of the country’s opaque governance policies.
Robert Zoellick
Whether or not you agree with the World Bank’s policies this year, or its approach to various financial hardships around the world, it’s hard to argue the institution has not been influential this year.
Michael Porter
Porter, along with Mark Kramer, made headlines throughout 2011 for his theories on creating shared value for companies, in which businesses create financial value through working with other stakeholders.
Mark Kramer
Kramer, along with Michael Porter, earned national press early this year when he co-authored an article around the necessity for companies to create shared value.
Christine Lagarde
Prior to becoming the first female to head the IMF, Lagarde was France’s Minister of Finance. At the IMF she has had to deal with the international debt crisis with an increased focus on transparency
Steve Kroft
While the issue is not new for those that have been following it, the recent report by 60 Minutes to discuss alleged insider trading in Congress brought the issue to the public’s attention. Now, it’s likely that a bill — with disputable effect — will be enacted to help try and curb the practice.
Pierre Omidyar
While Omidyar deserves credit for a lot of the good work being done at eBay, he specifically made this list this year for his role in the Omidyar Network, a philanthropic investment firm that works global on issues ranging from government transparency to economic opportunities in developing countries.
Brian Dunn
Best Buy started a number of sustainability programs in 2011, notably its product buy back program which lets consumers sell back (for a discount) electronics purchased within a set number of years.
Huaguoshan Zongshuji
“Huaguoshan Zongshuji” is a pseudonym, but this blogger was busy exposing corruption throughout China in 2011. Notably, he (or she?) distributed photographs of senior Chinese officials wearing watches worth upwards of $50,000, despite making roughly $15,000 per year in salary. His blog has subsequently been censored by the government.
Annie Kishen
Kishen and PepsiCo announced this year that the company has made plans to have all of its manufacturing plants become “water positive” in India. In other words, replenishing more water than is consumed.
Panthep Klanarongran
Klanarongran leads Thailand’s NACC, an organization that works with companies in Thailand to help fight corruption throughout the country.
Sean McKessey
McKessey is the first head of the SEC’s new whistle-blower office which came about as a result of provisions in the Dodd-Frank law. The office has already received a record number of reports and says the quality of the reports are better and more timely.
Sean Mason
Mason blew the whistle on his former employer, Medline, alleging that the company paid kickbacks to hospitals and companies to convince them to buy Medline products. The suit eventually wound up as an $85 million settlement, with Mason receiving $23.4 million (27%) of the total reward.
Duncan Niederauer
The NYSE launched important governance principles early this year and continues to be an important force in corporate policies through its listing requirements. Neiderauer, who runs the show, helped improve and promote new governance standards for NYSE Euronext listed companies.
Azim Premji
Through his eponymous foundation, Premji has donated billions of dollars throughout 2011 towards “a just, equitable, humane and sustainable society” in India, including by improving education throughout the country.
Dilma Rousseff
Rousseff took over from Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva this year and is already making bold moves to encourage Brazil’s business community with her goal of eradicating poverty within the country and evening the playing field between Brazil’s two disparate wealth groups.
Monique Villa
The Thomson Reuters Foundation has been an influential global organization helping promote transparency in the governance of developing countries, fighting for women’s rights around the world, and promoting anti-corruption tools and measures in the countries that need them most.
Charles Elson
Elson is a leading governance guru who would have been on this list for several years, had he not agreed to be one of the advisory board members. 2011 marks his long overdue entrance to this recognition.
Mike Bellamente
Climate Counts is a leading non-profit which aims to score companies on their climate impact with the goal being to increase transparency around the environmental footprints of companies and therefore more attention paid to the issue.
Kathrin Belliveau
Hasbro announced in 2011 that its major toy brands — including Play-Doh and G.I. Joe action figures — will be packaged in more environmentally friendly containers.
Sepulveda Pertence
Pertence has been actively enforcing the responsibility given to his ethics commission throughout 2011 by recommending (successfully) that various senior ministers step down from the Brazilian government because of ethics violations.
Stephen Colbert
By flaunting his Colbert Super PAC throughout the election season, Colbert shines light on one of the most controversial aspects of business-meets-politics in the U.S. today, the Super PAC
John Githongo
Githongo must feel like he’s fighting a tidal wave as he attempts to fight corruption in Kenya. It’s the fact that he keeps at it despite many setbacks that he makes this year’s list.
Yalmaz Siddiqui
Office Depot announced this year that under Siddiqui’s leadership the company would be partnering with environmental NGOs to create Sourcemap, an online crowdsourcing tool that helps customers track the source of various products.
Leo Bonanni
Bonanni created Sourcemap, an online crowdsourcing tool which lets viewers map the life cycle of various products, in 2006. The tool made traction this year when Office Depot announced that it would partner with the program to map its recycled paper products.
Bob Corcoran
Corcoran runs the GE Foudnation, which this year provided millions in grants and donations to efforts ranging from improving healthcare to disaster relief around the world.
Ted Turner
The founder of Turner Broadcasting pledged $1 billion this year towards the United Nations Foundation in order to help, in particular, issues concerning women in the developing world.
Laurence D. Fink
Fink runs arguably the most influential financial institution in the world and built his empire through careful management of risk, an area that many of his contemporaries chose to overlook in recent years which lead to devastating results.
Georg Kell
The UNGC is an influential body in developing best practices around a number of human rights issues around the global, particularly through the organization’s Ten Principles which cover Human Rights, Labour, Environment, and Anti-Corruption.
Caroline Casey
Under Casey’s leadership, Kanchi promotes inclusion of people with disabilities, particularly in the corporate world.
Tarja Halonen
Besides helping to create a great model around private/public partnerships within her country, Halonen has also loudly advocated for important issues ranging from environmental sustainability to non-discrimination issues around the world.
Michelle Obama
Obama has actively been promoting healthy lifestyles for children, and has partnered with a number of companies, including Wal-Mart, to provide healthier options for American consumers.
Dongsoo Kim
Dongsoo wasn’t shy about tackling big antitrust cases. In 2011 the Commission that he leads went after LCD producers, the pharma industry and very publicly accused Google of meddling in its antitrust suit.
Danielle Brian
POGO continues to gain traction and respect in its pursuit of open and transparent government. In 2011 the organization issued a number of valuable reports and continued to receive large donations from supporters.
Mark Ohringer
Ohringer spearheaded a report in 2011 titled Survey on the Influence of Workplace Design & Practices on the Ethical Environment which analyzed the ethical impact of using open office spaces.
Stephen Jordan
Jordan runs the citizenship arm of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and was busy in 2011 promoting business ethics to the Chamber’s members.
Garth Saloner
Stanford is leading the way among top business schools in the way of social entrepreneurship and continued that trend under Saloner’s leadership throughout 2011. Although other business school are arguably more focused on ethics and CSR, Stanford’s well-respected global brand is an important ambassador for this concept.
Jack Dorsey
Dorsey’s brainchild finally solidified its purpose this year after Twitter was used liberally for coordinating organized protests around the world, not the least of which were the many protests throughout the Arab Spring.
Paul Collier
Collier continued his protests against corrupt, autocratic regimes in 2011 and loudly argued that poor governance is the leading cause of global poverty.
Marc Gunther
Gunther is a serial winner of the 100 Most Influential People in Business Ethics recognition over the years. His blog continues to be a leading voice and, judging by the names of some of the folks that regularly comment on his articles, well-read by the corporate compliance community.
Mari Kuraishi
Kuraishi runs the GlobalGiving Foundation, an online community that allows regular people to become philanthropists around the world.
Liz Maw
Five years ago, contextual information had to be provided when talking about Net Impact in the compliance and ethics community. Today, led by Maw, it’s widely known and respected for its promotion of social responsibility.
Tony Hsieh
Hsieh continues to lead his company with the idea that customer service wins customer loyalty and, as a result, Zappos experienced success in 2011.
Dean Krehmeyer
Krehmeyer runs the corporate ethics and responsibility arm of the Business Roundtable which is, like the U.S. Chamber, an organization that has more than a little influence in the global business world.
Carter Roberts
Roberts led another successful event for WWF this year, which including a new campaign against unsustainable beef. What is inspiring about WWF is the way that it works with companies, rather than the route of less successful NGOs which just fight the corporate world from the outside.
James Skinner
McDonald’s revenue has been growing steadily since Skinner took over, and this year that was accomplished with the introduction of new, healthier menu items and a high-profile jobs program this year that added more than 60,000 new jobs at a time when they were (and are) needed most.
Mary Jacoby
Jacoby founded MainJustice, a media outlet dedicated to original editorial and content focusing on the Justice Department. The site also focuses on anti-corruption which provides a useful tool for compliance officers around the world.
Warren Bennis
Bennis is a top thought-leader on business leadership and spent 2011 promoting the value of corporate responsibility in senior positions.
Darrel Steinberg
Steinberg sponsored what eventually became The California Transparency in Supply Chains Act of 2010. It was passed and signed by Governor Schwarzenegger in September 2010, but it was during 2011 that California companies with more than $100 million in revenue had to prepare to disclose new information around their global sourcing methods.
Todd Ahlsten
Ahlsten is the portfolio manager for the Parnassus Equity Income Fund, the largest ESG-focused fund in 2011.
Chris MacDonald
MacDonald’s blog, the aptly named Business Ethics Blog, is one of the best sources for regular updates and developments in business ethics. Throughout 2011 the site gained additional exposure as MacDonald continued to build his reputation as a key thought leader in this space.
Richard Edelman
Edelman has hired a number of top CSR thought leaders in order to keep ethics front of mind in corporate clients. The Trust Barometer, published by Edelman’s eponymous public relations firm, is a useful tool which measures the perception of trust in the corporate world (from outsiders’ perspective).
Karin Lissakers
The Revenue Watch Institute, under Lissaker’s direction, promotes effective and transparent management of oil, gas and mineral resources for the public good in 38 countries located on every continent.
Salil Shetty
Shetty leads Amnesty International focusing his career in 2011 on drawing attention to important human rights issues around the globe.
Judith Rodin
Under Rodin’s leadership, the Rockefeller Foundation worked on projects ranging from improving food security in Africa to encouraging sustainable transportation around the world.
Barbara Krumsiek
Calvert continues to be one of the most respected and best performing SRI funds around.
Joseph Keefe
Keefe runs Pax World Investments, a leading Socially Responsible Investment (or Environmental, Social and Governance “ESG”) fund.
Luis Alberto Moreno
Under Moreno’s leadership, the Inter-American Development Bank forgave $2B in debt to Haiti following the recent disaster there.
Dick Cassin
BiFCPA Blog is still one of the best sources out there for FCPA and anti-corruption news.
Wim Elfrink
Cisco in November built 3,750 houses, two schools and a primary health care center to date in Karnataka, a state in India, as part of the company’s “Project Samudaya,” an initiative that collaborates with the local government to improve living conditions after major floods.
Michael Woodford
Woodford was fired for questioning the financial practices of Olympus and fought with other company executives, including chairman Tsuyoshi Kikukawa. Eventually his side was deemed correct. Unfortunately, despite his best efforts at a comeback, he was forced to leave the company.
Patrick Alley
Alley runs Global Witness, a leading organization that helps advocate for increased transparency in the use of natural resources. Alley leads investigations around the world, including in Africa, Southeast Asia and Europe.
Marianne Jennings
Jennings is a leading ethics professor from Arizona State University. She would have been recognized here earlier had she not agreed to be on the advisory board for this annual recognition.
Manish Bapta
Bapta leads the World Resources Institute, a well-respected NGO that works with governments, companies and other institutions to promote sustainability in operations.
Matt Kelly
ComplianceWeek is one of the best resources around for business compliance (and ethics) news. Under Kelly’s direction, the magazine — as well as its supporting content online — continued to be one of the most-respected in the industry.
Jacquelynn Henke
TD Bank announced it was the first bank to go completely carbon neutral and, in early 2011, opened the first “Net-Zero Energy” location in the U.S. (i.e. a location that produces as much energy as it uses).
John Rogers, Jr.
Rogers, Jr. runs Ariel Investments. Ariel Investments oversees the Ariel Appreciation Fund, which was one of the best performing SRI mutual funds in 2011.
Dennis Smith
The Clean Cities program launched in 2011 the National Clean Fleets Partnership in which companies ranging from Coca-Cola to General Electric to Staples have partnered with the DOE to develop and implement fuel saving measures in their fleets.
Michael Hershman
Hershman continues to make this list for his high-profile appointments helping to improve the cultures of major government, companies and organizations. In 2011 Hershman was called in to fight corruption at FIFA after scandal rocked the organization this year.
Ramon del Rosario
Del Rosario heads the Makati Business Club which, in cooperation with the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, encouraged hundreds of Filipino companies to sign on to the Siemens Integrity Initiative-sponsored Integrity Pact in 2011.
John Peoples
SC Johnson announced early this year that its Ziploc Brand, a brand under Peoples’ oversight, would start a new initiative to divert more than 100 million pounds of waste from landfill within two years of the programs launch. This is done through partnering with Recyclebank to increase the products’ recyclability.
Fukushima
Group of about 200 workers who worked in shifts of 50 to help contain and repair the the damage at the Fukushima nuclear power plan in the wake of an devastating earthquake
Jocelyn Wyatt
Wyatt leads IDEO.org, a non-profit focused on designing realistic, sustainable solutions to help bring technology to some of the most underserved locations on the planet.
Dan Phillips
Phillips makes the list for using recycled materials (just about any usable item he can find) to create or remodel energy-efficient homes for Texas residents that cost less than $10,000 to buy.
