Inter IKEA Systems B.V., trading as IKEA, is a multinational conglomerate, founded in Sweden but now headquartered in the Netherlands, that designs and sells ready-to-assemble furniture, kitchen appliances, decoration, home accessories, and various other goods and home services. Started in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad, IKEA has been the world's largest furniture retailer since 2008. The brand name is an acronym of founder Ingvar Kamprad's initials; Elmtaryd, the family farm where Kamprad was born; and the nearby village of Agunnaryd, Kamprad's hometown in Småland.
William Reginald "Bill" Rhodes is an American banker and philanthropist. Rhodes is president and CEO of William R. Rhodes Global Advisors, LLC which he founded in 2010. Having stepped back from full-time responsibilities with Citi after more than 53 years with the institution. He most recently served as senior advisor, senior vice chairman and senior international officer of Citigroup and chairman, president & CEO of Citibank, N.A. He held various senior executive positions at Citi from 1957 until his retirement from Citigroup on April 30, 2010. Subsequent to his retirement, he continued to serve as a senior advisor to Citi from 2010 through 2017.
Joe Kaeser is a German manager who served as CEO of Siemens AG from 2013 to 2021.
Güler Sabancı is a Turkish businesswoman, a third-generation female member of the Sabancı family, and the chairperson of the family-controlled Sabancı Holding, the second-largest industrial and financial conglomerate in Turkey. As of 2023, she was listed as the 77th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes, which first recognized her in 1999.
Gary Hirshberg is an American businessman. He is the former chief executive officer of Stonyfield Farm, the world's leading organic yogurt producer, based in Londonderry, New Hampshire. He joined the company just after its founding in 1983 and stepped down in 2011, but continues to serve as Chairman. He frequently speaks on topics including sustainability, organic agriculture and the profitability of green business.
Johnny Gylling is a Swedish Christian democratic politician, member of the Riksdag 1998–2006. He is the owner of a consulting business, GE 99.
The chief sustainability officer, sometimes known by other titles, is the corporate title of an executive position within a corporation that is in charge of the corporation's "environmental" programs. Several companies have created such environmental manager positions in the 21st century to formalize their commitment to the environment. The rise of the investor ESG movement and stakeholder capitalism, has increased the need for corporations to address sustainability and social issues across their value chain, and address growing needs of external stakeholders. Normally these responsibilities rest with the facility manager, who has provided cost effective resource and environmental control as part of the basic services necessary for the company to function. However, as sustainability initiatives have expanded beyond the facility — so has the importance of the position to what is now a C-level executive role. The position of CSO has not been standardized across industries and individual companies which leads it to take on differing roles depending on the organization. The position has also been challenged as symbolic, in that it does not actually have the effect of increasing sustainable practices.
David Nelson Farr is an American business executive. He was the chairman and CEO of Emerson Electric Company, a Fortune 500 company. Farr has worked at the company since 1981 and retired as CEO on Feb 5, 2021. He is married to Lelia Far, with whom he has two children, and is a resident of Ladue, Missouri.
Business in the Community (BITC) is a British business-community outreach charity promoting responsible business, CSR, corporate responsibility, and is one of the Prince's Charities of King Charles III.
Gregory David Wasson is an American businessman. He is the co-founder and president of Wasson Enterprise, a family-based investment office, the executive chairman of Innventure, co-founder of CoolerScreens, and the former president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA).
Paulus Gerardus Josephus Maria Polman, is a Dutch businessman and author. He was the chief executive officer (CEO) of the British/Dutch consumer goods company Unilever. Polman is also the co-author of Net Positive: How Courageous Companies Thrive by Giving More Than They Take.
Sir Ian Michael Cheshire is a British businessman, formerly chairman of Barclays UK, the ring-fenced UK subsidiary of Barclays. He stepped down on 1 January 2021 and was succeeded by Crawford Gillies. He is lead non-executive director for the Cabinet Office board, campaign chairman of Heads Together, chair of The Prince of Wales's Charitable Fund, chair of the independent charity, the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission, and a trustee of The Institute for Government. He was previously chief executive (CEO) of Kingfisher plc, a British multinational retailing company, and was chairman of the British department store chain Debenhams from 2016 to 2019.
Jean-Paul Agon is a French businessman who is the chairman and former CEO of the international cosmetic company L'Oréal. Because of the age limit of 65 set by the company, he was replaced in his role of CEO by Nicolas Hieronimus on 1 May 2021, while remaining chairman of the board. He graduated from HEC Paris in 1978.
Joseph F.X. Zahra is a Maltese economist. He has held a number of directorships in both private and public companies in Malta and abroad. He is a former director of the Central Bank of Malta and former chairman of Bank of Valletta plc, Maltacom plc and Middlesea Insurance plc. He is married with two children.
Lise Kingo is a Danish businesswoman who currently serves as Independent Board Director at Danone, Sanofi and Covestro. Kingo is also a member of the Advisory Board for Humanitarian and Development Aid at the Novo Nordisk Foundation.
Philipp Aeby is the Chief Executive Officer of RepRisk, an environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data science company based in Zürich, specializing in ESG and business conduct risk research and quantitative solutions. He has served in that capacity since 2010 and is also a Board Member of RepRisk. He previously held the position of Chief Operating Officer and Managing Partner, when RepRisk was part of the environmental and social consultancy, Ecofact.
Egil Olav Hogna is a Norwegian engineer and business executive. On 1 September 2015 he was appointed new CEO of Sapa Group, the world's largest aluminium processor with NOK 53 billion in turnover and 22,400 employees in 40 countries. Following Hydro's acquisition of Sapa in 2017, Sapa was integrated as Hydro's largest business area. Hogna led the Extruded Solutions business area from 2017 to 2020. On 1 December 2020, he took over as CEO of Norconsult. Hogna has a master's degree in Industrial Economics from NTNU in Trondheim. He holds an MBA from INSEAD and a management education from Harvard Business School.
Global furniture and homeware retailer IKEA has been criticized for various issues, including their raw material sourcing, the size of their stores, the impact of their stores on local communities, legal violations, and unfair or discriminatory business practices, among others.
Jesper Brodin is a Swedish business leader and the chief executive officer (CEO) of Ingka Group. During his career at IKEA, Brodin has held a number of different roles including assistant to Ingvar Kamprad, Business Area Manager Kitchen and Dining, as well as managing director for Range & Supply, Inter IKEA Group.
Pascal Cagni, born on October 28, 1961, in Cernay, Alsace, is a French business executive. After participating between 2000 and 2012 in Apple's development as vice-president and general manager of Apple Europe, Middle East, India and Africa (EMEIA) region, in 2014 he founded the European venture capital investment fund C4 Ventures. In 2017, he was appointed chairman of the board of directors of the Business France French government agency and Ambassador Delegate for International Investments by French President Emmanuel Macron.
