TOP 10 Most-Read Thought Leaders of the Year in Social Responsibility

Discover also our 2026 Rankings of the Most Read Thought Leaders in Business Impact, Carbon, Circularity, Climate Change, Energy, Energy Transition, Environmental Sustainability, ESG, Ethical Governance, Green Tech, Nature, Renewables, Sustainable AI, Sustainable Business, Sustainable Finance, Sustainable Lifestyle, and Overall. Explore how this year's leaders compare to the most influential Social Responsibility voices of last year!

illuminem is proud to present the Most-Read Thought Leaders in Social Responsibility globally, as recognised by illuminem’s ever growing community of 700,000+ readers. We are especially proud of this ranking, as one of the very few media platforms with a full section dedicated to social responsibility, a space where the human questions of sustainability can be treated with the depth they deserve.

Social responsibility is where some of the defining questions of our time now converge: responsible AI, workers’ rights, inequality, diversity, human rights, and the ethics of institutions under pressure. As new technologies enter every corner of society, the debate is now firmly centred around how to make innovation transparent, reduce harm, and ensure that progress benefits a wider share of society.

For businesses, too, social responsibility has moved from brand language to strategic necessity, as trust increasingly depends on whether companies can show a credible commitment to the societies in which they operate.

Looking at our ranking, in the year after Pope Francis’ death (memorable is our editorial on that day), our community’s most-read Thought Leader is Emilce Cuda, the closest thinker to Pope Francis, the “theologian and philosopher of the people.”

Around her, the ranking captures a broader search for a more human form of sustainability. Netherlands’ Harald Walkate traces impact investing’s journey from intentionality to additionality. María Fernanda Espinosa, former President of the UN General Assembly and now a frontrunner for UN Secretary-General, uses illuminem to connect climate action with women’s empowerment. South Africa’s Fikayo Akeredolu warns that even a “just” transition can reproduce inequality if it forgets the Global South. Ecuador’s Jose Luis Agualongo Quelal brings a rare reflection from his work with one of Amazonia’s newly contacted communities, shedding light on Indigenous rights and human dignity. Finally, Venezuelan exiled MP and Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Armando Armas, examines the rise of human rights tariffs as a new frontier in global accountability.

Together, these voices remind us that social responsibility is the test of whether sustainability can remain worthy of its name: not only greener, but fairer; not only more innovative, but more humane. Please join us in congratulating the Thought Leaders of the Year in Social Responsibility, and every voice contributing to this vital global debate on illuminem.

1️⃣ Emilce Cuda  - Secretary of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America (“Minister” of the Holy See) and Professor at the University of Chicago
Country: Vatican State 🇻🇦
Most-Read Thought Piece: Exclusive: Pope Leo XIV holds private meeting with world’s largest mining and energy leaders in the Vatican
Profile: Emilce Cuda is an Argentine theologian, university professor, and high official of the Roman Curia (“minister” of the Holy See). She is dubbed "the woman who knows how to read Pope Francis" for her unique development of the Theology of the People, as well as the concepts of Integral Ecology and pueblo-pobre-trabajador. She holds several degrees beyond her Ph.D. in Theology, including an MBA and a Doctor of Humane Letters degree honoris causa from Loyola University Chicago. She is the first woman to hold an executive position in the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, at a ministerial level in the Vatican.

2️⃣ María Fernanda Espinosa - Fmr. President of the United Nations General Assembly and Minister of Ecuador
Country: Ecuador 🇪🇨
Most-Read Thought Piece: The untapped potential of women and girls in NDCs
Profile: María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés is the first Latin American woman to preside over the United Nations General Assembly (2018–2019). She is a key figure in climate diplomacy, advocating for global action on climate change, biodiversity, and the rights of Indigenous peoples. She has also held significant diplomatic roles as Ecuador's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Ambassador to the UN in both New York and Geneva. She’s currently the President of Cities Alliance. Her contribution to advancing gender equality, multilateralism, and peace has earned her numerous accolades, including the Brian Urquhart Award for Distinguished Service to the UN and the 5th Sun Award for contributions to Indigenous Peoples' rights.

3️⃣ Armando Armas - Member of the National Assembly of Venezuela and fmr. Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Standing Committee of Venezuela
Country: Venezuela 🇻🇪
Most-Read Thought Piece: Trade vs. tyranny? The rise of human rights tariffs
Profile: Armando Armas is an Impact Ambassador at illuminem. He is a renowned human rights activist who was elected to the Venezuelan National Assembly in 2015, where he also served as Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Standing Committee. In addition, he is Founder and CEO of Miranda Global Consulting, a geopolitical risk firm that works at the intersection of human rights and international security. At illuminem, Armando leads key initiatives with a particular focus on Latin America. 

4️⃣ Jose Luis Agualongo Quelal - Co-Founder of NGO Amazhope
Country: Ecuador 🇪🇨
Most-Read Thought Piece: Ecuadorian Amazon: The current situation of the Huaorani’s struggle
Profile: Jose Luis Agualongo Quelal is the Co-Founder of Amazhope, a nonprofit organization focused on protecting the Amazon rainforest, and Director of Onowoka, a responsible tour operator working directly with the Huaorani communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon. 

5️⃣ Steven W. Pearce - Advisor for the U.S. Department of Defense and the Government of Tunisia
Country: USA 🇺🇸
Most-Read Thought Piece: Extreme poverty as a security threat: A systems diagnosis for a safer world
Profile: Steven W. Pearce is the advisor of Tunisian Ministries of Health, Oil, Environment, and Waste management on sustainability-related issues. He also works with the U.S. Department of Defense, the General Services Administration, USAID, the U.S. military, and other public institutions on sustainability and climate-risk initiatives through Pearce Sustainability Consulting Group of which he’s founder and CEO.

6️⃣ ex aequo Harald Walkate - Founding Partner of Route17 and fmr. Head of Sustainable Finance of Natixis
Country: Netherlands 🇳🇱
Most-Read Thought Piece: Impact investing grows up: from intentionality to additionality
Profile: Harald Walkate is a founding partner of Route17, an SDG funding and blended finance advisory firm. He is also a Senior Advisor to the Blended Finance Lab at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), and a Senior Fellow at the Center for Sustainable Finance and Private Wealth (CSP). Previously he was the Head of Sustainable Finance and Member of the Executive Committee of Natixis Investment Managers, and the Global Head of Responsible Investment at Aegon Asset Management. 

6️⃣ ex aequo Falko Paetzold - Researcher at the University of Harvard and MIT Sloan, Founder of the Center for Sustainable Finance and Private Wealth of the University of Zurich
Country: Switzerland 🇨🇭
Most-Read Thought Piece: Impact investing grows up: from intentionality to additionality
Profile: Dr. Falko Paetzold is the founder of Center for Sustainable Finance and Private Wealth (CSP) globally, spun out of the Impact Investing for the Next Generation training program that Falko co-initiated at Harvard University. He is also Co-Founder and Board Member of the Center for Sustainable Finance & Private Wealth (CSP) Singapore. Falko holds or held impact advisory board seats at Pictet, ZKB, and other finance organizations. He was a Fellow at Harvard University, PostDoc at MIT Sloan School of Management, Sustainability Analyst at Bank Vontobel, Partner at sustainable investing consultancy Contrast Capital, and assistant professor at EBS University. Falko holds a PhD from the University of Zurich and an MBA from the University of St. Gallen (HSG) in Switzerland. 

7️⃣ Gokul Shekar - Head of ESG & Climate Change of The Carbon Collective Company
Country: India 🇮🇳
Most-Read Thought Piece: Climate refugees: navigating the looming challenge
Profile: Gokul Shekar is the Head of ESG & Climate Change at The Carbon Collective Company, where he leads initiatives focused on renewable energy solutions, carbon offset projects, and driving sustainable business practices. As a TEDx speaker, he regularly shares his expertise on advancing climate-positive solutions and is passionate about using regenerative practices to transform industries.

8️⃣ Fikayo Akeredolu - Researcher at the University of Oxford and fmr. technology growth expert at Bloomberg
Country: South Africa 🇿🇦
Most-Read Thought Piece: South Africa and the illusion of a “just” transition
Profile: Fikayo Akeredolu is a researcher at the University of Oxford, focusing on the political economy of energy transition in Nigeria. Her research interests include climate change in the Global South and Sino-African trade, finance, and development. Fikayo holds a Master's in Contemporary Chinese Studies from Oxford and a Master's in Global Affairs from Tsinghua University. Prior to her graduate studies, she worked as a financial products and technology growth expert at Bloomberg, Stears, and Refinitiv (now The London Stock Exchange Group). 

9️⃣ Anders Pettersson - Fmr. Executive Director of Civil Rights Defenders and Executive Officer of UNICEF
Country: Sweden 🇸🇪
Most-Read Thought Piece: Darfur then and now: justice without power isn't deterrence
Profile: Anders L. Pettersson is the former Executive Director of Civil Rights Defenders and Executive Officer of UNICEF. He has extensive experience in human rights and international development, leading efforts to protect civil liberties and improve conditions for vulnerable populations worldwide. 

🔟 Kerry Kennedy - President of the Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center
Country: United States 🇺🇸
Most-Read Thought Piece: Corporate courage after Davos
Profile: Kerry Kennedy is the President of the Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center, where she works on human rights protection, strategic litigation, and corporate accountability across global contexts. She is a human rights lawyer and a New York Times bestselling author, with a focus on civil liberties, women's rights, freedom of expression, and the rule of law. Her work engages governments, businesses, and civil society on the responsibilities of non-state actors when public protections fail. She is a member of the illuminem Leaders Cohort.

Congratulations to our most-read thought leaders of the year. In a time when the sustainability conversation was pulled in every direction at once, the voices on this list helped move it forward with clarity and intellect. We are proud to amplify their voices, and look forward to what comes next.

To stay updated, please enjoy our dedicated Social Responsibility page and join our weekly newsletter here! Contact us if you want to publish on illuminem or to partner with us. 

Stay tuned for Thought Leader rankings in other top illuminem categories over the next days!

⭐Join the illuminem Club to keep the conversation going with these sustainability leaders, and many more, while unlocking exclusive event invitations and insights!