The persistent rise of the activist leader

Around the world, more and more prominent leaders are taking up social causes

Words / Matt Gitsham

Amanda Blanc, Aviva

Amanda Blanc has been chief executive of UK insurer Aviva since July 2020. Born and raised in the Rhondda Valley in South Wales, Amanda has held a series of senior roles across the insurance industry. As chair of the Women in Finance Climate Action Group, she has been vocal in calling for insurers to use their influence to ensure that the businesses they invest in are on a net-zero trajectory, as well as ensuring they don’t provide insurance to high-carbon industries. She has also called for more women in leadership roles at the World Bank and the IMF and has been a long-standing advocate for gender equality in the workplace.

Tim Cook, Apple

Tim Cook has been chief executive of Apple, one of the world’s biggest companies, since 2011. Originally from Alabama, Cook has been a high-profile advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, for example tweeting in 2015 to criticise Indiana’s new anti-gay law and to call for the Arkansas governor to veto a similar proposal there: “Apple is open for everyone. We are deeply disappointed in Indiana’s new law”. More recently, he called for the US Senate to expand federal legal protection from discrimination to LGBTQ+ Americans. Cook is also an outspoken advocate for climate action. In 2020, Apple announced its intention for its supply chain to be carbon-neutral by 2030, and Cook has frequently called for more ambitious government action on climate change, publicly criticising the Trump administration’s decision to leave the Paris Agreement in 2017.

Matthew McCarthy, Ben & Jerry’s

After 13 years at Unilever, Matthew McCarthy became chief executive of Ben & Jerry’s, a Unilever brand, in 2018. As the boss of a brand that’s well-known for its activism, McCarthy has been a vocal advocate for action on several issues. In the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd in 2020, for example, he called for white supremacy to be dismantled and committed Ben & Jerry’s to supporting the fight against systemic racism through advocacy for a bill investigating slavery reparations and a bipartisan task force looking into police reform in the US.

Julian Richer, Richer Sounds

Julian Richer set up the UK hi-fi retail chain Richer Sounds in 1978. Early on in his entrepreneurial career, he embraced a radical new leadership philosophy that focused on job security, wellbeing and corporate responsibility. He has written about his outlook in The Ethical Capitalist. In 2019, Richer gave 60 per cent of the company’s shares to his employees, and 15 per cent of company profits are given to charity. Richer regularly speaks out against zero-hours contracts and corporate greed, and he has set up an investigative think tank called TaxWatch to expose corporate tax avoidance.

Doug McMillon, Walmart

Originally from Memphis, Tennessee, Doug McMillon’s family moved to Bentonville, Arkansas when he was a teenager. There, he took a summer job in a Walmart distribution centre. Thirty years later, he became chief executive. In the early years of McMillon’s leadership, Walmart took a number of steps to adopt more responsible gun-selling practices. Then, in 2019, he took the step of speaking publicly against gun violence, announcing that Walmart would end the sale of handguns and also some bullets used in handguns and assaultstyle weapons, and also calling for the US Congress to pass stricter gun control laws.

Jesper Brodin, Ikea

Jesper Brodin has been chief executive of Ingka Group (formerly IKEA Group) since 2017. Brodin has been a passionate advocate for action on climate change and the circular economy within IKEA and has called on EU leaders to step up climate action. He has also backed the ambition set out in the European Green Deal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 per cent by 2030 (versus 1990 levels). Speaking at the UN Climate Action Summit in 2020, he said: “We have a responsibility to lead change as we’re a big business with a big impact, and by actively engaging we use our voice to ask governments and other businesses to step up.”

Hamdi Ulukaya, Chobani

Billionaire and Kurdish activist Hamdi Ulukaya disrupted the US dairy industry in 2006 when he popularised Greek-style yoghurt through his newlyfounded Chobani brand. The Chobani recipe, inspired by his childhood in a Kurdish sheep-farming community in Turkey, is now one of the best-selling yoghurts in the US. His leadership challenges traditional capitalist principles. Forbes has even described him as a “socially responsible CEO”. Ulukaya called himself the “anti CEO” during a 2019 TedTalk. Around 30 per cent of his employees are immigrants or refugees. Ulukaya also set up The Tent Partnership for Refugees, a coalition of businesses that provides employment and training opportunities for refugees.

Ester Baiget, Novozymes

Ester Baiget became chief executive of Danish biotech company Novozymes in February 2020. She originally trained as a chemical engineer in Spain, but she is now a member of The B Team, a group of business leaders seeking to drive change for people and the planet by focusing on better ways of doing business in their own organisations. That involves using their influence to call for governments and others to work together to address some of the key sustainability challenges.

Matt Gitsham is director of the Ashridge Centre for Business and Sustainability, part of Hult International Business School.

Additional reporting by Mark Rowland