CEF

The C.K. Prahalad Award

THE C.K. PRAHALAD AWARD FOR BUSINESS SUSTAINABILITY LEADERSHIP

Created in 2010 to honor founding CEF Advisory Board member C.K Prahalad, the Prahalad Award for Business Sustainability Leadership recognizes exceptional, globally significant private-sector leadership that underscores sustainability as a key driver of innovation and long-term business success. Meet the past winners.

Awards are determined through private votes cast by CEF’s Advisory Board following an open nominations process. The number of awards varies from year to year, with usually one or two winners total. 2024 awardees will be notified no later than February 28.  Winners will be announced publicly at the 2024 CEF Annual Leadership Retreat.

SUBMIT A NOMINATION BY JANUARY 31, 2024

Anyone may submit a nomination (including self-nominations) until January 31. Nominees may be either (1) individual executives, (2) notable corporate actions/initiatives, or (3) collaborations involving the private sector. Candidates do not need to be connected to a CEF member company. 

Nominations are being accepted for candidates in either of the following three categories:

Category 1: Exceptional Achievement and Impact

The jury seeks to honor individual executives, corporate initiatives, or business collaborations that have delivered notable achievements in any of the following ways:

  • Raising the bar for what constitutes best practice or leadership in an important sphere
  • Driving transformative impact within an industry or value chain, either through collaboration or leadership by example
  • Commercializing or scaling impactful innovations — in products, services, or business models
  • Shaping more sustainably minded public attitudes or behaviors
  • Playing a leadership role in advancing constructive policy dialogue and action

Category 2: Groundbreaking Vision & Ambition

The jury seeks to honor individual executives, corporate initiatives, or business collaborations that have shown courageous aspiration to help restore and regenerate our natural world and our societies. Candidates should demonstrate notable actions such as:

  • Setting audacious targets that stretch the imagination of what’s possible
  • Aiming for net positive impact on the natural world and society, backed by concrete plans
  • Developing strategies to profit from solving the world’s societal and environmental challenges
  • Advancing pre-competitive collaboration to drive transformative solutions at the pace and scale demanded by science
  • Taking risks to pioneer groundbreaking innovations and new business models
  • Advocating for bold new approaches to business leadership, policy, and/or problem solving

Category 3: Combination of Qualities in Category 1 & 2

Click here to submit a nomination

Questions? Contact CEF Executive Director Amy O’Meara: amy[at]corporateecoforum[dot]com


About C.K. Prahalad

ck_portraitC.K. Prahalad was the Paul and Ruth McCracken Distinguished University Professor at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan specializing in corporate strategy. One of the world’s most respected management strategists and advisor to numerous Global 500 CEOs, C.K. was named number one in the Thinkers50 poll conducted by Suntop media and the Times of London. C.K. was a founding member of the CEF Advisory Board. With Ram Nidumolu and M.R. Rangaswami, C.K. authored a 2009 Harvard Business Review cover story, “Why Sustainability is Now the Key Driver of Innovation.” C.K. authored or co-authored many best-selling business books, including Multinational Mission: Balancing Local Demands and Global Vision (1987), Competing for the Future (1994), The Future of Competition: Co-Creating Unique Value with Customers (2004), and The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty through Profit (2004).  C.K. served on the Board of Directors of Pearson Plc, Teradata Corporation, Hindustan Unilever Limited, TVS Capital and the World Resources Institute.

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