Tällberg Foundation Announces Leadership Prize Winners
Laureates to be Celebrated at SNF Nostos 2026 in Athens
Stockholm and New York, November 19, 2025—The Tällberg Foundation today announced the winners of the 2025 Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson Global Leadership Prizes, which honor outstanding leaders whose work is courageous, innovative, impactful, rooted in universal values, and global in perspective.
The 2025 laureates:
Rhett Ayers Butler
, Founder and CEO, Mongabay.
For redefining global environmental journalism through Mongabay, a networked model of independent reporting that empowers local voices, informs global policy, and renews confidence in journalism as a force for accountability and change.
Bryan Doerries
, Artistic Director, Theater of War Productions.
For harnessing the power of ancient stories to heal modern trauma, creating brave spaces where art, empathy, and dialogue aim to restore human connection, and reimagining the role of culture in public life.
Dr. David Gruber
, Founder and President, Project CETI (Cetacean Translation Initiative).
For bringing together science, technology, imagination, and empathy to decipher the language of whales, pointing towards new ways of understanding, interacting with and protecting non-human life.
“These extraordinary leaders remind us that courage and imagination can reshape the human story,” said Alan Stoga, Chairman of the Tällberg Foundation. “Each works in very different worlds — from journalism to art to science — but all share a deep commitment to reframing how we think, act, and care for one another and for the planet.”
Andreas Dracopoulos, Co-President of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), which is the lead supporter of the Tällberg Foundation, added:
“That this year’s winners all focus on fostering communication and collaboration, empathy, and greater understanding speaks to the Tällberg Foundation’s vision of leadership as nurturing new connections that shift our perspective and realign our priorities. It’s a vision that SNF is proud to support.”
The 2025 laureates will be celebrated during SNF Nostos 2026, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation’s 30th anniversary celebration in Athens, Greece, during the last week of June, 2026. SNF Nostos brings together leaders, scientists, innovators, academics, artists and others to explore ideas, culture, and humanity’s shared future. The Tällberg Foundation and its global network will not only celebrate this year’s Prize winners at Nostos, but also create and participate in a range of other activities during Nostos.
This year’s laureates were chosen by a jury with a wealth of experience, diverse worldviews, and considerable wisdom from a pool of more than 1,500 candidates from 146 countries. Each winner will receive a $50,000 honorarium as part of the Prize. The Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson Global Leadership Prize was launched in 2015 and has honored 35 leaders from a wide range of disciplines and geographies.
