The Tällberg Foundation prides itself on asking tough, over the horizon questions and the recent Tällberg @ Nostos workshop was no exception. When the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) decided to celebrate its 30th anniversary, Tällberg—which has partnered with SNF for more than a third of its existence—was invited to the party. So we asked more questions than there are answers.

The real power of a Tällberg Foundation gathering is less the formal agenda than the non-stop conversation among participants about the issues and challenges that shape our time and our future. Tällberg @ Nostos in Athens was no exception, and it’s impossible to summarize or even to describe how rich those discussions were. Nonetheless, I thought you might appreciate a taste of the program enjoyed by participants from the global Tällberg network, including 15 past winners of the Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson Global Leadership Prize.

Photo credit: SNF/Trivision, John Palaiologos

The Trials of Atlas
On June 25, The Trials of Atlas took the stage at SNF Nostos 2026 to a full house — and to the kind of engaged, thoughtful response the play is built for. The premise: in 2031, an AI agent stands trial for killing the engineers who created it, with the audience serving as jury. What followed, on stage and in the discussion afterward, was a genuinely rich exploration of accountability, intelligence, and where the lines should be drawn as AI systems take on more autonomy. Written by Alan Stoga, the staged reading featured a cast that brought real weight and nuance to those questions – see here

The World in 2036
Tällberg @ Nostos opened with the question that shaped everything that followed: what will the world actually look like in 2036 — not the world we’d like, but the one we’re more likely to get? A handful of plausible, distinct scenarios for where climate, technology, conflict, and governance might be heading over the next decade set the frame for the entire workshop.

Those scenarios became the throughline for the rest of the weekend, returning again and again as participants asked what kind of leadership and institutions each one would demand. In breakout groups, participants stress-tested governance itself against a defined set of shocks and worked through not just how governance would respond in the moment, but what would become necessary, possible, and impossible as the crisis persisted.

Celebrating Leadership
The Tällberg Foundation and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation have worked together for eleven years to nurture great leadership. In Athens, we celebrated the winners of the 2025 Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson Global Leadership Prize: Rhett Ayers Butler, honored for redefining global environmental journalism through Mongabay; Bryan Doerries, honored for harnessing ancient stories to heal modern trauma through Theater of War Productions; and David Gruber, honored for combining science and technology to decipher the language of whales through Project CETI.

SNF Nostos
Tällberg @ Nostos took place alongside SNF Nostos 2026, a conference marking the Stavros Niarchos Foundation’s 30th anniversary and built around the theme “Humanity at the Core.” Held at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center in Athens from June 21–28, the celebration brought together football, running, opera, theater, robotics, and policy discussions in a shared expression of SNF’s three decades of grantmaking and the leadership of Andreas Dracopoulos.

The question of AI’s place in that future world was explored through a staged reading of a new play, The Trials of Atlas, written by Alan Stoga, in which an AI agent stands trial for killing the engineers who created it. The audience served as jury, weighing questions of motive, means, and intent as AI systems take on greater autonomy — questions that carried directly into the workshop’s broader governance discussions.

At the heart of the workshop was the question that shaped everything that followed: what will the world actually look like in 2036 — not the world we’d like, but the one we’re more likely to get? A handful of plausible, distinct scenarios for where climate, technology, conflict, and governance might be heading over the next decade set the frame for the entire workshop. Those scenarios became the throughline for the rest of the weekend, returning again and again as participants asked what kind of leadership and institutions each one would demand. In breakout groups, participants stress-tested governance itself against a defined set of shocks and worked through not just how governance would respond in the moment, but what would become necessary, possible, and impossible as the crisis persisted.

Along with the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), Tällberg also celebrated the winners of the 2025 Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson Global Leadership Prize: Rhett Ayers Butler, honored for redefining global environmental journalism through Mongabay; Bryan Doerries, honored for harnessing ancient stories to heal modern trauma through Theater of War Productions; and David Gruber, honored for combining science and technology to decipher the language of whales through Project CETI. Their work — spanning journalism, culture, and science — reflected the kind of innovative, courageous leadership the workshop set out to explore.

What does global leadership look like in a fractured, uncertain world?

The Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson Global Leadership Prize was created to recognize leaders from any discipline, any country, who are working to make the world better. Leadership that is global in perspective, innovative and persistent, and grounded in universal values.

This episode is a recording of a special webinar celebrating the 2025 Prize laureates: Rhett Ayers Butler, founder of Mongabay; Bryan Doerries, founder of Theater of War Productions; and David Gruber, founder of Project CETI.

Moderated by Helena Nilsson, Prize jury member and Deputy CEO of the MiL Institute, the wide-ranging conversation explores how journalism, art, and science can reshape how we understand truth, trauma, and our relationship with the natural world.

Listen as they reflect on their work, their motivations, and what leadership requires at this moment in history. Then NOMINATE someone for the 2026 version of the Prize.

Watch the full conversation with the Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson Global Leadership Prize winners here:

You can also find the New Thinking for a New World on your preferred platform, including Apple, Spotify, and YouTube. 

ABOUT OUR GUESTS

Rhett Ayers Butler is a journalist, conservationist, and the founder of Mongabay, a leading global environmental news platform producing original reporting in multiple languages. His work bridges investigative journalism, conservation science, and storytelling, amplifying the voices of communities on the frontlines of environmental change. His reporting and leadership have been recognized with awards from organizations such as the Heinz Family Foundation and the Parker-Gentry Award for Conservation. Born in the United States, Rhett studied economics and biology at UC San Diego before working across Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

Bryan Doerries is a writer, director, and translator serving as Artistic Director of Theater of War Productions. Using dramatic readings of seminal plays and community conversations, he helps individuals and communities heal from trauma and loss by exploring the relevance of ancient stories to contemporary issues. His books include The Theater of War and The Odyssey of Sergeant Jack Brennan, and among his honors he has received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Kenyon College and was named Public Artist in Residence for the City of New York.

David Gruber is a marine biologist, explorer, and innovator whose work bridges biology, robotics, and artificial intelligence to reveal the hidden lives of ocean creatures. He is the Founder and President of Project CETI (Cetacean Translation Initiative), an effort to decode the communication of sperm whales using machine learning and robotics, and a Distinguished Professor of Biology and Environmental Sciences at the City University of New York. A National Geographic Explorer and TED Audacious grantee, his discoveries include the first biofluorescent sea turtle and over 200 new fluorescent and bioluminescent marine species, and he is the author of Aglow in the Dark: The Revolutionary Science of Biofluorescence.

Helena Nilsson is an experienced People & Culture leader passionate about developing business and people together, working with a Gestalt and systemic approach at the core. She is currently Deputy CEO of the MiL Institute. Before that she headed up HR, Communication and Continuous Improvement at Electrolux, BA Europe, and prior to that was head of People & Culture at Inter IKEA Group, where she owned the IKEA People Strategy, driving a continued strong people focus across the organization after 19 years at IKEA. She holds a BSc in Business, Marketing and Management from Växjö University and an MSc in Gestalt in Organisations from the University of Derby and Gestalt Academy in Scandinavia.

• The impact of advanced AI (call it super intelligence if you want, but it’s already smarter than most of us) on society.
• The need to re-define governance as bottom-up instead of top-down, which the hubris of the last decades insisted could solve all problems everywhere.
• The re-imagination of how not-for-profits—whether in research, health care, social welfare, or elsewhere—fund themselves when governmental and multilateral support fades. Sustainability almost certainly requires dramatically different thinking and acting. We need to define and engineer new models.

The AI discussion was prompted by a dramatic reading (by participants) of a new play, The Trials of Atlas, in which AI is on trial for murder, and the participants convened as jurors to debate and decide guilt. The governance and re-modeling conversations were based on case studies: the former focused on the Amazon and Congo River basins, and the latter on CAMTech Uganda.

Beyond the intensive sessions, participants explored Albania’s unique history and culture, examining how the country navigates the dramatic forces of change that define our times.

Meet our 2026 mentees and mentors

Leadership Matters Now More Than Ever

Nominations Accepted Through March 31

Stockholm & New York, February 1, 2026 – The Tällberg Foundation today opened nominations for the 2026 Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson Global Leadership Prize. The Prize honors outstanding leaders from any country or discipline who demonstrate the vision and courage to tackle the complexity of today’s world. Nominations are open through March 31, 2026.

“This isn’t just a challenging period—it’s a fundamental transformation in how our world works,” said Alan Stoga, chairman of the Tällberg Foundation. “Never in our lifetimes has the need for values-based, global leadership been greater. We’re looking for leaders who don’t simply react to events but actively shape the future. Leaders who work across disciplines and borders, who see what’s coming and act with courage, ethics, and vision.”

With the generous support of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), three winners will be selected in 2026. Each laureate will receive an unrestricted $50,000 grant, be celebrated at an awards dinner in early 2027, and join Tällberg’s global network of leaders—an active forum for engagement, collaboration, and sustained impact.

Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson Global Leaders are innovative, courageous, and ethical. They transcend sectors and borders to tackle pressing challenges with measurable impact and a fundamentally global worldview. They represent what is uniquely human about leadership: the capacity to see beyond systems and structures to the people they serve.

Nominations are open to anyone, anywhere, except for Prize jurors; individuals cannot nominate themselves. The process is open online at tallberg-snf-eliasson-prize.org.

“The Tällberg Foundation’s vision of leadership—and the process by which it recognizes exceptional leaders—is underpinned by our shared belief that every opportunity should be given to prospective and rising leaders, no matter where they come from, who put human beings at the core of what they do. We are proud to support the prize as a means of elevating and empowering leaders from around the globe,” said SNF Co-President Andreas Dracopoulos.

Prize winners will be announced in November 2026 and formally honored in early 2027.

If you know a leader whose work deserves global recognition, nominate them today at tallberg-snf-eliasson-prize.org.

This year is going to be memorable for all sorts of reasons, most of which already look to be depressing. The biggest offset to that is likely to be a global event that will distract much of the world from dismal headlines about war, climate, and tariffs. On June 11th, the FIFA World Cup kicks off, co-hosted by Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

The first match will be played in Mexico City’s Azteca Stadium between co-host Mexico and South Africa. The final will be played on July 19th, at MetLife Stadium outside New York City. If the past is prelude, many billions of people will watch the 104 matches that comprise this year’s tournament. 

Have you ever wondered how such an extravaganza is organized and executed? Today on New Thinking for a New World, we depart from our usual fare to consider the answer. Gabriela Cuevas, an experienced Mexican political leader and friend to the Tällberg Foundation, has the near-impossible task of preparing and producing Mexico’s World Cup experience. But if anyone can do it, Gaby can.

Listen as she shares some of the challenges and opportunities presented by this year’s edition of the World Cup. Then tell us who you think will play in that championship game on July 19th.

***

You can also find the New Thinking for a New World on your preferred platform, including Apple, Spotify, and YouTube. 

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Gabriela Cuevas Barron, Mexico’s Representative for the FIFA World Cup 2026

Gabriela is a Mexican diplomat, public leader, and academic with over 20 years of experience in democratic governance and international affairs. She has held senior roles in Mexico and internationally, including President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, where she advanced institutional reform, gender parity, and parliamentary diplomacy.

In Mexico, she has served as Senator, Federal Deputy, and a local government leader in Mexico City. She is currently Mexico’s Representative for the FIFA World Cup 2026, with a strong focus on social legacy, community development, and inclusion.

She has taught at international institutions and published in leading academic journals. Gabriela holds a degree in Political Science from ITAM and has received international recognition for her contributions to democratic governance and global dialogue.

The Greek classics are timeless because they provide insights into our souls, into how we think and why we do what we do. Of course, few of us regularly read or ponder the wisdom of those epic tragedies. But what if they could be made accessible in ways that shed light on the specific challenges of life in the 21st century?  

The results could be amazing, healing, entertaining, and educational—partly by stripping away what we think is so special about our time, focusing instead on what makes us human.

That’s exactly what Theater of War Productions, Bryan Doerries, and a host of actors have been doing with global audiences for almost two decades.  

Six months ago, we recorded this podcast with Bryan, who co-founded Theater of War Productions and serves as its artistic director. We share it again in recognition that Bryan Doerries has recently been selected as a winner of the Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson Global Leadership Prize. The jury honored him for creating brave spaces where art, empathy, and dialogue aim to restore human connection, reimagining the role of culture in public life.

Listen again and let us know what you think. 

***

You can also find the New Thinking for a New World on your preferred platform, including Apple, Spotify, and YouTube. 

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Bryan Doerries is a writer, director, and translator who currently serves as Artistic Director of Theater of War Productions, a company that presents dramatic readings of seminal plays and texts to frame community conversations about pressing issues, such as mental health, polarization, end of life care, racialized violence, incarceration, gun violence, domestic violence, substance abuse/addiction, the climate crisis, health inequities, sexual assault, disability justice, immigration, and the impact of war on children and families. A self-described evangelist for ancient stories and their relevance to our lives today, Doerries uses age-old approaches to help individuals and communities heal from trauma and loss. Doerries’ books include The Theater of War: What Ancient Greek Tragedies Can Teach Us Today, The Odyssey of Sergeant Jack Brennan, All That You’ve Seen Here is God, and Oedipus Trilogy. Among his awards, he has received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Kenyon College and was named Public Artist in Residence for the City of New York. For more than ten years, he has served on the board of directors for the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, the nonprofit organization that administers The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.

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.

“May you live in interesting times,” is usually described as a Chinese curse, although its origin is actually English or Irish. While that may or may not be another example of Chinese disregard for intellectual property ownership, it nonetheless applies almost everywhere as this complicated year draws towards a close.

That is certainly true in Colombia, which is beset with rising political violence, the potential for a constitutional crisis, pre-election maneuvering, and harassment from Donald Trump, his Pentagon, and his budget cutters. How will Colombia’s leadership react? Will they rise to the challenges? Or, as in so many other places, are the problems too great, and the leaders too small?

Our guest on this week’s New Thinking for a New World podcast episode is well-positioned to discuss the challenges of leadership in Colombia and beyond. Paula Moreno was Minister of Culture in the government of President Álvaro Uribe, the first woman Afro-Caribbean minister in her country’s history, and the founder of Manos Visibles. Listen as she discusses leadership in the 21st century.

***

You can also find the New Thinking for a New World on your preferred platform, including Apple, Spotify, and YouTube. 

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Paula Moreno is a trailblazing advocate for racial equity, social innovation, and generational transformation in Latin America. A Colombian industrial engineer with an MPhil in Management Studies from the University of Cambridge and additional studies at MIT and Yale, she made history as Colombia’s youngest and first Afro-Colombian woman to serve in a cabinet position as Minister of Culture. In the last fifteen years, as founder and president of Corporación Manos Visibles, Paula has catalyzed transformative leadership among more than 28,000 people and helped establish over 600 community organizations with a transnational network in 11 countries, championing new generations of Black and ethnic leaders shaping Colombia’s future.She was member of the truth commission of Colombia and the presidential advisory group for the most recent peace process in Colombia.  For twelve years, she has served on the Ford Foundation Board of Trustees and more recently at the Toriba Institute in Brazil. Her contributions have earned her international honors, including the Order of St. Charles (Colombia), the Order of the Aztec Eagle (Mexico), the Black Excellence Award in the U.K.  and the UN MIPAD Recognition. A respected writer and cultural producer, Paula is the author of El Poder de lo Invisible and Soñar lo Imposible—the latter inspiring an upcoming Netflix series—works that reflect her vision of a more inclusive, creative, and just world.

Chosen from an exceptionally competitive pool of 408 applicants representing 96 countries, these leaders will embark on a year-long journey of growth and collaboration through a one-on-one mentorship with accomplished global figures from the Tällberg network. The program kicks off in Tirana, Albania, from January 27–29, 2026, hosted in partnership with Albania’s Social Contract Institute.

“The leaders selected by the jury stand out for their creativity, persistence, and recognition that our world is at an inflection point,” said Alan Stoga, Chairman of the Tällberg Foundation. “We need new solutions for new challenges–and that requires new kinds of leadership. That is what TLML is all about, and why we are so excited about this extraordinary group of people.”

The TLML program, now in its third year, identifies and nurtures high-potential leaders from around the world, connecting them with experienced mentors for a transformative, year-long process of reflection, learning, and collaboration. Participants come from fields as diverse as education, technology, health, agriculture, and human rights—but share a belief that only leadership grounded in values can drive systemic change.

The 2026 TLML Mentees are:

• Aline Telles Coelho (Brazil) — Founder and Executive Director of the Agbara Fund, Brazil’s first philanthropic fund for Black women, supporting over 4,000 women through programs in economic justice and well-being.
• Aman Tripathi (India) —Automotive strategist and sustainability advocate driving business transformation at Nissan Europe and championing diversity and inclusion across global teams.
• Aysha Siddiqua Tithi (Bangladesh) — Student activist recognized internationally for her leadership in her country’s 2024 anti-discrimination movement and her advocacy for human rights and climate justice.
• Gaurav Mehta (India) — Founder and CEO of DharmaLife, a social enterprise empowering rural women entrepreneurs to deliver market-based solutions across clean energy, health, and livelihoods.
• Hadijah Nankanja (Uganda) — Founder and Executive Director of the Community Women’s Enterprise Network Uganda, building entrepreneurial capacity among women and youth for inclusive economic growth.
• Hanna Poikonen (Finland) — Neuroscientist, dancer, and founder of WiseMotion Community, pioneering cross-disciplinary research at the intersection of movement, neuroscience, and mental health.
• Hanna Valynets (Belarus/Lithuania) — Journalist and media innovator focused on human rights, disinformation, and independent media, leading a cross-border network of freelance reporters.
• Jubilian Ngaruwa (Nigeria) — Documentary filmmaker and National Geographic Explorer using ethical storytelling to amplify local voices and preserve African cultural narratives.
• Lili Sára Balogh (Hungary) — Agronomical engineer and President of the Hungarian Agroecology Network Association, advancing regenerative and equitable food systems through research, advocacy, and practice across Europe.
• Nitesh Kumar Jangir (India) — Engineer and social innovator whose medical technologies for emergency and critical care have saved thousands of lives across Asia and Africa.
• Sakina Bakari Mwinyimkuu (Tanzania) — Director of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation in the Tanzanian government, co-founder of Emerging and Senior Women Leaders Tanzania, and a national mentor for young professionals.
• Samah Hadid (Lebanon) — Global Executive Director of Musawah and human rights advocate focused on advancing gender equality and justice across Muslim-majority countries.
• Sohini Bhattacharya (India) — Senior advisor and former CEO of Breakthrough, with three decades of leadership in gender justice, philanthropy, and movement-building in South Asia.
• Surya Karki (Nepal) — Global Pathbuilders Fellow and founding CEO of Christel House Nepal, transforming and leading efforts to build sustainable schools and expand access to quality education for underprivileged children.
• Umama Fatema (Bangladesh) — Youth leader and women’s rights advocate who helped lead Bangladesh’s 2024 student reform movement and continues to mobilize youth for social change.

“Our mission is to help leaders navigate complexity with courage and empathy,” said Michael Niconchuk, TLML Program Director and Tällberg Foundation Board Member. “This incredibly diverse cohort includes leaders early in their journeys as well as individuals with a track record of accomplishment. TLML aims to give them all the space and support to grow faster.”

Each mentee will be paired with a mentor from the Tällberg Foundation’s global network of accomplished leaders for a one-on-one mentorship experience over the course of 2026.

“True leaders forgo facile ‘answers’ to seek real solutions,” said SNF Co-President Andreas Dracopoulos. “Knowing that emerging leaders like these, grounded in universal human values, are at work around the world with border-transcending support from the Tällberg network is reason for optimism for the future.”

***

For more details and access to our media kit, click here.