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.

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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. 

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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.

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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.”

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

Dr. Charu Mishra shares how saving the snow leopard has united rival nations in the Himalayas—showing that protecting nature also protects people.

One of the most amazing animals on the planet is the snow leopard. The smallest of the big cats is indigenous to the twelve countries sharing the High Himalayas including China, India, Russia, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nepal. Those countries disagree on most things: borders, values, economics, religion—but amazingly agree that the survival of the snow leopard is in their national and collective interests.

The High Himalayas are a microcosm of the problems confronting the planet. Because it is cold, high, and glaciated, even small increases in temperature cascade into large ecological and societal impacts. Border conflicts are always bubbling—and often boiling over—while internal conflicts are rife in much of the region. And economic development, in many parts of the Himalayas is aspirational at best.

How can such a complicated group of countries, peoples, and leaders ignore their differences when it comes to protecting the snow leopard? Even more, how to agree that protecting the snow leopard should be done in ways that are in concert with, not at the expense of, the needs of the people who live in the High Himalayas?

Dr. Charu Mishra is Executive Director of the Snow Leopard Trust and one of the prime movers in an ongoing, but increasingly successful conservation campaign that defies geopolitical gravity. Listen as he describes how he and his colleagues have persuaded countries that are sometimes literally at war with each other to act together for a common purpose.

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

ABOUT OUR GUESTS

Charu Mishra works to protect nature, focusing on snow leopards and Asia’s high mountain ecosystems. He partners with Indigenous peoples and local communities, and is involved in community-centric nature conservation, research, administration, policy, and international cooperation.

Charu serves as Executive Director of the International Snow Leopard Trust, which is headquartered in Seattle, USA, and as Secretary General of the worldwide Ethical Conservation Alliance. He lives in India, where he co-founded the Nature Conservation Foundation.

Great art is timeless because it provides insights into our souls, into how we think and why we do what we do. That’s as true of Shakespeare’s sonnets as it is of Michelangelo’s frescoes, as it is of the Greek tragedies.

But what if those classics could be repurposed to shed light on the specific challenges facing us today? Would it be possible to understand the impact of racial discrimination, political corruption, war or flawed relationships in the same raw and real ways that the original audiences of Shakespeare, Michelangelo, and the Greeks understood them?

The results would be amazing, healing, entertaining, and educational. The long lens of antiquity could strip away what we think is so special about our time, focusing instead on what makes us human.

That’s exactly what Bryan Doerries and the Theater of War Productions have been doing for almost two decades, around the United States and around the world. And the results are, in fact, transformational.

Listen as Bryan explains how his personal loss led him to re-imagine a very old art form.

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Find the New Thinking for a New World podcast on a platform of your choice (Apple podcast, Spotify, Google podcast, Youtube, etc.)

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Theater of War Productions creates community-driven, theater-based projects that address urgent social and public health issues. Since 2009, it has reached over 150,000 people through programs designed to spark dialogue and healing.

A powerful example is Antigone in Ferguson, which fuses dramatic readings of Sophocles’ Antigone with live choral music performed by a diverse choir of activists, youth, teachers, and police officers. Created with Ferguson community members after the 2014 killing of Michael Brown, the project confronts racial injustice, police violence, and systemic inequality through art and conversation.

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Bryan Doerries is a writer, director, and translator who currently serves as Artistic Director of Theater of War Productions. 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.

During his tenure at Theater of War Productions, the company has presented diverse projects across the United States and internationally. The company uses dramatic readings of seminal plays and community conversations to confront topics such as combat-related psychological injury, end-of-life care, racialized violence, incarceration, gun violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, the refugee crisis, and addiction.

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, was named Public Artist in Residence (PAIR) for the City of New York, and was recently elected a Hastings Center Fellow.