The David Rockefeller
Bridging Leadership Awards
The David Rockefeller
Bridging Leadership Awards
Bridging leadership represents a paradigm shift in our approach to leadership: a movement away from less-inclusive forms of decision-making that have dominated much of human history.
In our increasingly interconnected world, this form of leadership is essential for creating the collaboration needed to solve local, national and global challenges.
The Bridging Leadership Award was first presented in 2003 to David Rockefeller, for whom it is now named. Each year, philanthropists, social investors, and business, government, and nonprofit leaders gather to recognize leaders who exemplify this inclusive approach to solving complex problems.
Coming in 2027
2027 Bridging Leadership Awards
More information coming soon.
Past Awards
For more than 25 years, this gathering has brought together leaders who build bridges across sectors and divides. Past honorees and guests include Nelson Mandela, Kofi Annan, Graça Machel, Wangari Maathai, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and Mary Robinson.
Farwiza Farhan, Yayasan HAkA, and Peter Bakker, President & CEO, World Business Council for Sustainable Development
Yael Admi, Co-founder, Women Wage Peace, and Reem Al-Hajajreh, Co-founder, Women of the Sun; and Strive and Tsitsi Masiyiwa, Co-founders, Higherlife Foundation
Kluane Adamek, Yukon Regional Chief, Assembly of First Nations; Dr. Mary Robinson, Former President of Ireland; and Jochen Zeitz, Chairman, President and CEO, Harley-Davidson, Inc.
André Hoffmann, Vice Chairman, Roche Holding; Alyse Nelson, President, CEO & Co-Founder, Vital Voices Global Partnership; and Darren Walker, President, Ford Foundation
Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, Co-chair, Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, and Cherie Nursalim, Special Advisor on Climate in the Government of Indonesia
Marc Benioff, Founder, Chair & CEO, Salesforce; Christiana Figueres, Founding Partner, Global Optimism; and Eddie Ndopu, the UN Secretary-General’s Global Advocate for Sustainable Development
The Global Sustainability Network and Saru Jayaraman, Co-founder, Restaurant Opportunities Centers United
Carlos Rodriguez-Pastor, Founder, Innova Schools; Ernesto Garilao, President, Zuellig Family Foundation; and Corazon Soliman, former Secretary of Social Welfare and Development of the Philippines
University for a Night, 1999–2017 25 events in New York, Europe, and Africa
Mo Ibrahim and Hadeel Ibrahim, Mo Ibrahim Foundation; Ma Jun, Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs
Event page →Othman Benjelloun and Dr. Leïla Mezian Benjelloun, BMCE Bank Foundation; Kennedy Odede and Jessica Posner Odede, Shining Hope for Communities
Event page →Ratan N. Tata, Chair, Sir Ratan Tata Trust and Navajbai Ratan Tata Trust, and former Chairman, Tata Group; Angélique Kidjo, singer-songwriter, activist, UNICEF International Goodwill Ambassador, and Founder of Batonga
Event page →Paul Polman, CEO, Unilever; the Honorable Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Minister of Finance of Nigeria; and the Honorable Simão Jatene, Governor of the State of Pará, Brazil
Event page →Michael R. Bloomberg, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and 108th Mayor of New York City; Peter Buffett, composer, philanthropist, and author
Event page →Bill Clinton, Founder, William J. Clinton Foundation, and 42nd President of the United States
Event page →His Highness the Aga Khan, Chair, Aga Khan Development Network
Mohammed “Mo” Ibrahim, Founder, Mo Ibrahim Foundation
Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi, African Women’s Development Fund; Jennifer and Peter Buffett, NoVo Foundation
Event page →Mamphela Ramphele
Sir Richard Branson, Founder, Virgin Unite; Zainab Salbi, Founder, Women for Women International
Event page →Nahas Angula, Prime Minister of Namibia; Wendy and Raymond Ackerman, South African entrepreneurs and philanthropists; Alice Mogwe, Director, Ditshwanelo – The Botswana Centre for Human Rights
Kofi Annan, Seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations and Founder, Kofi Annan Foundation; Sheela Patel, Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centres, Shack/Slum Dwellers International; Guilherme Leal, Natura Cosméticos
Event page →Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi, African Women’s Development Fund and Synergos Senior Fellow; Achmat Dangor, Nelson Mandela Foundation and Synergos Senior Fellow; Graça Machel, Foundation for Community Development; Precious Moloi-Motsepe, Synergos Southern Africa Board Member
Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan; Fazle Hasan Abed, BRAC; Wangari Maathai, Nobel Peace Laureate, Green Belt Movement; Jeff Skoll, eBay, Skoll Foundation and Participant Media
Event page →Nelson Mandela, former President of South Africa; Bill Gates, Melinda French Gates and William H. Gates Sr., Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Mariclaire Acosta, Organization of American States; Raymond Chambers, Malaria No More; Rajesh Tandon, Society for Participatory Research in Asia
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia; Ted Turner, United Nations Foundation; Charles A. Minor, Government of Liberia; E. Neville Isdell, The Coca-Cola Company; Ingrid Srinath, Child Rights and You
Event page →Corazon C. Aquino, Benigno S. Aquino Jr. Foundation and former President of the Philippines; James D. Wolfensohn, Special Envoy for Gaza Disengagement and former President of the World Bank; Hafsat Abiola-Costello, Kudirat Initiative for Democracy; Robert H. Dunn, Business for Social Responsibility; Surakiart Sathirathai, Royal Thai Government
John C. Whitehead, Lower Manhattan Development Corporation; the Foundation for Community Development of Mozambique
David Rockefeller; Bruce Klatsky, Phillips-Van Heusen; Corazon Juliano-Soliman, Social Welfare and Development of the Philippines; President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria; Graça Machel, Foundation for Community Development of Mozambique; Eveline Herfkens, Millennium Development Goals Campaign
William B. Harrison, Jr., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.; Helio Mattar, Abrinq Foundation for Children’s Rights; Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, United Nations Population Fund; Tokyo Sexwale, Mvelaphanda Holdings
Maria Isabel Baquerizo de Noboa, First Lady of Ecuador; Marian Wright Edelman, Children’s Defense Fund; Louise Frechette, The United Nations; Phil Watts, Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies
Ruth Cardoso, First Lady of Brazil; Richard A. McGinn, Lucent Technologies Inc.; Charles A. Heimbold, Jr., Bristol-Myers Squibb Company; Mark Malloch Brown, United Nations Development Programme
Michel Camdessus, International Monetary Fund; Esteban Moctezuma Barragán, Secretary of Social Development, Mexico; Sithembiso Nyoni, Minister of State for Economic Development, Zimbabwe
Positions listed are those held at time of event.