This month we honor Social Capital dynamos nominated by their peers.

Just a little over a year after launching the Dave Alexander Center for Social Capital, we are thrilled to have honored CEOs and founders who are now part of our exclusive network of people-centric leaders. But we are even more excited to know that these leaders are so invested in our center that they are eager to vouch for us and bring other leaders on board who can and will contribute to the cause we are leading.

And so it is with extraordinary excitement that we announce our first official Center for Social Capital Nominations feature. These new additions to our compassionate community are all leaders who realize that the point of profits — and the real bottom line — is people.

We first of all want to extend our heartfelt thanks to all those previously honored leaders who are adding fuel to that very powerful and important fire by continually spreading the word about what we do and by letting us know about some of their favorite leaders whom they believe are changing the world in amazing ways. It proves that Social Capital is contagious!

Secondly, we are excited that these leaders come from all over the spectrum of size and industry, signaling that this movement is not limited to certain sectors or levels. This is truly an all-hands-on-deck movement that we are proud to be the media leader in.

Finally, we want to let you know we included every single nominee who was suggested because they are all so spot-on in step with what we are trying to promote and describe through our Social Capital platform. It means the understanding of this notion of companies who aspire to success by upholding and modeling a philosophy of respect for people is growing and slowly but surely making the world a better place by adhering to the Ten Core Principles of Social Capital Leaders.

To all the nominees and their nominators, we are thrilled to honor you and work with you to push this movement forward. There surely are many more leaders that our research simply hasn’t discovered, and we would really love your help in learning about them for next year.

Here’s to all of you: Onward and upward to a better world for all through capitalism.

Julie Sweet, Chair & CEO at Accenture

Nominated by Anthony Capuano, President & CEO of Marriott International

Honored Social Capital business leader Tony Capuano, some of whose Social Capital creds we spotlighted in December 2023 in Family Is the Backbone of Business: CEOs Who Support Our Most Important Institution and July 2024 in Business Is the Ultimate American Community Organizer, shared the following with us when he nominated Julie Sweet:

“Julie Sweet has focused on Accenture’s workplace culture to prioritize employee well-being and development. Under her leadership, Accenture invested over $840 million in learning and professional development in just one year, expanded parental leave policies, and championed diversity and inclusion initiatives. She has focused on responsible business practices, including sustainability and digital ethics, and significantly contributed to the Bridges from School to Work program [which was founded by the Marriott family] by serving on its board of trustees, where she advocates for programs that support young people with disabilities in their transition from school to the workforce.”

Julie’s response highlights Accenture’s focus on making a difference for all its stakeholders and its communities: “I am honored to receive this recognition on behalf of the more than 774,000 people at Accenture. Each day, we strive to make a positive impact with our clients, partners and investors; support each other; and invest in our communities to help them thrive.”

Amy Lemire, CSP, DTM; President & CEO at AIM Training and Consulting, Inc.

Nominated by Susanne Evens, Founder & CEO of AAA Translation

Honored Social Capital business leader Susanne Evens, some of whose Social Capital creds we spotlighted in March 2024 in Well-Being and Companies Slaying the Burnout Dragon and June 2024 in The Empathy Emergency! Successful Business Leaders Need It Now More than Ever, shared the following with us when she nominated Amy Lemire:

“Over the years, you meet very interesting people. As I have been thinking about who another like-minded human centric person would be to suggest, my friend and speaking coach Amy Lemire kept popping up.

“Amy Lemire began her journey of studying human potential at age 9. After a near-death experience — a car accident involving a drunk driver after a day at Six Flags with her family — she learned at a very young age the importance of developing inner strength: courage, self-confidence. Her grandmother gave her a book called ‘Determination’ by Helen Keller. Learning determination at a young age was a life-changing experience. Amy’s mother also gave her a book by Tony Robbins called ‘Awaken the Giant Within’ when she was 14. She began to go to workshops and seminars when she was a student at the University of Kansas, quickly becoming fascinated and a true believer that our inner strength and perseverance comes from within, no matter what type of adversity we face in our lives. Amy is also a Senior Leader volunteer for Tony Robbins Research International.

“Later, in her career in sales, Amy became inspired to speak and lead others. She joined Toastmasters in 2008 (was a member for 12 years) to become more confident in her speaking and delivering her message. This led to a role in sales training, where she felt her true calling was to coach, lead and mentor others. This also inspired Amy to write two books, ‘From Zero to Sales Hero’ and ‘From Zero to Speaker Hero.’ Amy later joined National Speakers Association in 2016 and served as the dean of Speakers Academy in the Chicago and Saint Louis chapters for nine terms. This is a volunteer opportunity as National Speakers Association is a not-for-profit organization.

“Amy speaks at community and women’s groups in and around the Saint Louis region to empower others to be the best version of themselves. In 2021, Amy went full-time into her business AIM Training and Consulting, where she works with success-driven leaders and teams who want to be more, make more and sell more with confidence and momentum. Her focuses include speaking, coaching, mentoring and facilitating in sales, speaking and success habits. Amy is also a certified Habitfinder Succes Habits Coach and believes we play two games in success: the ‘inner game’ of mindset and habits, and the ‘outer game’ of action and tactics.”

Amy shared with us why she sees people as the point of profits and how she has worked to integrate that into how she does business: “People are the cornerstone of profit because their passion and skills drive performance, innovation and success. I achieve this by empowering leaders and teams to unlock their potential, creating a culture of excellence and continuous growth, and prioritizing meaningful relationships. This approach boosts confidence, fuels momentum and, ultimately, enhances profitability and team productivity.”

Nathan Barry, Founder & CEO at Kit (formerly ConvertKit)

Nominated by Robert Glazer, Founder, Chairman of the Board & Former CEO of Acceleration Partners

Honored Social Capital business leader Robert Glazer, some of whose Social Capital creds we spotlighted in October 2023 in Authentic CEOs: Antidote to the Counterfeit Culture and May 2024 in Business Leaders Who Really Know How to Listen! and June 2024 in The Empathy Emergency! Successful Business Leaders Need It Now More than Ever, shared the following with us when he nominated Nathan Barry:

“I think he really puts his people first and went out of his way to create and equity program that could offer life-changing compensation for them. He’s incredible transparent and takes an open-source approach to his business.”

In fact, Robert shared that he and Nathan discussed this very idea on Robert’s podcast “Elevate Classics: Nathan Barry on Building the Creator Economy.”

Harry Kraemer, Executive Partner with Madison Dearborn Partners and Professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management

Nominated by Marshall Goldsmith, Founder at MarshallGoldsmith.com

Honored Social Capital business leader Marshall Goldsmith, some of whose Social Capital creds we spotlighted in October 2023 in Authentic CEOs: Antidote to the Counterfeit Culture, shared the following with us when he nominated Harry Kraemer:

“Harry is an amazing man! He has not only served as a CEO, he has helped countless other future leaders. He has been the ‘Teacher of the Year’ at Northwestern’s Kellogg School. He is a great author and coach.

“He is completely dedicated to The One Acre Fund, which has helped thousands of people in Africa have better lives. His book profits, speaking and coaching fees are 100% donated to this cause.

As you know, I am honored to know leaders like Alan Mulally and Hubert Joly [editor’s note: Alan and Hubert are also among our honored Social Capital leaders], who are both great at what they do and dedicated to making our world a better place. I would put Harry in the same class with these two!”

Harry shared with us why he sees people as the point of profits and how he has worked to integrate that into how he does business: “I was fortunate to start as a junior analyst at the global healthcare company Baxter Int’l, and over a 23-year career have the opportunity to become the chairman and CEO of this $12-billion company with 55,000 team members around the world. I say ‘team members’ because I never use the word ‘employees.’ I was taught very early on by my grandfather that the key to leadership is to realize that every single person matters, and to treat every single person the way you want to be treated. 

“I believe the benefit of being a senior leader has nothing to do with power, prestige or titles. The benefit of being a values-based leader is having the opportunity to have a positive impact and set a positive example for every individual with whom you come in contact. 

“Since being the former chairman and CEO of Baxter Int’l, I have been blessed with an even more important opportunity. This is my 20th year of being a clinical professor of leadership at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. Having the opportunity to teach values-based leadership to hundreds of individuals every year is amazing. If I can even have a small impact on every single one of these young students so that they realize the importance of what it means to be a leader, that would make it all worthwhile. I am sure you’ve heard the expression, “People truly do not care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

Shari Ballard, CEO at Minnesota United FC

Nominated by Jasmine Jirele, President & CEO at Allianz Life Insurance Company

Honored Social Capital business leader Jasmine Jirele, some of whose Social Capital creds we spotlighted in October 2023 in Authentic CEOs: Antidote to the Counterfeit Culture and December 2023 in Family Is the Backbone of Business: CEOs Who Support Our Most Important Institution and March 2024 in Well-Being and Companies Slaying the Burnout Dragon, shared the following with us when she nominated Shari Ballard:

“Shari uses her role as CEO of the MNUFC to unite the Twin Cities business community around supporting inclusivity in sports and in our community. She has been an active advocate in supporting and mentoring talent (especially women) throughout their career. She leads with compassion, heart and values that represent true leadership!”

Rich Bielen, President & CEO at Protective Life

Nominated by Jasmine Jirele, President & CEO at Allianz Life Insurance Company

Jasmine also believes Rich Bielen deserves recognition as a Social Capital leader, telling us:

“Rich is an active advocate of the life insurance industry and helping to use the work of the industry to do good. He is an advocate of leveraging the industry’s investment power and expertise to support healthy, vital communities across the country, and is a mentor to younger leaders and people joining our industry. He is the ultimate ‘connector,’ bringing leaders together from every corner of the industry to do good for the customers our industry serves.”

Ellen Cooper, Chair, President & CEO at Lincoln Financial Group

Nominated by Jasmine Jirele, President & CEO at Allianz Life Insurance Company

And Jasmine sees Ellen Cooper as another leader who exemplifies what it means to be a Social Capital leader:

“Ellen is a humble, thoughtful, collaborative leader who values the ideas and contributions of everyone she works with. She is extremely passionate about leveraging her role to do good to support the communities in which we live and work, and in creating a corporate culture that is focused on doing the right thing (even when tough decisions need to be made) and creating sustainability for the long term.”

Nasrin Mostafazadeh, Co-founder at Verneek

Nominated by Jill Koziol, Co-founder, Board Director & Former CEO of Motherly

Honored Social Capital business leader Jill Koziol, some of whose Social Capital creds we spotlighted in March 2024 in Well-Being and Companies Slaying the Burnout Dragon and June 2024 in The Empathy Emergency! Successful Business Leaders Need It Now More than Ever, shared the following with us when she nominated Nasrin Mostafazadeh:

“Nasrin is a gem of a person who is working to build the most helpful AI.” Jill points especially to Nasrin’s statement on her LinkedIn page, “At Verneek, we are building the most helpful AI to augment human knowledge in everyday life, one interaction at a time!”

We recognize Nasrin’s focus for advancing AI is aimed squarely at the people connection, building AI programs that enable better collaboration with humans. And this is, itself, based on an ancient medium of human interaction: language and storytelling.

Josh Higgins, President at ING Source, LLC

Nominated by Richard Moore, President & CEO of Good Feet Store

Honored Social Capital business leader Richard Moore, some of whose Social Capital creds we spotlighted in March 2024 in Well-Being and Companies Slaying the Burnout Dragon and July 2024 in Business Is the Ultimate American Community Organizer, shared the following background and insights with us when he nominated Josh Higgins:

“Thank you so much for reaching out for a nomination of another business founder and leader who embodies the Social Capital philosophy and values. I immediately thought of Josh Higgins, co-founder of ING Source. ING Source is a three-generation family business that has built an international reputation for manufacturing exceptionally high-quality compression bracing and performance socks, designed in Hickory, North Carolina. The products are uniquely effective because they are developed to target specific health conditions or ailments, and, as such, the products are thoughtfully engineered with the latest technological and scientific know-how and methodology.

“But what’s most important about Josh Higgins is not simply the company he has helped to build — it’s the way he has built and led this company. Because he has remained squarely focused, to this day, on the well-being of his employees — both in their working conditions and environment and in the importance of designing the products locally in North Carolina to retain jobs in the U.S.

“Additionally, ING Source has remained committed to selling its products through independent retailers as opposed to big box or sports specialty retail chains. While retail relationships with the big boxes would have obvious business benefits for ING Source, those retail chain agreements would compromise ING Source’s priority and focus on ensuring a thriving and healthy independent retail environment. That healthy independent retail environment matters because it benefits those retail companies and the customers who rely on those small, local retailers for trusted, high-quality recommendations for brands and products. Last Thanksgiving, for example, Josh devised and led ING Source’s ‘anti-Cyber Monday’ promotion, during which ING Source decided not to offer online product discounts, instead providing incentives for customers to shop local at its independent retailers.

“Bottom line, Josh Higgins ‘gets it.’ He is one of the most people-centric leaders whom I have encountered, as demonstrated by the way he treats and leads his team, and as demonstrated by his overarching philosophy and values regarding the local retailers he partners with — and why.”

Josh shared with us why he sees people as the point of profits and how he has worked to integrate that into how he does business: “Thank you for reaching out, and I’m honored by Richard Moore’s nomination of me to be recognized as a Social Capital business leader. As the president of ING Source LLC and the visionary behind our flagship brand OS1st, I have always prioritized servant leadership and a people-first approach. My leadership philosophy focuses on serving our employees, customers and retail partners, with the belief that when we invest in and uplift people, we create a ripple effect that drives both innovation and long-term business success.

“At the heart of OS1st, we strive to listen carefully to the needs of our employees, customers and community. This has not only built trust but also led to groundbreaking innovations in our product lines. I strive for empathy, which I believe has inspired our employees to create compression products and performance socks that are comfortable and effective — addressing real pain points we heard from those struggling with traditional solutions. Our focus on people-centric design continues to shape everything from our product development process to our customer service ethos.

“This approach extends beyond product creation. OS1st is also deeply committed to supporting small, independent retailers across the U.S., recognizing them as key pillars of local economies and community wellness. These retailers reflect our values of connection, health and service, which are core to our mission.

“By embracing a culture of servant leadership, we have seen firsthand how focusing on people fuels a thriving business. We cultivate an environment where each team member is valued, and innovation naturally follows from their contributions. This philosophy has not only strengthened our internal culture but also helped us positively impact the lives of the communities we serve.”

Charlie Malouf, President & CEO at Broad River Retail dba Ashley

Nominated by Garry Ridge, Founder of The Learning Moment and Former CEO of WD-40

Honored Social Capital business leader Garry Ridge, some of whose Social Capital creds we spotlighted in October 2023 in Authentic CEOs: Antidote to the Counterfeit Culture and January 2024 in Five CEOs Who Empower Others – and How! and June 2024 in The Empathy Emergency! Successful Business Leaders Need It Now More than Ever, shared the following with us when he nominated Charlie Malouf:

“Charlie Malouf is a CEO who not only gets that people are the soul of business, but has created a culture where people matter, belong and are nurtured. I love his quote, ‘Culture is not a microwavable event, it takes a crock pot approach.’”

Charlie was clear about why he sees people as the point of profits and how he has worked to integrate that into how he does business: “Back in the summer of 2015, we had a pivotal, crucible moment in our company’s history. We had broken all of our bones and had found ourselves at death’s doorstep, meaning we were on the verge of bankruptcy or of being acquired (salvaged for parts) by another (financially healthier) company. It was at that moment that we made the key decision to seize the opportunity and to reset who we were going to be, who we were going to be for, and how we were going to not just survive from our worst moment but ultimately thrive into the flourishing company that we are today.

“The experience of breaking all of our bones and nearly disintegrating as a company was the best thing that ever happened to us. The thing about broken bones is that when they heal, they tend to grow back stronger.

“One of the sea changes that we implemented in our moment of darkness was to shift from a ‘Human Resources’ mindset to a ‘Human Capital’ mindset. And, when we were at our worst financially, we made the decision to give everyone a raise on our sales floor. We then implemented career paths for every area of our company and saw our people as assets, not liabilities, to invest in and grow. We began saying, ‘We will grow as far as our people will take us … or not.’

 “In our industry (retail home furnishings), the traditional role and title for a commissioned salesperson is Retail Sales Associate (RSA). We realized that whether you had been with us for 90 minutes, nine hours, nine days, nine weeks, nine months or nine years, you had the same title: RSA. No growth. No progress. So, we changed it! We created career pathing on the retail sales floor with promotions, graduations, certifications, recognition, increased earning power, reserved parking spaces, celebratory dinners with all of our leadership team, et cetera. This is one example of how we have driven performance and reversed the trend on turnover, tenure and employee satisfaction.

 “But that’s not all. We said that in addition to our Vision, Mission and Core Values, we were going to be a purpose-driven company. We launched our Purpose Statement, which is “Furnishing Life’s Best Memories,” in August 2019. And, because we believe that Purpose begins with identity, and to reinforce and always remind ourselves of why we do what we do, we began calling our people ‘Memory Makers.’

 “And it’s not only why we do what we do, but who we furnish life’s best memories for. We like to say that it is for others or for other people — whether those other people are our Memory Makers, the families of our Memory Makers, the guests we get the privilege to serve, our neighbors in our local communities, or even our vendors and our partners. We believe in a spirit of abundance and in mutual prosperity. We apply this mindset to our people and to our partners. As the company wins, our people win. As the company wins, we always cheer on the success of our partners. We don’t believe in a zero-sum game where others have to lose in order for us to win.

“These mindset shifts have correlated to the best financial performance that we have ever had as a company as we have rebuilt from our crucible moment in summer 2015.

“Day by day, with a “Win the Day” mindset and a “20-Mile March” approach, along with a Long-Term Mindset (where we seek to look at the next quarter century as opposed to just the next quarter) and where we are striving to act in love (as defined by acting in the long-term best interests of another), we have continued to improve year over year in all of our key metrics.

“It all began by changing the way we see our people, elevating them first, rewarding them more than the industry standard, and recognizing their efforts beyond compare. And we systematized this by creating a Memory Maker Experience department. Within our MMx department, we have multiple initiatives throughout the year to serve our fellow Memory Makers and their families, such as our Founders Scholarship Fund, Operation Magic School Bus, Project Premier, Operation Tis the Season, et cetera.

“We are in it for the long haul, but we win it one day at a time. The thing about culture is, you cannot microwave culture; it takes a crockpot mentality. And that’s just the way we like it. One day at a time. It’s more sustainable, more rewarding, more enjoyable and more memorable that way.”

Brandon West, Founder & Chief Purpose Officer at PHOS Creative

Nominated by Garry Ridge, Founder of The Learning Moment and Former CEO of WD-40

Garry also believes Brandon West deserves recognition as a Social Capital leader. “Brandon is committed to a culture in his organization where people flourish,” he says and notes Brandon puts it out to the world on his LinkedIn profile: “PHOS’s driving passion is to fulfill its mission: to cultivate true flourishing in people and organizations while reflecting the love of Jesus to the world.”

Brandon shared with us why he sees people as the point of profits and how he has worked to integrate that into how he does business: “We have a saying at PHOS, ‘No margin, no mission.’

“Profit and people are not in tension for organizations that have a mission worth funding. For those organizations, profitable business products and services enable the funding of impactful, people-focused initiatives.

“Our mission at PHOS is to cultivate true flourishing in people and organizations while reflecting the love of Jesus to the world. Profit is mission fuel.

“Our vision at PHOS is to launch 30 care centers for women and children impacted by extreme poverty and sex trafficking by 2030. Profit is also vision fuel.

“At PHOS, producing a profit means that people and organizations are flourishing and that women and children are being released from extreme poverty and sex trafficking.

“Business doesn’t have to be about people; the internet is full of stories of businesses that have chosen the path of profit over people. Every day, every leader is forced to choose between exploitative and redemptive options in their business ventures — choices that either use, abuse or exploit team members, customers and partners, or choices that renew, redeem, restore and bless others. There is arguably no more impactful platform in the world to build a redemptive and people-first enterprise than business. For faithful leaders, that reality compels them to offer their businesses to a purpose greater than profit generation. Profit becomes a means to an end, not the end. For those leaders, the end is people, purpose and impact (fueled by profit).

“In pursuit of operationalizing our mission toward people, we have built the PHOS Flourishing Framework that focuses on six interconnected dimensions of wellness: financial, intellectual, spiritual, physical, emotional and relational flourishing. Our Flourishing Wheel is a tool we use to monitor and assess personal flourishing at PHOS, allowing team members to rate the health of core practices within each of the six dimensions.

“Flourishing is different than success. It’s better. It’s the truest commitment to people over profit and the most effective strategy for ensuring long-term, sustainable growth in any organization. When people are flourishing, businesses are flourishing.

“By centering our attention on the people we serve and the people we work with, businesses can become a force for good, a vehicle for impact, and a venture worthy of investing our time, talents and treasure into.”

Alires Almon, Founder & CEO at Deep Space Predictive

Nominated by Maraia Tanner, CEO of STAR Harbor Academy

Honored Social Capital business leader Maraia Tanner, some of whose Social Capital creds we spotlighted in March 2024 in Well-Being and Companies Slaying the Burnout Dragon and June 2024 in The Empathy Emergency! Successful Business Leaders Need It Now More than Ever, shared the following with us when she nominated Alires Almon:

“I’ve known Alires for four or five years now. She’s very active in the Colorado Aerospace community, well-respected and extremely supportive of fellow women and POC in the industry and wanting to join. She’s one of the few who are really focused on developing and supporting the human component of commercial space as it gets built — bringing awareness to ensure the industry grows in a way that isn’t at the expense of the well-being of individuals involved. Star Harbor will be working with her and her team as we go forward.

“And she’s also just a nice person.”

Editor’s note: If you would like to see more of our past leaders and the ten principles of Social Capital that they practice, check out last month’s feature here: Ten Core Principles of Social Capital Leaders: Dave Alexander Center for Social Capital