John Elkington

John Elkington is a writer, thought-leader, serial entrepreneur, and, at heart, an environmentalist. Described as the Godfather of Sustainability, he has now written or coauthored twenty books, including the million-selling Green Consumer Guide series.

Elkington has worked with many scores of corporations, often at the board and C-suite level, as well as with the financial community, industry bodies, government, the media, NGOs, academia, innovators, and entrepreneurs. Along the way, he has cofounded four social-purpose businesses since 1978, including Environmental Data Services (ENDS, 1978), John Elkington Associates/CounterCurrent (1983), SustainAbility (1987) and Volans Ventures (2008). All four still exist and the last two were respectively the second and first certified British B Corporations in the UK.

Over the years, Elkington has also served on over seventy boards and advisory boards, advising companies, non-profits and policy-making organizations. He is a visiting professor at the Cranfield School of Management, as well as at Imperial College London and University College London (UCL).