Steward Leadership 25 names 2026 winners across  13 industries and 19 impact geographies

Now in its fifth year, the award counts the Maldives, Taiwan, Palestine, Qatar and Tanzania among its new impact geographies.

Press Release

28 October 2026

SINGAPORE, 28 OCTOBER 2026 — Steward Leadership 25 (SL25), an annual award recognising viable solutions for the environment and society across Asia and the Pacific, announced 25 winning projects from 13 industries. The Maldives, Taiwan, Palestine, Qatar and Tanzania are among the impact geographies appearing for the first time, reflecting the widening footprint of steward leadership across the region and beyond. 

This year’s winners report impact in 19 geographies, up from 11 in the award’s first year, with new geographies added every year. Across five years of applications, financial services is the most represented industry, followed by education, commercial and professional services and energy. 

SL25 is curated by its founding partners: the Steward Leadership Institute (SLI), INSEAD Hoffmann Institute, The Straits Times and WTW. 

2026 winners by impact focus 

SL25 recognises winners across five impact focus areas. In 2026, Climate & Nature leads with eight projects, followed by Waste & Circularity with seven. 

Climate & Nature (8): Projects range from five decades of harnessing reliable, homegrown geothermal energy in the Philippines to red seaweed that cuts methane emissions from cattle in Australia. Winners are also building a localised electric vehicle ecosystem in India, improving battery monitoring for electric fleets in Singapore, capturing carbon from diesel generators, and regenerating rural land through women-led agroforestry in Indonesia. Along the region’s coastlines, one model makes marine protected areas both effective and financially self-sustaining, while another brings community-led sanitation to coastal communities.  

Waste & Circularity (7): Winners are turning waste into value, converting food waste into renewable energy in the Maldives, crop waste into biochar in Cambodia and municipal waste into clean energy in Malaysia. Others transform ocean-bound plastic into roof tiles, forge durable materials from waste in Indonesia, reward bottle recycling in Taiwan and purify water for communities in need. 

Empowering Communities (6): Solutions open up digital finance to rural women in Indonesia and dairy farmers in India and create digital work for persons with disabilities in Thailand. The category also includes projects that train women as ocean leaders, restore safe water after disasters and turn wasteland into local economic opportunity. 

Health (2): One tackles period stigma in Sri Lanka; the other reaches Indonesian women before breast cancer advances. 

Digital Wellbeing & Access (2): Affordable AI-powered smart glasses make learning more accessible for visually impaired students across South Asia and Thailand, while accredited training programmes open employment pathways for neurodivergent talent in Thailand. 

Energy and agribusiness are the most represented industries, with four winners each, followed by commercial and professional services and education, with three each. Indonesia is the most common impact geography, cited by 10 of the 25 projects. Singapore and Indonesia are home to the most winners, with five each. 

“Over the five years since we established the SL25 awards, we have seen hundreds of business leaders who reject the notion that there is a trade-off between purpose and profit. Instead, they proactively choose to do well by doing good,” said Rajeev Peshawaria, Chief Executive Officer of SLI. 

“This year’s list extends SL25’s reach, with first-time impact in the Maldives, Taiwan, West Asia and Africa. Each solution is commercially viable, and together they show how businesses can grow by serving people and the planet,” he said.

“The SL25 winners show that tackling environmental and social challenges is not a cost to business but a source of resilience and long-term value. As risks grow more complex across the region, these organisations offer a practical blueprint for building enterprises that endure,” said Shai Ganu, Senior Managing Director and Global Leader, Executive Compensation & Board Advisory, WTW.

“Five years of SL25 provide a valuable lens on how steward leadership is taking shape across Asia and beyond. This year’s winners, spanning 13 industries, demonstrate that integrating purpose into the core of a business creates enduring value. These are lessons that resonate with business leaders and educators around the world,” said Dr Vinika Rao, Director, INSEAD Hoffmann Institute & Africa Initiative. 

 

2026 SL25 winners 

SL25 recognises projects by the impact they create, rather than by nationality or company. Locations are listed as impact geographies, and winners appear in alphabetical order of organisation name for ease of reference. 

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About Steward Leadership 25
Steward Leadership 25 (SL25) is an annual award recognising 25 financially viable projects by organisations in Asia and the Pacific that demonstrate steward leadership. Each year, the award champions business leaders who achieve profitable growth by addressing environmental and social challenges. SL25 was founded and is curated by the Steward Leadership Institute, INSEAD Hoffmann Institute, The Straits Times and WTW. 

About the Steward Leadership Institute 
Steward Leadership Institute (SLI) is dedicated to research, education, and advisory on enabling profitable growth by addressing environmental and social challenges. It is part of the Temasek Trust Collective with a shared purpose of building a better future for every generation. Temasek Trust is the philanthropic arm of Singapore-based global investor Temasek Holdings. 

Media contact 
Ang Bee Lin 
Steward Leadership Institute 
E: beelin@sli.org.sg 

Anya Mahtani 
Steward Leadership Institute 
E: anyamahtani@sli.org.sg