William McDonough is a globally recognized leader in sustainable design and development. He co-authored Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things (2002), which is widely recognized as a seminal text of the sustainability and circular economy design movements.
 
Mr. McDonough is an architect, designer, and author who has advised leaders from companies such as Ford Motor Company, Ralph Lauren, Gap, Google, Herman Miller, Hero MotoCorp, Proctor & Gamble, Starbucks, Unilever, and Walmart. Through his firm, MBDC, he created the Cradle to Cradle Certified® Products Program, which is an independent, science-based, third-party, multi-attribute product standard recognized by leading retailers, including Amazon, Home Depot, Walgreens, and Walmart.
 
Mr. McDonough has been active with the World Economic Forum for 25 years and served as the inaugural Chair of their meta-council on the circular economy. He also co-founded four other not-for-profit organizations, including GreenBlue, Sustainable Packaging Coalition, and Fashion for Good, a joint industry initiative aiming to transform the global apparel chain into a force for good. 
 
He articulated the Circular Carbon Economy (CCE) as a design framework at 2020 G20 and is developing a granular approach to applying CCE principles to products. He is also a Distinguished Research Professor at KAUST focused on the CCE.
 
In 1999 Time recognized him as a Hero for the Planet, and in 2019 Fortune named him one of the World’s 50 Greatest Leaders. Recently, Mr. McDonough was named to the inaugural TIME100 Climate List of the 100 Most Influential Leaders Driving Business Climate Action.