Adjunct Professor Jem Bendell has been recognised by the World Economic Forum as a 2012 Young Global Leader.

Professor Bendell, who helped to establish the Asia Pacific Centre for Sustainable Enterprise (APCSE), is a strategist and educator on social and organisational change. He specialises in assisting organisations collaborate for sustainable development and has been recognised for his thought leadership on sustainable enterprise, through numerous books and United Nations reports.

Each year the World Economic Forum honours outstanding young leaders from around the globe for their professional accomplishments, commitment to society and potential to contribute to shaping the future of the world.

Previous honourees include Larry Page, the Co-Founder of Google; Ian Thorpe, Founder of Fountain for Youth; and Kala Mulqueeny of the Asian Development Bank.

Pro Vice Chancellor of Griffith Business School, Professor Michael Powell has welcomed the announcement.

Professor Powell, who is currently Chair of the Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative, said he hopes Professor Bendall’s honour will inspire others to play a greater role in the transition to a more fair and sustainable economy.

“It is vitally important to recognise the work of academics who engage organisations in the process of creating much-needed change,” Professor Powell said.

Executive Director of UN Global Compact, Georg Kell, said Professor Bendall’s appointment was well deserved.



“Professor Bendell’s pioneering work on multi-stakeholder alliances in the late 1990s helped us at the United Nations to understand how to engage business in new ways, which led to the launch of the Global Compact,” Mr Kell said.

The UN Global Compact, the largest corporate responsibility initiative in the world, supports businesses committed to aligning their operations and strategies with accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption.

During 2012, Professor Bendell will be leading talks with leaders around the world, on the theme of “Healing capitalism through critical collaboration.” His destinations will include; Abu Dhabi, Bangkok, Beijing, Brisbane, Dubai, Hong Kong, London, Istanbul, Madrid, Paris, Singapore, Stockholm, Sydney, and Zurich.

Professor Bendall will also be speaking at the Asia Pacific Centre for Sustainable Enterprise conference on sustainability transition being held in Brisbane on September 26 — 28, 2012.

More information on the APCSE conference, The necessary transition: Transition and transformation issues in the journey towards the sustainable enterprise economy, can be found at http://www.griffith.edu.au/business-commerce/asia-pacific-centre-for-sustainable-enterprise