Joel Makower

Joel Makower is chairman and co-founder of GreenBiz Group, a media and events company focusing at the intersection of business and the clean economy. For more than 30 years, Joel has been a well-respected voice on business, the environment, and the bottom line. Among his many duties at GreenBiz, Joel hosts the annual GreenBiz forums and is lead author of the annual State of Green Business report.

In 2012, he was awarded the Hutchens Medal by the American Society for Quality, which cited “his ability to tell compelling stories that both inform and inspire business leaders toward profitable action.” In 2014, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the International Society of Sustainability Professionals.

A former nationally syndicated columnist, Joel is author or co-author of more than a dozen books, including The New Grand Strategy, published in 2016. Previous books include Strategies for the Green Economy, Beyond the Bottom Line: Putting Social Responsibility to Work for Your Business and the World, The E-Factor: The Bottom-Line Approach to Environmentally Responsible Business, and The Green Consumer. He also writes Two Steps Forward, a popular blog on sustainable business, clean technology and green marketing.

Joel has been a commentator on environmental topics for public radio's "Marketplace" and appears frequently in both broadcast and print media. He serves as a board member or adviser to both for-profit and nonprofit organizations and speaks regularly to companies, industry groups and business schools around the world. The Associated Press has called him “The guru of green business practices.”