Boston, MA -May 23, 2019 – Yesterday, Fast Company announced its 10th annual list of the Most Creative People in Business, honoring an influential and diverse group of 100 leaders from a range of global industries including tech, entertainment, health care, government, nonprofit, finance, and more. 

The “Most Creative People in Business” list recognizes individuals whose work might not necessarily be quantifiable by numbers, but who are nonetheless having a measurable impact on the world. These scientists, executives, programmers, comedians, founders, designers, musicians, writers, and activists have accomplished something new this year within their field that’s driving their industries forward and solving global and societal problems in novel ways. The list also hails representatives from such companies as Apple, Levi Strauss & Co., Google, Microsoft, Lego, Nike, Starbucks and CVS Health.

Dr. Preuschoft leads the FOUR PAWS Orangutan FOREST SCHOOL in Borneo, Indonesia where the situation is most critical for the survival of the orangutan species. Orangutan numbers have dropped dramatically and now the species is classified as critically endangered. Deforestation is a driving factor in the decline of the species, exacerbated by the growing demand of palm oil, tropical timber, and coal. Often times it is the direct conflict with these industries that leads mother orangutans to be killed or separated from their offspring.

But thanks to FOUR PAWS, orphaned orangutans now have a place to learn the survival skills they need. The Orangutan FOREST SCHOOL in East Kalimantan, Indonesia, is a project of FOUR PAWS International and their local partner Jejak Pulang and the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry.

Through ground-breaking rehabilitation, the Forest School curriculum matches natural child development. At the school, young, rescued orangutans are assigned human surrogates who teach them survival skills and to foster natural behaviors such as finding and extracting food, building a sleeping nest, sheltering, tree climbing and traveling through the trees. One year ago, eight orangutan orphans between the ages of eleven months and nine years were the first students to attend the 250-acre FOREST SCHOOL run by FOUR PAWS’ experienced primatologist Dr. Signe Preuschoft and an expert team of fifteen animal caretakers, a biologist and two veterinarians.

Fast Company editors and writers spend a year researching candidates for the list, scouting every sector of business: technology, fashion, cybersecurity, biotech, entertainment, beauty, social good, food, data, consumer goods, and more. The people selected have all accomplished something truly innovative within the past 12 months or so that is having a meaningful effect within their industries. They’re also discoveries -- none has ever been profiled in Fast Company before. Taken together, they represent where business is heading right now.

“This year’s edition acknowledges society’s increasingly fraught relationship with technology. It is light on people inventing new apps to sell us more stuff—and mine our personal information—and heavier on leaders trying to protect consumers and companies from unscrupulous actors online,” says Stephanie Mehta, editor-in-chief of Fast Company.

To see the complete list go to: fastcompany.com/most-creative-people/2019

Introduced in 2009, the Most Creative People list was quickly established as one of Fast Company'smost esteemed franchises. Each year, the magazine's editors present an all-new list of 100 people chosen according to a proprietary methodology.

Fast Company'sMost Creative People in Business issue (Summer 2019) is available online now at fastcompany.com/most-creative-people/2019 and on newsstands beginning June 4. Join the Most Creative People conversation using #FCMostCreative.

ABOUT FAST COMPANY 

Fast Company is the only media brand fully dedicated to the vital intersection of business, innovation, and design, engaging the most influential leaders, companies and thinkers on the future of business. Since 2011, Fast Company has received some of the most prestigious editorial and design accolades, including the American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) National Magazine Award for “Magazine of the Year,” Adweek’s Hot List for “Hottest Business Publication,” and six gold medals and 10 silver medals from the Society of Publication Designers. The editor-in-chief is Stephanie Mehta and the publisher is Amanda Smith. Headquartered in New York City, Fast Company is published by Mansueto Ventures LLC, along with our sister publication, Inc., and can be found online at fastcompany.com.

ABOUT FOUR PAWS INTERNATIONAL

FOUR PAWS is an international animal welfare organization that has, for more than three decades, consistently and successfully focused on one goal: Helping improve the lives of animals through sustainable campaigns and projects. We focus on animals that are directly under human influence: farm, wild and companion animals but also specifically bears, big cats, horses, primates and stray dogs and cats. Headquartered in Vienna, Austria, FOUR PAWS has offices 12 other countries including in Boston, Ma.