Wayne Visser

Prof. Dr Wayne Visser is Professor of Integrated Value and Holder of the Chair in Sustainable Transformation at Antwerp Management School. He is also Founder of CSR International, Director of Kaleidoscope Futures and Fellow at the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. He describes himself as a professional idea-monger, storyteller and meme-weaver. His work as a strategy analyst, sustainability advisor, CSR expert, futurist, film producer and professional speaker has taken him to 77 countries in the past 30 years to work with over 150 clients, ranging from Coca-Cola, Dell, DHL and HSBC to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Bank.

Mission

Dr Visser sees his mission as helping to bring about transformative thinking and action in business and society. This begins, he says, with “letting go an industrial system that has served us well, but is no longer fit for purpose; old styles of leadership and outdated models of business; high-impact lifestyles and selfish values; cherished ideologies that are causing destruction; and beliefs about ways to tackle problems that are failing to resolve crises.” He believes that we all need to be purpose-inspired to make a positive difference.

Writer

Dr Visser is a prolific writer, believing that we learn best by constantly challenging ourselves to do research, formulate our thoughts into compelling narratives and share our discoveries and insights. He is the author of 40 books – including Thriving: The Breakthrough Movement to Regenerate Nature, Society, and the Economy, The World Guide to Sustainable Enterprise and Sustainable Frontiers: Unlocking Change through Business, Leadership and Innovation. He has published over over 330 chapters, articles and reports and is a guest columnist for The Huffington Post and The Guardian.

Speaker

As a professional speaker and academic lecturer, Dr Visser has delivered over 450 keynote speeches, lectures, courses and workshops in over 50 countries. The topics that Wayne frequently talks on include: Transformational leadership, The world in 2050, Creating integrated value, The future of CSR, Sustainability innovation, The new nexus economy, Becoming future-fit, and Purpose-inspired change.

Academic

Dr Visser is Professor of Integrated Value and Holder of the Chair in Sustainable Innovation at Antwerp Management School. He has lectured at more than 50 universities in 20 countries and also holds current roles at the University of Cambridge’s Institute for Sustainability Leadership (Fellow, Head Tutor and Visiting Lecturer) and Sasin School of Management in Thailand (Professor).

Filmmaker

Dr Visser is co-producer of two films, directed by two-time Telly® Award and Emmy® Award winning filmmaker Graham Sheldon: Sinking Nation and Closing the Loop. In addition, he is the presenter of Closing the Loop, which is the world’s first feature length documentary on the circular economy and has been selected for multiple international film festivals.

Professional

In addition to his academic roles, Dr Visser is Director of the think-tank and media company, Kaleidoscope Futures, Founder of CSR International and Global Advisory Board member of Asia-based BCorp, IMPACTO. He previously served as Director of Sustainability Services for KPMG and Strategy Analyst for Capgemini in South Africa.

Poet

Dr Visser enjoys writing poetry and has six collected works: African Dream, I Am An African, Icarus, Life in Transit, Seize the Day, String, Donuts, Bubbles and Me, and Wishing Leaves. As one of his 550+ poems puts it: I write my waking incoherence / And when I sleep, I dream in words; / I write out lines as daily penance /And let them go, like captive birds.

Recognition

Dr Visser has been recognised as one of the world’s Top 10 most influential faculty thinkers on issues of responsible business in social media, a Top 48 ‘thriveability’ leader and Top 70 ‘sustainerati’, a Top 100 influencer on Twitter in CSR and sustainable business, a Top 100 thought-leader in trustworthy business and a Top 100 global sustainability leader. He is also the recipient of the Global CSR Excellence & Leadership Award, the Emerald Literati Outstanding Author Contribution Award and the Outstanding Teacher Award of the Warwick MBA.