The 74 individuals featured on Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business list for 2020 hail from a wide range of industries—from AI to entertainment, healthcare to agriculture, and more—but they have one thing in common: Their unique and unprecedented efforts over the past year have already led toward meaningful change, within their sectors and beyond. And what a year it’s been. Together, their stories, like that of the computer scientist who exposed the racial bias in facial recognition software used by Big Tech, offer not just a kaleidoscopic view of today’s turbulent and evolving business landscape but a telescopic glimpse of the future. We hope you’re as inspired by learning about them as we were in selecting them.
The Full List
The Full List
raising the standard
showing us what we need to see
breaking through
investing fully
designing a superior solution
fostering community
finding new (and sometimes better) uses for things
expanding our current reality
shielding us from tech’s negative effects
leveling the field
channeling energy
sustaining us and the planet
helping our economy work for more people
bringing joy
FOR raising the standard
Melanie Bender
General manager, Versed
Joy Buolamwini
Computer scientist, artist, and founder, Algorithmic Justice League
Parris Goebel
Choreographer
Mary D. Nichols
Chair, California Air Resources Board
Jeffrey Whitford
Head of global corporate responsibility, MilliporeSigma
FOR showing us what we need to see
Reginald Dwayne Betts
Poet and defense attorney
Julie K. Brown
Investigative reporter, Miami Herald
Corinna Gardner
Senior curator of design and digital design, architecture and digital, V&A Museum
Lauren Gardner
Codirector of the Center for Systems Science and Engineering, Johns Hopkins University
Monica Lewinsky
Activist
Melina Matsoukas
Director
Rebecca Sugar
Creator, Steven Universe
Jason deCaires Taylor
Founder and sculptor, Museum of Underwater Art
FOR breaking through
Erica Esrick and David A. Williams
Attending physician, Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center; senior vice president and chief scientific officer, Boston Children’s Hospital
Hartmut Neven
Distinguished scientist, Google
Brandon Riegg
VP of nonscripted series and comedy specials, Netflix
FOR investing fully
Ryan Reynolds
Cofounder and CEO, Maximum Effort; co-owner, Aviation Gin and Mint Mobile
