Tensie Whelan is the Director of the Stern Center for Sustainable Business at New Your University and was the President of the Rainforest Alliance for many years. At NYU, she and her team developed the Return on Sustainability Investment (ROSI) Methodology. Whelan is working at the nexus of the private sector, nonprofits and academia because that's where she feels she can make the most impact.

In her research, Whelan noticed that when making decisions, companies are often not looking at the cost of inaction: What happens if you don't make that sustainable investment from a financial perspective. The results of their studies speak a clear language: sustainability also pays off financially. With her research, she is helping companies to be able to embrace sustainability as an important element of better management.