Influential Businesswoman Awards 2026 | 7 Values-Driven Brand Builder of the Year 2026: Lisa Gralnek ounded in 1953, iF Design’s mission for more than 70 years has been to showcase design excellence and impact, highlighting all of the ways that design can help solve some of the world’s greatest challenges. Through its international network of design leaders and and dedicated research, this organisation is helping researchers and journalists to understand the crucial role that design plays in making our world a better place. Lisa’s role in this multifaceted organisation was created to expand iF Design’s brand footprint in North America, where its prestige was previously mostly recognized within high-end industrial design and expat circles for whom the annual multi-disciplinary competition has been long established. To this end, Lisa oversees all brand operations in the region, as well as actively recruiting partners and participants within the design ecosystem. As Lisa explained, her role is a new one: “Global Head of Sustainability & Impact is also a newly-created role – one about shaping our global sustainability strategy as it relates to integrating social and environmental considerations into the primary jurying criteria of the iF DESIGN AWARD, while also advancing the idea that design has a responsibility to create positive and meaningful impact in everything we do.” For Lisa, this job of dual roles marked a new, exciting challenge. Joining iF after more than two decades in senior-level positions in strategy, marketing, and operations for global organizations like BCG and Walmart, Lisa was leading LVG & Co., a boutique consultancy focused on brand positioning, innovation, and impact strategy, immediately prior to being recruited by iF. The common thread across all of these positions has been her values-driven leadership, for which she has been recognised with this award. Values are a big thing for Lisa, who cites her biggest career achievement being to have always followed her own intellectual curiosity and personal values. The rewards for doing so have paid off, as Lisa told us: “To date, I have never held a role that existed before I took it, whether the role was created for me or I was simply the first to hold it, as is the case at iF.” There are many other achievements this pioneer of values-driven business strategy is proud of, including major business transformations and change initiatives such as rearchitecting the brand product portfolio of Chobani during her tenure as VP of Brand and Innovation which lay the foundation for a multi-award-winning rebrand, and overhauling the product development and go-to-market process from 18 months to just 10 months during her time leading Product Marketing Operations at Rockport Shoes, then part of adidas. These milestones have continued into her role at iF, where Lisa hosts her award-winning interview series. Created as a passion project more than five and a half years ago during the hight of the pandemic, this series, FUTURE OF XYZ, sees Lisa amplify diverse voices across industries and geographies. Now into its eighth season, the series broadcasts 25–30-minute unedited conversations around a specific topic to unpack what the future holds for it. There are more than 165 episodes to date, with each based on the guest’s area of expertise. Available on YouTube and all podcast platforms, these informative, provocative, and free-flowing conversations are perfect for those who are curious and hungry for continued learning across a range of topics, from business and design to art, activism, technology, innovation, science, policy making, and more. FUTURE OF XYZ is available at future-of.XYZ, ifdesign.com/XYZ, YouTube and anywhere you get your favorite podcasts. Finally, as for the future of iF Design more broadly, Lisa told us about recently launching the iF DESIGN ACADEMY which provides world-class executive education across personal leadership, business fundamentals, and future literacy topics. Lisa commented: “The goal is to equip current design leaders and the next generation of designers with the tools they need to address complex global challenges and be part of the solution.” Lisa herself remains deeply involved in this exceptional project. For her work driving system-level change at the intersection of design, business, and sustainability, we are delighted to name Lisa Gralnek the Values-Driven Brand Builder of the Year 2026. More on the work she stands for in sustainable design leadership can be found at iF Design’s website below. Contact: Lisa Gralnek Company: iF Design Web Address: https://ifdesign.com/en/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisagralnek/ iF Design is a non-profit design institute renowned for hosting the prestigious iF DESIGN AWARD, the world’s largest independent design award now in its 73rd year. Lisa Gralnek is the US Managing Director and Global Head of Sustainability & Impact based in New York City. Following her recognition in this programme, we caught up with Lisa for more on her role within this esteemed organisation, which includes continuing to host her own award-winning interview series. F
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