Ray Anderson

The story is now legend; the "spear in the chest" epiphany Ray Anderson experienced when he first read Paul Hawken’s, "The Ecology of Commerce" seeking inspiration for a speech to an Interface task force on the company’s environmental vision. Fifteen years and a sea change later, Interface, Inc., is approximately half way to it’s target of "Mission Zero™ " the journey no one would have imagined for the company, or the petroleum-intensive industry of carpet manufacturing, which has been forever changed by Ray’s vision. His Georgia-based company, Interface, Inc., was recently ranked number one in The Sustainability Survey, a survey of global sustainability thought leaders conducted by GlobeScan. The once captain of industry has eschewed his luxury car for a Prius, built an off-the-grid home, authored a 1998 book describing his epiphany, "Mid-Course Correction," and has a new book, released on September 15, 2009, chronicling his journey, "Confessions of a Radical Industrialist". He has become an unlikely screen hero in the 2004 Canadian documentary, "The Corporation." He was named one of TIME International’s "Heroes of the Environment" in 2007. He’s a sought after speaker and advisor on all issues eco, including a stint as co-chairman of the President’s Council on Sustainable Development and as an architect of the Presidential Climate Action Plan, a 100 day action plan on climate that was presented to the Obama Administration.