Mongabay founder and CEO Rhett A. Butler has been announced a winner of this year’s Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson Global Leadership Prize. The annual prize is awarded to “outstanding leaders whose work is courageous, innovative, impactful, rooted in universal values, and global in perspective,” the organizers said in a press release.
The prize was established by the Sweden-based Tällberg Foundation in 2015, and has since been awarded to 35 recipients. Butler is one of three winners this year, chosen from a pool of more than 1,500 nominees across 146 countries.
“I’m deeply honored, but this recognition really belongs to the extraordinary Mongabay team and our global network of journalists who do the hard work every day,” Butler told Mongabay in an email. “I see the prize as a testament to the power of independent, fact-based environmental journalism.”
In a press release, the foundation said Butler was chosen for his role in “redefining global environmental journalism through Mongabay, a network model of independent reporting that empowers local voices, informs global policy, and renews confidence in journalism as a force for accountability and change.”
The two other recipients of this year’s prize are Bryan Doerries with Theater of War Productions, honored for his work using ancient stories to heal modern trauma, and David Gruber with Project CETI, recognized for his work toward deciphering the language of whales.
“These extraordinary leaders remind us that courage and imagination can reshape the human story,” Alan Stoga, chair of the Tällberg Foundation, said in the press release.
The 2025 winners will be officially celebrated in June 2026 at SNF Nostos, a weeklong celebration marking the foundation’s 30th anniversary, to be held in Athens, Greece. The event will bring together “global leaders, innovators, and artists to explore ideas, culture, and humanity’s shared future,” the press release said. The Tällberg Foundation will host a program at the event celebrating this year’s prize recipients as well as “past Prize winners, mentors, and members of the Foundation’s global leadership network.”
Butler said that as Mongabay expands its work in Europe, the prize is “a meaningful opportunity to deepen our visibility and relationships there.”
“If it helps broaden our network and connect our journalism with new partners and audiences, that would be a most valuable outcome,” Butler added.
Banner image: Rhett Butler in the forest of Brunei. Image by Aaron.
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