Endeavor Global

Named one of “America’s Best Leaders” by U.S. News & World Report, one of 100 “Innovators for the 21st century” by TIME Magazine, and placed on the “Impact 30” Forbes’ list, Linda Rottenberg is considered one of the world’s most dynamic and respected experts on entrepreneurship, business opportunities in emerging markets, and innovative leadership for the new economy. For years, she has motivated audiences of Fortune 500 managers to think like entrepreneurs and to develop their global know-how.

As the CEO and Co-founder of Endeavor, Rottenberg pioneered the field of High-Impact Entrepreneurship, the global phenomenon of using high-growth business to transform economies. Headquartered in New York with 15 affiliates throughout Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, Endeavor identifies, mentors, and scales the most promising emerging-market entrepreneurs. The 600 Endeavor Entrepreneurs selected to date, screened from more than 28,000 candidates, have created 150,000 high-wage jobs and generate annual revenues of $4.5 billion.

Rottenberg has been the subject of three case studies published by Harvard Business School and the Stanford Graduate School of Business; Dell, Inc. featured her as a Hero in its “Take Your Own Path” global advertising campaign; Veuve Cliquot named her Business Woman of the Year in 2008; and Thomas Friedman named her the world’s “Mentor Capitalist” in his bestseller, The World Is Flat 2.0. In December 2011, she was chosen by Forbes as one of the “Impact 30,” the first-ever list of the world’s top 30 social entrepreneurs.

Dubbed “Ms. Davos” in 2011 by Business Insider, Rottenberg served as co-chair of the World Economic Forum (WEF) on the Middle East and currently vice-chairs the WEF Entrepreneurship Council. A graduate of Harvard College and Yale Law School, Rottenberg is also a member of Young Presidents Organization (YPO), the Council on Foreign Relations and an expert judge for the McKinsey-Harvard Business Review awards.

Having assembled an unparalleled network of the world’s foremost business leaders and investors, Rottenberg is often sought out for her ability to understand new trends in global business: “After 20 years of traveling from Rio to Cairo, Johannesburg to New Delhi to Istanbul, I have come to understand the power of thinking BIG and thinking globally; you cannot understand the world today without understanding what is happening in emerging markets. And I believe even the world’s largest corporations can integrate an entrepreneurial mindset into their culture.”

She lives in Brooklyn Heights with her husband, author Bruce Feiler, and identical twin daughters.