Rebecca Henderson is a distinguished professor at Harvard Business School and one of the world’s most insightful scholars focused on driving large-scale change toward a sustainable economy. Her research centers on how purpose-driven firms can help rebalance capitalism and become critical allies in addressing existential threats like climate change. Her experience, including a professorship at MIT, grounds her belief that profound systemic change is possible.
As a leading authority in organizational and strategic change for over three decades, Henderson’s work directly informs business leaders at every level. Her research and teaching center on the idea that capitalism has lost its commitment to freedom and prosperity by prioritizing shareholder value above all else. This intellectual framing is taught in her highly successful MBA elective course, Reimagining Capitalism, the most successful course launched at HBS in recent years.
Henderson's book, Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire, spells out precisely how business can become a critical ally in rethinking the current system. The book offers both a clear intellectual framework and a plausible path forward. Her insistence on remaining hopeful, citing Howard Zinn, highlights her belief that human history is as much a story of compassion and courage as it is of cruelty, making concerted action for a better future both necessary and achievable.
Beyond academia, Henderson is a Research Fellow at the National Bureau for Economic Research and serves as a sustainability advisor to several of the world’s largest companies. She also sits on the boards of two S&P 500 companies, Amgen and IDEXX Laboratories, lending her academic theories vital real-world validation. Her presentations offer a powerful, evidence-based call to action, equipping executives and leaders with the strategic understanding needed to drive meaningful large-scale change.
