Boston, September 2025 – The Harvard SHINE Summit established itself this year as a global reference forum on purpose, sustainability, and human flourishing in organizations. Under the theme “Purpose, Place, and People: Human Flourishing in the Evolving Work and Tech Landscape”, it brought together academics, researchers, and business leaders from around the world to debate how to build a more human and sustainable future.
Among the most inspiring voices was Ángel Bonet, founder of Impact Company, who shared his vision of the purpose-driven economy: a model that generates financial value while also driving social and environmental impact.
What is the SHINE Summit?
The SHINE Summit, organized by Harvard’s Sustainability and Health Initiative for NetPositive Enterprise, explores how businesses and organizations can contribute to human and environmental wellbeing. Its aim is to demonstrate that sustainability is not a cost, but an opportunity to create prosperity, resilience, and trust in an increasingly complex world.
The 2025 edition, held from September 24 to 26 in Boston, focused on three pillars: purpose, people, and technology — all connected by the same challenge: redefining the role of business in society.
Ángel Bonet’s message at Harvard
In his speech, Ángel Bonet made it clear: today’s economic model no longer responds to the social and environmental challenges of the 21st century. “If we continue to measure only financial results, we will leave a worse world to the next generations,” he warned.
Bonet highlighted three urgent issues:
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Planetary limits: Earth Overshoot Day in 2025 fell on July 24, meaning humanity had already consumed all the natural resources the planet can regenerate for the year.
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Extreme inequality: the top 1% of the population holds 45% of global wealth, while the bottom 70% share just 3%.
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Crisis of trust: the erosion of credibility in institutions, leaders, and companies threatens social cohesion.
As a response, Bonet advocated for a new model: the double impact strategy, combining economic value + social and environmental impact. In his view, this dual accounting should become the standard for the more than 300 million companies worldwide.
Harvard’s View
Harvard points out that purpose-driven companies go beyond generating economic profits. Their true value lies in fostering human flourishing.
This means helping people achieve greater life satisfaction, better physical and mental health, and a clearer sense of purpose. It also involves acting for the common good, nurturing quality relationships, and creating environments where collective well-being is the ultimate measure of success.
In this vision, a purpose-driven company is not defined only by what it earns, but by how it helps society grow.
Purpose-driven companies: value for all
One of Bonet’s key messages was that purpose-driven companies create extraordinary value for all stakeholders:
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They attract investment from responsible funds and shareholders.
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They retain talent: younger generations prefer to work in companies with soul.
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They respond to social demand for sustainable products and services.
This transformation is already underway. Thousands of companies worldwide are proving that it is possible to grow, be profitable, and at the same time generate positive impact.
Toward a human-centered capitalism
Ángel Bonet’s call at Harvard was clear: we need a new, human-centered capitalism capable of measuring and recognizing not only financial performance but also social and environmental contribution.
To achieve this, it will be necessary:
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For businesses to adopt double impact strategies.
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For governments to design incentives and public policies that accelerate the transition.
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For universities to educate conscious leaders, prepared to transform the economic model.
The purpose-driven economy is not a utopia. It is an urgent, necessary, and already ongoing response that places people and the planet at the heart of progress.