Results
Winner
The Changemaker's Toolkit: How to Power Social Change in a World That needs Hope
Caroline Alonzo
Burnout. Decreased funding. Structural barriers. A lack of hope. Social changemakers and non-profit leaders who want to make meaningful, measurable impact in their communities are struggling to see a brighter future for themselves, their teams, and the people they serve. Yet real change happens by believing in a better world and consistently taking the next step toward making it a reality. The Changemaker’s Toolkit explores why hope is fading in our rapidly changing world—yet also reveals how today’s conditions offer unprecedented opportunities for impact. To harness this potential, Alonzo provides a framework and four powerful tools—Vision, Action, Values, and Conviction— you can use throughout your changemaking career to move forward with purpose when optimism is under threat.
Winner
The Point Is in the Purpose: How Going 10 for 10 Can Change Your Life
Brent Rittersdorf
Everyone talks about purpose. Few people actually know what theirs is. "The Point Is in the Purpose" helps readers define, identify, and achieve their greater purpose, and live more thoughtfully and intentionally. Drawing on the night he converted ten consecutive free throws in a state semifinal game, keynote speaker Brent Rittersdorf offers a proven 10-shot framework for achieving their greater purpose. Readers learn how to define their purpose using a simple leadership principle most people get wrong, discover the unexpected way to identify what they're truly meant to do, and understand the difference between working for money and working for purpose.
Written by an everyday person who has navigated career setbacks, family crises, unexpected wins, and crushing defeats, the book helps anyone, whether climbing the corporate ladder, starting a business, or simply trying to figure out what they're supposed to do with their life, trade surface-level success for real fulfillment.
Winner
Cut to the Essence: What Remains When We Subtract
Sneha Villalva
What is the cost of carrying too much? Cut to the Essence challenges this belief: that more achievement, more productivity, and more striving make us more. Counterintuitively, it proposes this: intentional subtraction. Through stories of burnout and hard-won wisdom, Sneha Villalva shows readers that overload is about identity, not merely productivity. Through the CUT Method—Clarify your values, Uncover the essence, Treasure the time—readers learn to discern what matters, protect what is essential, and lead with greater depth, restraint, and intention. Cut to the Essence reframes saying no as advancement not retreat, and subtraction as strength not loss. Readers report rethinking success, setting healthier boundaries, examining their motives as leaders, and incorporating subtraction into their overcommitted lives, saying the principles are “surprisingly transferable” to leadership and decision-making. The book offers a different equation for life and leadership: We subtract to multiply.
Finalist
Driven by Desire: The Path to Unstoppable Success
JW Radford
Driven by Desire: The Path to Unstoppable Success helps people turn ambition into meaningful action. It shows readers how to identify what they truly want, develop the mindset and discipline needed to pursue it, and keep moving forward despite setbacks, fear, or failure. Drawing on real-life lessons of adversity, resilience, and achievement, the book emphasizes personal accountability, intentional decision-making, and consistent action. Rather than defining success only by money or status, Driven by Desire challenges readers to create their own definition of success and build a practical path toward it. Ultimately, the book delivers a powerful message: your circumstances may influence where you start, but your desire, choices, and determination can change where you finish.
Finalist
I Want M.O.R.E. : Why Your Job Still Matters
Scott Schieman
Have you ever found yourself considering what your life would be like in the absence of work? Would you feel a sense of loss past the finances? More people than ever before believe that a job is just a way of earning money – nothing more. While the popularity of this transactional mindset is understandable, I Want M.O.R.E. argues that it depletes our vision of our professional lives. Sociologist Scott Schieman has drawn upon decades of research to investigate what people think and feel about work. He has distilled the essence of that data to create M.O.R.E., which stands for Mooring, Opening, Relating, and Exceeding. Mooring navigates identity, structure, and purpose. Opening explores ability, agency, and creativity. Relating explains connection, support, and respect. And Exceeding focuses on recognition, reputation, and status. Helping readers harness their sense of self and better their quality of life, the M.O.R.E. framework catalogues each element, along with metrics to assess you
Finalist
By Chance & Design: Mastering the Serendipity Cycle in an Accelerating Era of Change
Eziah Syed
By Chance & Design is a compelling exploration of how innovation truly happens, through curiosity, imagination, and a deliberate openness to chance. Drawing from the author’s entrepreneurial and corporate journey alongside historical breakthroughs and modern innovation frameworks, the book shows how serendipity can be intentionally cultivated and transformed into progress. Rather than chasing certainty, readers learn how to design environments that surface opportunity, connect ideas across disciplines, and turn moments of surprise into meaningful impact. For entrepreneurs, leaders, and creatives navigating an accelerating era of change, By Chance & Design offers a powerful new way to think about growth, resilience, and possibility.