Innovation Management Program – Innovation Leader of the Year

The Innovation Leader of the Year is an award initiated by Vinnova, RISE, and the professional association Innovationsledarna. The prize aims to inspire, recognize, and highlight innovation leaders who have built capability and created value within their organizations and for society.

Innovation Leader of the Year 2025

Innovation Leader of the Year is an award initiated by RISE, the professional association Innovationsledarna, and Vinnova. The purpose of the award is to inspire, recognize, and highlight innovation leaders who have created capability and value in their organizations and for society.

The nomination for Innovation Leader of the Year 2025 is now open, and it’s time to nominate your role models in innovation management to become this year’s innovation leader. Submit your nominations no later than September 17 2025, in Swedish in this link.

Nomination Criteria

The nominee has:

Contributed to building the capability to systematically lead and organize innovation work in an organization or multiple organizations in collaboration. The person has, for example, worked with: facilitation, development of innovation strategy, vision and mission, building an innovation organization, processes, etc.
   
and/or

Contributed to realizing and scaling value from innovations. The person has clearly contributed to moving from intention to value. Value creation can consist of new organizational innovations, as well as product, service, and business development, or value created from a broader societal and systemic perspective. As further examples, long-term value can be created through advances in sustainability and linked to the global sustainability goals.

Jury

The jury consists of representatives from academia, the public sector, and the private sector.

Johan Frishammar

• Professor Entreprenörskap & Innovation, LTU
• Styrelseledamot, Tillväxtverket

Ingrid Kihlander

• Forskare inom  Innovationsledning, RISE
• Adjungerad professor, Försvarshögskolan

Fredrik Lindencrona

• Strategisk rådgivare stiftelsen Idéer för Livet
• Head of Research Co-Creation, Inner Development Goals

Maja Påhlman

• Innovationschef, Arla Foods Sverige
• Ordförande yrkesföreningen Innovationsledarna

Christian Appelt

• Grundare, Ambient Society
• Tidigare chef inom tjänstedesign, Polestar

Marianne Larsson

• Innovation Manager Health, Innovation Skåne

Previous Innovation Leaders of the Year

The winner of Innovation Leader of the Year 2023 was Magnus Sundström, Head of Research and Innovation at the Swedish Maritime Administration. At this link on YouTube, you can watch the award ceremony from the 2023 Quality Fair. The presentation is in Swedish.

If you're curious to learn more about previous winners, you can find information in Swedish at the following link: Innovation Management Conference 2022 and 2021.