Meet the long-standing businesses still bringing fresh, meaningful ideas to the world

During their 15-plus years in business, these World Changing Ideas honorees have made strides in solving some of today’s most pressing problems—from cancer detection to carbon capture. Their projects simplify complex issues, like implementing carbon-capture filters to reduce factory emissions at a time when pollution is greater than ever. Founded with game-changing missions, these companies have been impactful throughout their tenure, and they continue to excel. Winners Communities of Opportunity model, Jonathan Rose CompaniesIn the midst of a housing affordability crisis, the Jonathan Rose Companies’ Communities of Opportunity model sets a high-quality, mixed-income standard for the future of affordable homes. The project—one of the only for-profit models of its kind—creates affordable housing with social, environmental, and financial returns: Residents have access to green housing alongside workforce development, youth enrichment, financial coaching, and health services. In July 2025, the company closed a $660 million affordable-housing preservation fund that will preserve and environmentally upgrade more than 6,000 homes in unaffordable communities. Filters for carbon capture and removal, Svante TechnologiesSvante manufactures carbon dioxide–capturing filters that reduce emissions from smokestacks in paper, cement, oil, and gas facilities. At the end of 2025, Svante began piloting its filters at a Mercer International pulp mill in Peace River, Alberta. If permanently installed, the filters would have the capacity to capture nearly 500,000 tons of CO2 annually. In May 2025, Svante authorized the world’s first commercial manufacturing facility for its unique carbon-removal and -capture filters—a hydro-powered operation with the capacity to make enough filters to remove 10 million tons of CO2 annually. The company has created almost 300 new jobs in sustainable technology, boosting the economy and lowering carbon emissions in the Peace River region. Honorable Mention