By the end of 2018, there are expected to be 37,000 coworking spaces throughout the world - 370% growth from 2016.

Among the sweeping changes, there has been a strong community of influencers who have helped shape coworking into the high-growth industry it is today. These are pioneers, revolutionaries, and next-level leaders who are all tied to one very strong belief: that coworking is changing the way we work and is here to stay.

We work with hundreds of coworking spaces throughout the globe, and we feel lucky to have been an integral part in the growth of these organizations. Through our work, we’ve seen the impact coworking has had on individuals, companies, and the overall way our society thinks about the workplace.

And it is our yearly tradition to honor those who have played an integral role in helping the movement get to where it is today.

Here are the 2018 most influential people in coworking split in six categories:

• Most Impressive Networks
• Coworking Innovators
• Biggest Commercial Successes
• Most Active Community Builders
• Coworking Originals
• Rising Newcomers

(If you're running a coworking space and would like to know how Kisi can help in running your space more securely and efficiently, get in contact with us for special discounts just for coworking spaces.)

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Most Impressive Networks

These individuals have established themselves as thought leaders with some of the strongest communities of members, leaders, and influencers.

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Name: Mike LaRosa

Company: Coworkaholic

Location: Washington, DC

Social media: Twitter, LinkedIn

He is truly passionate about coworking. It’s most clear in his ability to bring communities together to collectively propel the industry forward.

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Name: Jean-Yves Huwart

Company: Coworking Europe

Location: Brussels

Website: https://socialworkplaces.com/

Social media: Twitter, LinkedIn

He’s one of the biggest voices of coworking in Europe, and has brought together a community of coworking spaces through Coworking Europe, where we can learn from each other and discuss the future of our industry.

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Name: Tony Bacigalupo

Company: New Work City

Location: New York City

Website: www.tonybacigalupo.com

Social media: Twitter, LinkedIn

Tony is truly passionate about the collective good of coworking, bringing together coworking owners to ensure that whoever wants to be part of the coworking movement can be.

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Name: Ramon Suarez

Company: Betacowork

Location: Brussels

Website: www.coworkinghandbook.com

Social media: Twitter, LinkedIn

Ramon quite literally wrote the handbook on coworking, and he’s done a great job of using it to connect individuals interested in coworking from throughout the world.

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Name: Liz Elam

Company: GCUC

Location: Austin

Website: www.linkcoworking.com

Social media: Twitter, LinkedIn

She hosts the GCUC [Global Coworking Unconference Conference], and has dedicated herself to her passion of connecting and informing the industry.

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Coworking Innovators

These individuals are visionaries that are pushing coworking forward both creatively and strategically.

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Name: Craig Baute

Company: Creative Density Coworking

Location: Denver

Website: www.craigbaute.com

Social media: Twitter, LinkedIn

Craig uses his solid business background in his approach to coworking - at the end of the day, we’re all running businesses we want to succeed, and he a forward-thinker who can help get there.

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Name: Drew Jones

Company: OpenWork

Location: Austin

Website: www.openwork.agency

Social media: Twitter, LinkedIn

He has an intuition for where the future of work is heading not just within coworking, but within the entire corporate working industry as a whole.

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Name: Jamie Russo

Company: LExC (League of Extraordinary Coworking Spaces)

Location: San Francisco

Website: https://lexc.co/

Social media: LinkedIn

President of LExC, a boutique of coworking spaces around the world, which has revolutionized the way of coworking for its mobile members.

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Name: Chelsea Rustrum

Company: Sharers.co

Location: San Francisco

Website: www.rustrum.com

Social media: Twitter, LinkedIn

She has a true vision when it comes to the sharing economy, and has helped the coworking understand where it fits into this new revolution.

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Name: Iris Kavanagh

Company: NextSpace

Location: San Francisco

Website: www.iriskavanagh.com/

Social media: Twitter, LinkedIn

She’s the community expert - she knows how to build, foster, and optimize growth for communities of all sizes and types. Most importantly, she’s a pleasure to work with!

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Biggest Commercial Successes

The title says it all - these individuals have achieved significant commercial success in their coworking ventures.

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Name: Adam Neumann

Company: WeWork

Location: New York City

Website: www.wework.com

Social media: Twitter, LinkedIn

Adam built the biggest coworking space chain in the United States. It’s hard to argue with that success!

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Name: Joshua Abram

Company: Neuehouse

Location: New York City

Website: www.neuehouse.com

Social media: Twitter, LinkedIn

With Neuehouse, Joshua shows a serious coworking model of how work collective will look like in the future.

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Name: Nick Jones

Company: Soho House

Location: London, UK

Website: www.sohohouse.com

Social media: Twitter, LinkedIn

Nick successfully built the most loyal, high-end worldwide coworking and travel community.

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Name: Jim Newton

Company: TechShop

Location: Menlo Park

Website: www.techshop.ws

Social media: Twitter, LinkedIn

Jim started techshop in 2006, way before anyone thought about hardware startups. Now, he provides the world with a community garage full of tools to build their dreams.

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Name: Davide Dattoli

Company: Talent Garden

Location: Milan, Italy

Website: https://talentgarden.org/

Social media: Twitter, LinkedIn

With Talent Garden in 8 countries and 23 campuses, it is clear to say that Davide has achieved great success with this innovation and coworking network platform.

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Most Active Community Builders

These individuals are gold mines for knowledge on all things coworking, and they do a fantastic building communities centered on their passions.

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Name: Jerome Chang

Company: BLANKSPACES

Location: Los Angeles

Website: www.blankspaces.com

Social media: Twitter, LinkedIn

Jerome is always contributing to help fellow coworking space owners. He also opened the the first coworking space in SoCal and SF, long before anyone else.

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Name: Alex Hillman

Company: Indy Hall

Location: Philadelphia

Website: www.indyhall.org

Social media: Twitter, LinkedIn

He’s been a community builder since the start and runs the most popular coworking podcast.

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Name: Bob Summers

Company: TechPad

Location: San Francisco

Website: www.techpad.org

Social media: Twitter, LinkedIn

He’s a true entrepreneur, and is the perfect example of someone who can use passion to drive community.

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Name: Jered Kenna

Company: 20Mission

Location: San Francisco

Website: www.20mission.com

Social media: Twitter, LinkedIn

Jered’s created the landing hub for every entrepreneur arriving in San Francisco.

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Name: Jacob Sayles

Company: Office Nomads

Location: Seattle

Website: www.officenomads.com

Social media: Twitter, LinkedIn

Community runs in through his veins: he’s a builder and contributor to Open Coworking, the coworking wiki, coworking visa, and Coworking Seattle.

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Coworking Originals

These individuals have been part of the coworking movement since the beginning, and helped pave the way for industry influencers to come.

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Name: Miguel Mckelvey

Company: WeWork

Location: New York City

Website: https://www.wework.com/

Social media: Twitter, LinkedIn

Previously founded GreenDesk with Adam Neumann, the duo sold the business and founded WeWork. Enough said!

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Name: Amit Gupta

Company: Jelly

Location: Portland

Website: www.workatjelly.com

Social media: Twitter, LinkedIn

He introduced coworking to NYC [one of the industry’s biggest hubs] with Jelly.

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Name: James Wahba

Company: Projective Space

Location: New York City

Website: www.projective.co

Social media: Twitter, LinkedIn

James and his brothers stay true to community coworking in NYC and constantly experiment to bring the best experience to their members.

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Name: Tina Roth Eisenberg

Company: Friends

Location: Brooklyn

Website: www.friendsworkhere.com

Social media: Twitter, LinkedIn

For Tina, coworking is and has been a natural lifestyle and source of inspiration.

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Name: Alex Linsker

Company: Collective Agency

Location: Portland

Website: www.collectiveagency.co

Social media: Twitter, LinkedIn

Alex is one of the most consistent shapers of the coworking culture.

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Rising Newcomers

The newest generation of coworking influencers, these individuals are going to play an integral role in taking coworking to the next level.

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Name: Scott Cohen

Company: New Lab

Location: Brooklyn

Website: www.newlab.com

Social media: Twitter, LinkedIn

Scott shows how an interdisciplinary, creative work facility can lift up and position an entire borough.

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Name: David Idell

Company: Croissant

Location: New York City

Website: https://www.getcroissant.com/

Social media: Twitter, LinkedIn

David, CEO and co-founder of Croissant has proven that this new way of utilising coworking spaces for mobile entrepreneurs is exactly what they need.

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Name: Jamie Hodari

Company: Industrious

Location: Brooklyn

Website: www.industriousoffice.com

Social media: Twitter, LinkedIn

Industrious is the fastest growing coworking space in the US.

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Name: Zoltan Szalas

Company: Croissant

Location: New York City

Website: www.getcroissant.com

Social media: Twitter, LinkedIn

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Zoltan made what many have waited a long time for - a space on demand from your phone.

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Name: Jason Widen

Company: HQ Raleigh

Location: Raleigh

Website: www.hqraleigh.com

Social media: Twitter, LinkedIn

Jason proves that the entrepreneurial spirit is what drives thriving coworking communities.

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