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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.)
Most Impressive Networks
These individuals have established themselves as thought leaders with some of the strongest communities of members, leaders, and influencers.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Coworking Innovators
These individuals are visionaries that are pushing coworking forward both creatively and strategically.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
Biggest Commercial Successes
The title says it all - these individuals have achieved significant commercial success in their coworking ventures.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Coworking Originals
These individuals have been part of the coworking movement since the beginning, and helped pave the way for industry influencers to come.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
Rising Newcomers
The newest generation of coworking influencers, these individuals are going to play an integral role in taking coworking to the next level.
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.
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.
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.
Name: Zoltan Szalas
Company: Croissant
Location: New York City
Website: www.getcroissant.com
Social media: Twitter, LinkedIn
Zoltan made what many have waited a long time for - a space on demand from your phone.
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.