Pledge 1% Appoints Josh Jarrett as Chief Executive Officer

Technology and social impact leader will guide the global movement into its next phase of growth and impact

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 10, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Pledge 1%, the global movement inspiring companies to embed social impact into their business, today announced the appointment of Josh Jarrett as Chief Executive Officer, effective September 8, 2026.

Jarrett brings nearly three decades of experience at the intersection of technology and impact, spanning philanthropy, startups, and global organizations. He helped build the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's higher education initiative, co-founded Koru and InStride to expand access to education and careers, and most recently led Wiley's Applied Research Intelligence business, where he developed AI-powered products built on trusted research.

He joins Pledge 1% at an important moment for both the organization and corporate impact. More than a decade after its founding, Pledge 1% has grown to a global community of more than 20,000 companies across 130 countries. At the same time, rapid advances in AI are reshaping business, creating new questions about how companies contribute to society and how corporate impact will evolve alongside them.

"Josh is a strong leader with experience across philanthropy, startups, and established businesses," said Scott Farquhar, Board Chair of Pledge 1%. "His work at the forefront of applied AI is particularly relevant as AI transforms our membership base. Josh has the skills to build on Pledge 1%'s incredible foundation, evolve it for a new generation of companies, and grow the movement globally."

"We're at an inflection point with the explosion of AI and fundamental questions about who will benefit from the value it creates," said Josh Jarrett, incoming CEO of Pledge 1%. "That's what makes the opportunity at Pledge 1% so compelling to me. Companies have a huge impact on our society — creating opportunity and shaping our quality of life. I'm excited about what's possible when we work with companies to expand the ways their success can benefit society more broadly."

Pledge 1% began with a simple idea and framework: make giving back part of how companies do business by committing a portion of their time, profit, product, or equity. More than a decade later, the ways companies create impact continue to evolve, along with the expectations placed on business. But the core conviction behind Pledge 1% remains the same: companies can be a powerful platform for positive impact, and that impact is strongest when it is embedded into how they do business.

About Pledge 1%: Pledge 1% is a global movement to embed social impact into all businesses. Providing a simple, flexible framework for setting aside staff time, product, profit, and/or equity, Pledge 1% is on a mission to inspire, educate, and empower companies of all sizes to leverage their assets to create positive impact and meaningful change. Over the past decade, more than 20,000 companies in more than 130 countries have joined the movement, including top industry leaders like Salesforce, Atlassian, Twilio, Airbnb, Okta, Toast, Reddit, Canva, and many more, unlocking over $3 billion of new philanthropy in equity commitments alone.

Media contact:
Min Yoo
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[email protected]

SOURCE Pledge 1%