Upcoming graduates and young professionals sometimes ask me, “If you had to look for a job today, what organizations would you start with?”
For one, you shouldn’t listen to me on this topic. My beliefs about the world might be different than yours, and I think the most important factor in finding work that matters to you is to start with ways you believe the world should change.
But, if you think our beliefs are aligned, then here are 25 organizations I think are doing important work (caveat emptor):
- Patagonia
- Tesla Motors
- Acumen
- Nike
- Nau
- Clif Bar
- The Honest Company
- SpaceX
- TOMS
- HBO
- Charity:Water
- TED Conferences
- Pixar
- Whole Foods Market
- IDEO
- AirBnb
- MailChimp
- Warby Parker
- Pencils of Promise
- Nudie Jeans
- Donors Choose
Gumroad[I no longer recommend Gumroad, as they’ve cut staff back to a skeleton crew until further notice]- Kiva
- Smartwool
- GoPro
A couple more I’ve come across or that have been shared with me since originally publishing this post:
Go work for Nike and convince them to move to 100% organic cotton. It will change the history of the textile industry. Go work for Whole Foods and encourage them to implement even stricter ingredient standards. They will continue to transform our ideas of empowerment for our personal health. Go to work for SpaceX and work on the team building hyperloop into reality. They will literally change everything about the future of transportation.
If you want truly meaningful work, then go find a company where you can work on problems that matter. Or, in other words, find a company that believes the world should change in the way you believe it should change. And be relentless about driving progress while you’re there.
