Myrte Scheffer has spent the better part of a decade trying to prove a thesis that still makes plenty of executives uneasy: that purpose and profit are not competing priorities but the same one, viewed from different angles. This year, that work earned her a 2026 Global Recognition Award for her contributions to social-impact entrepreneurship and business strategy.
The Amsterdam-based growth strategist — who brands herself, only half-tongue-in-cheek, as a “GameChanger” — has built an advisory practice around a simple, stubborn conviction. As she puts it on her own website, she connects purpose with business and business with purpose. The award recognizes a body of work aimed squarely at mission-driven founders, CEOs and organizations who want their companies to do well and do good at the same time.
From “Tesla to Tanzania”
Scheffer’s route to strategy consulting was not linear, and she doesn’t pretend otherwise. By her own account, she had the outward markers of success — a house, a car, professional standing — but felt the satisfaction was missing. A run of personal losses, including the death of her sister, the closure of her business during COVID, and a pregnancy loss, became a turning point. She sold nearly everything she owned and spent two years traveling from London through Spain to Paris, and by way of Tanzania to Bali, before rebuilding her practice around a clearer purpose.
That personal reinvention now sits at the center of her professional pitch. Rather than one-off consulting engagements, Scheffer works through what she describes as an all-encompassing approach — an idea she has productized into a signature “TekenTafelSessie,” or drawing-table session, in which a client’s core challenge is mapped out visually before any roadmap is built. Her stated three-step method moves from analysis to innovation to realization, with an emphasis on practical implementation rather than abstract strategy decks.
Recognition Beyond a Single Award
The 2026 Global Recognition Award is not Scheffer’s first industry acknowledgment. She was named Best Social Impact Business coach 2023 in the Netherlands at the Management Consulting Awards, and was recognized as Best 1:1 Coaching Program Provider – Netherlands by Corporate Vision. She has also been featured in international outlets including the NYC Journal and Entrepreneurs Herald. Myrte SchefferMyrte Scheffer
That track record has translated into work with recognizable clients. Art Langeler, now director of football development at the KNVB, the Dutch football association, has credited Scheffer with combining enthusiasm, drive and subject-matter expertise, noting that he sought her out again for a second role after an initial engagement — the kind of repeat endorsement that tends to matter more in advisory work than any single trophy.
Building a Platform, Not Just a Practice
Scheffer’s influence extends past her direct client roster. She hosts the GameChangers United podcast, where she interviews founders and leaders pursuing social missions, positioning herself as a connector and amplifier within a broader community of purpose-driven entrepreneurs. She has expanded into business retreats in Spain, speaking engagements at events and business schools, and personal passion projects, including an “identity journey” program aimed at young women.
The through-line is consistent: identity as the foundation of both personal and commercial reinvention. It is a message that has found a receptive audience as more founders question whether growth-at-all-costs is a sustainable operating model, and as social entrepreneurship moves from the margins toward the mainstream of European business culture.
Why It Matters
Awards in the coaching and consulting world are plentiful, and a healthy dose of skepticism about them is warranted. What distinguishes Scheffer’s recognition is less the accolade itself than what it reflects: a maturing market for advisors who can credibly bridge the gap between mission statements and margins. As pressure mounts on companies to demonstrate genuine social value rather than surface-level commitments, strategists who can operationalize purpose — turning it into roadmaps, revenue and repeatable results — are increasingly in demand.
For Scheffer, the 2026 Global Recognition Award is both a milestone and a data point in a longer argument she has been making all along: that the most durable businesses are the ones built around something their founders actually believe in.
