Ilco van der Linde

Within the last two years, Ilco van der Linde has developed the OceanLove Innovation Award into the largest and most inclusive ocean innovation award project in the world. With 260 applications from 64 different countries, the initiative has generated an extraordinary wave of creativity. The ideas submitted range from refreshing new educational approaches and practical, community-based projects such as coral restoration and large-scale anti-plastic pollution initiatives to technical innovations that fuel the blue economy.

This year’s Top 5 winners of the OceanLove Innovation Award came from Fiji, Egypt, Tanzania, and Cameroon. His core team of organizers, including the management, judges, coaches, investors, ambassadors, and board members, represents six different continents. Among them are globally respected scientists, including the renowned oceanographer Dr. Sylvia Earle. Building such a truly global team within only three years is a remarkable achievement on its own.

In the coming years, Ilco van der Linde and his team aim to involve ambassadors from nearly every country in the world and generate more than 1,000 applications, transforming OceanLove into a powerful global mass mobilizer for change-making innovation. It is clear why the Rockefeller Foundation selected Ilco van der Linde for their “Top 100 of Next Centuries Innovators.”

His track record offers yet another reason to keep an eye on this visionary leader. As a 15-year-old teenager, Ilco initiated the Liberation Festivals in his home country, The Netherlands, music concerts celebrating the end of the Second World War, combined with informal education on the importance of human rights. With nearly one million annual visitors, the initiative evolved into the largest human rights project in Europe. Between 2004 and 2024, his first global project, Dance4Life, became the world’s largest youth-led movement to push back HIV and AIDS. Hundreds of thousands of young people across thirty countries took part, generating millions of dollars to support transformative health projects. After Dance4Life, serial social entrepreneur Ilco van der Linde launched MasterPeace, a global peace-building initiative. By championing “soft powers” such as music, art, social media, events, and dialogue, often implemented by MasterPeace rapid intervention teams, he helped prevent multiple armed conflicts across more than fifty countries.

We strongly encourage you to co-create with Ilco van der Linde, as all his projects fuel stability, human rights, health, and innovation, precisely the core ingredients required for a successful and sustainable global business environment.

Of course, these initiatives and global campaigns could only flourish through years of intense dedication. Still, Van der Linde advises against becoming a workaholic with tunnel vision. Seeing your projects grow into global success stories may be energizing, he says, but nothing compares to spending time in nature, Ilco himself is an official PADI Divemaster, or enjoying travel and time with family. As an active father of four daughters, he believes balance is essential. At the end of 2026, he will also publish his third book, a coffee-table volume showcasing the breathtaking beauty of the ocean.