Maya Research: The Business of Culture I 2026 I Download Now
Introducing the Impact One Awards for 2026.
IMPACT ONE AWARDS I 2026 I
Impact now sits at the center of how companies earn trust, attention, and long-term relevance. It shows up in the products people rely on, the systems shaping daily life, and the ideas pushing progress forward.
For the past 12 months, we’ve been on a mission to discover the companies truly making a difference, exploring why they matter, how their impact shows up in real life, and what changes because their work exists. The result is a year-long exploration of the companies whose work is shaping communities, industries, and everyday life.
For 2026, we introduce the Impact One Awards, recognizing the most impactful companies across the United States. Over twelve months, Impact One explores these companies in depth, bringing their impact to life and uncovering the stories behind the work.
Each month, a new Impact One winner is introduced, focusing on the impact itself, the problem that sparked the mission, and the heart and personality behind it.
Impact shows up in different ways. It can live inside a product, grow through a community, or scale across markets and borders. What matters is the effect it creates and how clearly that effect shows up in the world.
The Impact One Awards recognize that range of impact across six categories: Impact Company of the Year, Breakthrough Impact Company of the Year, Impact Product of the Year, Local Impact Company of the Year, Global Impact Company of the Year, and Most Impactful Brand of the Year.
Impact is defined by effect. It is measured by what changes because a company exists. That change may show up in how people live, how access is created, how systems improve, or how everyday experiences become better or more reliable. Impact One focuses on where those changes are happening and how clearly they show up in the world. Understanding what’s actually changing at scale takes time and range. Over the past 12 months, we looked closely at more than 11,000 companies across the United States to see where real change is showing up and how it connects to the work being put into the world.
The review focuses on reach, outcomes, and how widely that change is felt. Public information, measurable results, and long-term commitments help paint a clear picture of where progress is happening and how consistently it shows up.
We also spent time listening. Through anonymous surveys, more than 20,000 employees and customers shared how they experience the work behind the impact. Open-ended responses add texture and context, helping ground the evaluation in real perspectives.
All of this insight is considered together to understand both what’s happening now and where things are headed. The goal is to highlight companies whose work creates clear, lasting results that can be traced back to what they bring into the world.
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What does impact actually look like when you zoom in on everyday life? It often shows up in the problems companies choose to take on and the care they bring to solving them. From how food is grown and protected, to how people are trained for hands-on healthcare careers, to how patients connect with care over time, these missions touch everyday life in quiet, meaningful ways. Others focus on making wellness simpler and more trustworthy, expanding access to healthcare regardless of location, or improving sleep and brain health as part of how people live, think, and perform each day. Together, these efforts span industries but share a common thread: making life work better.
Throughout the series, we spend time with the teams behind these missions. We meet the people building the work, learn what drew them to the problem, and follow how ideas turn into real-world solutions.
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Why did we choose to spend a year focused on impact? Why look beyond growth metrics and headlines to understand what companies are actually changing in the world? What can we learn by slowing down and paying attention to the work that often happens quietly, over time, and with real stakes attached? As impact becomes a defining part of how companies shape the future, we wanted to understand it more clearly, more honestly, and more deeply - and to spend time with the companies where that impact is central to what they are building.
Join us each month as we meet the people behind the companies creating the most impact across America.
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