Icon, the trailblazer in the portable retirement plan was chosen in two categories for creating the only retirement plan open to every working American.
New York, May 4, 2021 — The winners of Fast Company’s 2021 World Changing Ideas Awards were announced today, honoring businesses, policies, projects, and concepts that are engaged and committed to pursuing innovation in solving health and climate crises, social injustice, or economic inequality.
Icon was chosen in two categories: “Companies on the Rise” and “Wellness.” Icon is innovating the ways companies offer retirement plans and who they offer them to—every worker in the country. More importantly, Icon’s innovative platform radically simplifies the role of the employer.
“Over half the American workforce doesn’t have a retirement plan—That’s over 50 million working people with no hope of retirement,” says Laurie Rowley, CEO and founder of Icon. “It enables every employer to offer every employee, including their contract and gig workers a high quality, low-cost plan, while eliminating their costs, complexities, and fiduciary risks.”
Icon changes things for every worker, too. As the world’s only portable retirement plan, it’s an easy-to-use benefit that travels with them from job to job—permanently. And wherever they go, Icon brings them the security of personalized investing.
Now in its fifth year, the World Changing Ideas Awards showcase some of the world’s most inventive entrepreneurs and companies tackling global challenges. A panel of Fast Company editors and reporters selected winners and finalists from a pool of more than 4,000 entries across transportation, education, food, politics, technology, and more. Plus, several new categories were added, including Pandemic Response, Urban Design, and Architecture. The 2021 awards feature entries from across the globe, from Brazil to Denmark to Vietnam.
About the World Changing Ideas Awards
World Changing Ideas is one of Fast Company’s major annual awards programs and is focused on social good, seeking to elevate finished products and brave concepts that make the world better. A panel of judges from across sectors choose winners, finalists, and honorable mentions based on feasibility and the potential for impact. With the goals of awarding ingenuity and fostering innovation, Fast Company draws attention to ideas with great potential and helps them expand their reach to inspire more people to start working on solving the problems that affect us all.