‘The Missing Link’: Fashion Changemaker Denica Riadini-Flesch, Winner of the 2025 Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award, Says Farmers, Artisans Key to Climate Fight
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Denica Riadini-Flesch, an economist-turned-entrepreneur proving fashion can restore the Earth and boost incomes for marginalized rural communities, has won the UCLA 2025 Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award.
The 35-year-old Indonesian responded to the win with an urgent call to include farmers and craftspeople in climate solutions worldwide.
The $100,000 prize recognizes a next-generation leader whose bold, actionable solutions to global challenges have the power to revolutionize the future.
“Artisans and farmers are the missing link to solving the climate crisis and we ignore them at our peril,” said Riadini-Flesch. “My work shows that when rural artisans lead—when indigenous wisdom, regenerative farming, and economic dignity are placed at the heart of our solutions—we don’t just reduce harm, we lay the blueprint for a regenerative future.”
The win was announced at an award ceremony in Los Angeles on October 8 by Tony Pritzker, whose foundation first awarded the annual prize in 2017. The founder of the fashion brand SukkhaCitta, Riadini-Flesch aims to regenerate 2.5 million acres and create livelihoods for 10,000 rural women across Indonesia.
“The most challenging aspect of this award process is choosing just one to be the winner—each of the many nominees is truly exceptional,” said Pritzker.
“Denica Riadini-Flesch is a stand-out example of a social entrepreneur who is leveraging her commitment to environmental sustainability to both help preserve Indonesian traditions and create a viable business model—forging a path which many will no doubt follow.”
Sported by the likes of Yo-Yo Ma, Chris Martin of Coldplay, and the ocean heroine Sylvia Earle, SukkhaCitta shows how fair-trade fashion can restore ecosystems and address inequality on a global scale.
“Denica has created a regenerative masterpiece, weaving together what is good for the soil, for farmers and craftspeople, and for consumers,” said judge Audrey Choi, chair of the Generation Foundation.
“She has reimagined a new kind of supply chain from the ground up, where the creation of beautiful goods helps restore nature and strengthen communities.”
About the Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award:
Now in its ninth year, the Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award is the world’s first major environmental prize for innovators under the age of 40. The annual prize, funded by the Anthony Pritzker Family Foundation, recognizes outstanding, emerging individuals who have demonstrated exceptional impact, creativity, and leadership in addressing global environmental challenges.
“The way Denica turned economic theory into practice with SukkhaCitta isn’t just revolutionary—it’s a model the business sector can adopt starting now,” said Alex Hall, director of UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability (IoES), which presents the award.
“She’s paving the way, and it’s up to us to follow her lead.”
Past winners of the Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award include environmental economist Dan Hammer, conservationist Farwiza Farhan, and entrepreneur Miranda Wang—choices that reflect the diversity of solutions and global origins of our environmental future.
About UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability (IoES):
The UCLA IoES is an interdisciplinary research center that supports sustainability and addresses global environmental challenges. Their goal is to translate science into real-world action at the front lines of environmental progress.
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