Ruchi Watson, Managing Director & CEO of the Goff Strategic Leadership Institute as well as a professor in the Department of Entrepreneurship & Strategy at the David Eccles School of Business, will be honored Friday by Utah Business magazine as one of 2025’s “Most Influential Women.”

Honorees were selected, the magazine noted, for “transcending expectations across diverse fields to sculpt the future of our state. Whether through streamlining healthcare access, shaping housing policy or advancing startup ecosystems, this year’s cohort sets a new standard for what it means to lead — integrating purpose and passion to enrich Utah’s cultural and economic landscape.”

The awards ceremony is scheduled to take place on Friday, Oct. 3, at the Hale Center Theatre in Sandy.

Watson’s interview with Utah Business covered topics such as how her corporate background has influenced her approach to leadership education; the Hope Corps initiative she launched during the COVID-19 pandemic in which some 200 students assisted 75 businesses and nonprofits; the more than $20 million in philanthropic support she’s helped raise to support the Goff Institute; and the strategies she’s developed to forge community partnerships.

A recurring theme in her responses mirrored the Goff Institute’s primary mission — the idea “that strategic leadership can and should be developed in everyone, not just those in formal positions of authority.” Watson noted that she’s worked on the floor of a manufacturing facility and in the boardroom with CEOs, and has seen leadership happen at every level.

“With 61 percent of executives feeling unprepared for strategic challenges, 51 percent of Gen Z saying their education didn’t prepare them for the workforce, and AI accelerating the demand for creativity and critical thinking, strategic leadership development isn’t optional — it’s essential,” she said.