David Gershon, co-founder and CEO of Empowerment Institute, has been called “the number one expert on social change” for his visionary leadership in designing second-order change solutions for cities, countries, and the planet that enable the seemingly impossible to become possible through four decades of award-winning initiatives. In 1986, at the height of the Cold War, Gershon organized the First Earth Run, passing a torch of peace around the world in partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund, directly engaging twenty-five million people and 45 heads of state in 62 countries while over a billion people watched via media as the torch circumnavigated the globe. For 86 days, wherever the torch of peace went all wars stopped and the world was united as one, creating what Gershon describes as a “modern-day mythic story embodying humanity’s noblest aspiration for peace on earth and the oneness of humanity” that continues being told worldwide. Author of twelve books, including the award-winning “Social Change 2.0: A Blueprint for Reinventing Our World” and bestselling “Empowerment: The Art of Creating Your Life as You Want It” (co-authored with wife Gail Straub), Gershon directs the Empowerment Institute’s Center for Reinventing the Planet, which empowers change agents worldwide to design and implement second-order change social innovations. Having lectured at Harvard, MIT, and Johns Hopkins while serving as advisor to the White House and United Nations on empowerment and second-order change, Gershon has dedicated his life to empowering humanity to believe we can create the world of our dreams while designing strategies and tools to make this reality.
Why their voice matters: Gershon demonstrates that seemingly impossible transformations can occur when the right conditions are created, providing practical frameworks for “second-order change” that transcends incremental improvement to create fundamental breakthroughs while showing how individual empowerment and global transformation are interconnected processes that can unite humanity around shared aspirations for peace.