Adam Braun is a New York Times bestselling author, globally recognized speaker and 3x entrepreneur. He is the CEO & Co-Founder of Clarasight, the leading Carbon Planning & Analysis platform that empowers companies with over $1T in market capitalization to achieve breakthrough sustainability and business performance.
He is the Founder and Chairman of Pencils of Promise, the award-winning organization he led as long-time CEO to now build 600+ schools around the world serving 250,000+ students. He also founded and served as CEO of MissionU, the company that pioneered many of today’s leading upskilling and workforce development best practices, which was named one of Fast Company’s 50 Most Innovative Companies in the World.
He has been featured as a speaker at The White House, the United Nations, Fortune 500 companies, industry associations and universities. He has also been named to Business Insider’s 40 Under 40, Wired Magazine‘s 50 People Who Are Changing the World, and was selected by the World Economic Forum as one of their original ten Global Shapers.
Braun began working summers at hedge funds when he was sixteen years old, sprinting down the path to a successful Wall Street career. But while traveling abroad as a college student he met a young boy begging on the streets of India, who when asked what he wanted most in the world, simply answered, “a pencil.”
This small request became the inspiration for Pencils of Promise, the organization Braun would leave Bain & Company several years later to start with just $25. This mission-driven work continues today as the CEO of Clarasight, which enables companies to reduce business emissions without reducing business outcomes.
His book The Promise of a Pencil: How an Ordinary Person Can Create Extraordinary Change debuted at #2 on the New York Times Bestseller list and went on to become a #1 national bestseller. Braun’s work has led to a nomination for the TED Prize, and he is the recipient of the United States’ most prestigious award for public service, the Jefferson Award.
Adam is a 3x Entrepreneur, NYT Bestselling Author & Keynote Speaker
As a 3x entrepreneur and one of the top rated innovation and leadership speakers in the world, Adam helps organizations navigate change to unleash their visionary spark.
Adam is the CEO of Clarasight and Founder of Pencils of Promise. He is on a mission to help 10 million everyday leaders achieve the extraordinary.
“The best speaker I've ever seen in the history of our company's events.”
General Counsel
Coca-Cola HBC
"Adam represents exactly the shift our world needs - where the brightest minds of our generation focus on addressing the most important problems of our time."
Ben Rattray
Founder of Change.org
"Engaging, instructive and inspiring."
Success Magazine
Keynote Topics
The Innovator’s Edge
Building a Future-Ready Organization
In a world characterized by rapid change and uncertainty, the ability to anticipate future trends is a critical leadership skill. This speech explores the strategies and techniques that the most successful leaders employ to gain a competitive edge.
In this riveting presentation, Braun delves into the art of foresight, discussing how to identify emerging trends, analyze potential disruptions, and assess future scenarios. He then explores the importance of cultivating a culture of innovation and experimentation, which enables organizations to adapt and thrive in a dynamic environment. Through storytelling, science and audience engagement, every attendee will gain valuable insights into how to develop their own foresight skills and inspire their organizations to build for the future, today.
Audience Takeaways:
Unleash your visionary spark by discovering your next groundbreaking idea
Transform vision into action: Implement tactical steps to bring your idea to life
How to engage others to build a movement around your ideas
How to convert early wins into sustained and enduring progress
The Innovator’s Edge
Building a Future-Ready Organization
Build For Where The World Is Headed
Unlocking Innovation in a Rapidly Changing World
How do the world’s most successful leaders navigate uncertainty in a rapidly changing world? Through a teachable four-step framework, Adam Braun shows you how great companies anticipate tomorrow’s reality, today. In this call-to-action of a talk, Braun shares enlightening examples of how others have navigated through unprecedented rates of change to find enduring success, the emerging trends that will shape where we’re headed next, and how to embolden your team to take the concrete actions to thrive in the midst of transformation.
Drawing from two decades of research and first-hand experiences that come to life in this riveting talk, Braun will have you on the edge of your seat and ready to take action so that you too are ready to lean into the benefits of rapid innovation.
Audience Takeaways:
Learn the science of how organizations and individuals best navigate change
Discover how to make bold, calculated decisions to enhance trust and success
Remove fear and restore a sense of optimism in your people
Define a course of action to ensure success within transformation
Build For Where The World Is Headed
Unlocking Innovation in a Rapidly Changing World
The Mindset of Compounding Greatness
The Five Essentials That Drive Repeatable Success
What’s the difference between a one time success and those that build a culture that produces an enduring legacy?
In this keynote, NY Times bestselling author and award-winning entrepreneur Adam Braun shares the five keys that the most successful teams in the world have imbued into their mentality and processes to create repeatable, resounding successes that powers year-over-year growth and evolution.
Through engaging storytelling filled with simple memorable phrases and proven frameworks that teams can start implementing right away in their daily rhythms and habits, Braun elevates not just every attendee’s intentions, but inspires and enables teams to immediately convert their boldest aspirations into the small calculated bets that will drive your most powerful ambitions to become reality.
Audience Takeaways:
Learn how to instill a mindset of compounding greatness within teams, focusing on incremental improvements that drive sustained success
Gain tools to enhance daily routines and processes that support individuals to navigate change and achieve consistent peak performance
Develop your tangible steps to convert ambitious goals into practical actions with every team member contributing to compounding successes
The Mindset of Compounding Greatness
The Five Essentials That Drive Repeatable Success
Ordinary Person, Extraordinary Change
How Every Person Has The Power to Affect The Masses
Most people believe one person can’t make a difference. Adam Braun proves otherwise by captivating audiences with his story of being an ordinary person, creating extraordinary change — something he believes everyone can do. In this inspirational presentation, Braun shares his journey from an ordinary intern to becoming a 3x entrepreneur starting organizations that have raised over $100M and impacted millions of lives.
Rooted in a compelling round-the-world story with humorous twists and turns, Braun anchors this speech around several key learnings that can serve as guideposts when facing the most challenging moments in our careers and lives.
Audience Takeaways:
How to discover your next big idea
Tactical steps to turn that big idea into action
Best practices to engage those around you to build a movement
Lessons to convert inspiration into enduring growth
Ordinary Person, Extraordinary Change
How Every Person Has The Power to Affect The Masses