“A leader amongst an emerging generation of change makers who are proving that every person can be a force for positive change.”
—Ann Veneman,
Former Executive Director of UNICEF
Adam Braun is a New York Times bestselling author, globally recognized speaker and 3x entrepreneur. He is the Co-Founder & CEO of Climate Club, the leading sustainability platform that empowers companies and their people to drive breakthrough performance and results. He is also the Founder and Chairman of Pencils of Promise, the award-winning organization he led as long-time CEO from $25 in a bank account to now build nearly 600 schools around the world. He also founded MissionU, the company that pioneered many of today’s most popular professional upskilling and future of work trends, which was named one of FastCompany’s 50 Most Innovative Companies in the world before being acquired in 2018.
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.
He has been featured as a speaker at The White House, the United Nations and the dozens of industry associations, Fortune 500 companies 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 as one of the World Economic Forum’s 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. Using his unique “for-purpose” approach, the organization has now raised more than $75M to address global education.
Through his work across the full spectrum of education and sustainability, Braun has combined his passion for mission-driven impact to support individuals, teams and companies in the pursuit of unlocking their greatest potential.
He avidly engages with his social media following of over 700,000 people and has received the nation’s most prestigious award for public service, the Jefferson Award.
