Daniel Lubetzky
Encyclopedia
Daniel Lubetzky is a serial social entrepreneur known for integrating social objectives with sustainable market-driven forces into new business models. He is the CEO and Founder of KIND Healthy Snacks and the KIND Movement. He is also founder of PeaceWorks Inc., and the PeaceWorks Foundation’s OneVoice Movement, and co-founder of Maiyet.
PeaceWorks is a “not-ONLY-for-profit” business corporation pursuing both peace and profit. Its flagship brands – Meditalia and Bali Spice –are made through cooperative ventures among neighbors striving to co-exist in the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
In 2002, Lubetzky founded PeaceWorks Foundation’s OneVoice Movement as a means to amplify the voice of ordinary citizens in the Middle East. With offices in Ramallah, Tel Aviv, Gaza, London and New York, the OneVoice Movement now has over 650,000 Palestinian, Israeli and international signatories as well as a board of more than 60 dignitaries, religious authorities, business leaders, scholars and celebrities across an unprecedented spectrum of politics, ethnic backgrounds and religious beliefs.
In 2003, Lubetzky found himself in search of a snack that was both healthy and delicious, and as a result, introduced KIND Healthy Snacks (KIND) in 2004. KIND is a brand of all natural snacks made from ingredients you can see and pronounce. and its line of whole nut & fruit bars drove an unprecedented 70% of category growth in 2009, according to Nielsen's SPINS data. KIND is currently carried in more than 35,000 retail locations, including Starbucks
, Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Safeway, and more. The brand's two lines, KIND Fruit & Nut and KIND PLUS, have received a number of awards and distinctions, including Women's Health "Best Snack for Women," Men's Health "Best Breakfast Bar for Men" and "Best Bar" from Prevention Magazine. KIND's most recent addition to its profile is KIND Healthy Grains, an artisanal blend of whole grains and superfoods that can be enjoyed with milk, in yogurt, or by the handfuls on the go.
Lubetzky and KIND's mission to make the world a little kinder by inspiring unexpected acts of kindness is embodied by the KIND Movement
. In 2010, the Movement launched its Do the KIND Thing campaign, empowering people to turn KIND acts into vital support for causes. To date, the KIND Movement has inspired hundreds of thousands of unexpected acts of kindness around the world.
Lubetzky's most recent initiative involves a development-stage venture called Maiyet, which he co-founded in partnership with fellow Skoll Social Entrepreneur and Young Global Leader, Paul Van Zyl, in the fashion and apparel sector.
Personal History
The evolution of these unorthodox entities reflects Mr. Lubetzky's upbringing. The son of a Holocaust survivor and a Mexican Jew, Mr. Lubetzky was born in 1968 and raised in Mexico City, where he began his education in Hebrew, English, Spanish and Yiddish. As a teenager, he moved with his family to the U.S. During his college years, Mr. Lubetzky created a retail watch operation, Da'Leky Times. He studied abroad in both Israel and France, where he added French to his languages. While in the Middle East, he began developing relationships with Israeli and Palestinian friends. At Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, the seeds of PeaceWorks were planted as Mr. Lubetzky wrote his 268-page thesis, "The Influence of Economic Factors in Resolving the Arab-Israeli Conflict." After receiving his B.A. degree, magna cum laude, in 1990, Mr. Lubetzky worked in Tokyo for a summer with Japan Counselors, a strategic marketing firm. In 1991, Mr. Lubetzky summered as a clerk for The Honorable Thomas R. Phillips, Chief Justice for the Supreme Court of Texas.Education
Lubetzky is a graduate of Trinity University and earned his J.D. from Stanford Law School in 1993.Work History
While deciding whether to go into consulting or legal practice, Lubetzky was awarded the Haas Koshland Fellowship to write about legislative means to foster joint ventures between Arabs and Israelis. He accepted, and traveled to the Middle East where he conducted his research and subsequently developed the idea and foundation for PeaceWorks Inc.PeaceWorks is a “not-ONLY-for-profit” business corporation pursuing both peace and profit. Its flagship brands – Meditalia and Bali Spice –are made through cooperative ventures among neighbors striving to co-exist in the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
In 2002, Lubetzky founded PeaceWorks Foundation’s OneVoice Movement as a means to amplify the voice of ordinary citizens in the Middle East. With offices in Ramallah, Tel Aviv, Gaza, London and New York, the OneVoice Movement now has over 650,000 Palestinian, Israeli and international signatories as well as a board of more than 60 dignitaries, religious authorities, business leaders, scholars and celebrities across an unprecedented spectrum of politics, ethnic backgrounds and religious beliefs.
In 2003, Lubetzky found himself in search of a snack that was both healthy and delicious, and as a result, introduced KIND Healthy Snacks (KIND) in 2004. KIND is a brand of all natural snacks made from ingredients you can see and pronounce. and its line of whole nut & fruit bars drove an unprecedented 70% of category growth in 2009, according to Nielsen's SPINS data. KIND is currently carried in more than 35,000 retail locations, including Starbucks
Starbucks
Starbucks Corporation is an international coffee and coffeehouse chain based in Seattle, Washington. Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world, with 17,009 stores in 55 countries, including over 11,000 in the United States, over 1,000 in Canada, over 700 in the United Kingdom, and...
, Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Safeway, and more. The brand's two lines, KIND Fruit & Nut and KIND PLUS, have received a number of awards and distinctions, including Women's Health "Best Snack for Women," Men's Health "Best Breakfast Bar for Men" and "Best Bar" from Prevention Magazine. KIND's most recent addition to its profile is KIND Healthy Grains, an artisanal blend of whole grains and superfoods that can be enjoyed with milk, in yogurt, or by the handfuls on the go.
Lubetzky and KIND's mission to make the world a little kinder by inspiring unexpected acts of kindness is embodied by the KIND Movement
KIND Movement
Introduced in 2008, the KIND Movement is a social movement that was seeded by KIND Healthy Snacks to further its mission to try to make the world a little kinder To date, the KIND Movement has inspired thousands of unexpected acts of kindness around the world and has been recognized by TIME...
. In 2010, the Movement launched its Do the KIND Thing campaign, empowering people to turn KIND acts into vital support for causes. To date, the KIND Movement has inspired hundreds of thousands of unexpected acts of kindness around the world.
Lubetzky's most recent initiative involves a development-stage venture called Maiyet, which he co-founded in partnership with fellow Skoll Social Entrepreneur and Young Global Leader, Paul Van Zyl, in the fashion and apparel sector.
Recognition
Over the course of his many years in business, Lubetzky has been recognized/distinguished by a number of organizations, including the following:- World Economic ForumWorld Economic ForumThe World Economic Forum is a Swiss non-profit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva, best known for its annual meeting in Davos, a mountain resort in Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland....
– Young Global Leader link - Skoll Foundation – Award for Social Entrepreneurship
- Catholic Theological Union’s PeaceMakers Award
- National Committee for United States-China Relations- Young Leaders Forum Fellow
- Trinity University – Outstanding Alumnus Award
- World Association of NGOs – Peace, Reconciliation and Security Award
- King Hussein Foundation - Humanitarian Leadership Prize
- BusinessWeek – America’s Most Promising Social Entrepreneurs
- TIME Magazine – 25 Responsibility Pioneers
- Fast Company – Social Capitalist Award
- Established Entrepreneur of 2010
- Trinity University 2011 Commencement Speaker