Paul Hawken

Why you should listen

Paul Hawken is the founder of Project Regeneration and the author of Regeneration, Ending the Climate Crisis in One Generation. Prior to that, he founded Project Drawdown and authored the book Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming. Both books are taught in schools and universities worldwide.

Hawken's nine books, including five New York Times bestsellers, are published in more than 50 countries and 30 languages. He founded Erewhon, the first natural food company in the US that relied solely on organic agricultural methods. He served on the boards of the Center for Plant Conservation, Conservation International, Trust for Public Land and the National Audubon Society. In 1965, he worked with Martin Luther King Jr.'s staff in Selma, Alabama, prior to the March on Montgomery. As press coordinator, he registered members of the press, issued credentials and acted as a marshal for the final march. In Meridian, Mississippi, he was the first person to photograph the Ku Klux Klan without their hoods when they were forced to remove them in public by the Department of Justice. He was assaulted and seized by Klan members, but escaped due to FBI intervention.