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 companies see around corners to prepare now for what’s coming next.
Adam is the CEO of Clarasight and Chairman of Pencils of Promise. He is on a mission to help organizations and their 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
Build For Where The World Is Headed
How The Best Leaders Navigate Uncertainty To Shape The Future
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 that will unlock their next big breakthrough.
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 prepared for where the world is headed next.
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 rooted in anticipation of what’s next
Build For Where The World Is Headed
How The Best Leaders Navigate Uncertainty To Shape The Future
Sustainability 3.0
Building Resilience, Value and Competitive Advantage
Sustainability is an essential issue that every business must address ahead to stay competitive and retain top talent. But how do we position ourselves and our companies to be successful in this new era? As the CEO & Founder of Clarasight, the leader in carbon planning whose customers represent over $1 trillion in market value, Adam Braun walks audiences through the history of this rapidly growing challenge and the immense opportunity in front of us.
This speech is an uplifting journey through the stories of innovation and growth that will leave audiences clear-eyed about how to navigate an authentic sustainability journey and win on one of the most important issues of our time.
Audience Takeaways:
Learn why sustainability matters for your business and how it will impact your industry
Understand the regulatory landscape, incentives and near-term opportunities
Gain clarity on how to build a competitive advantage that accelerates business outcomes
Emerging trends, best practices and the leading successful strategies
Sustainability 3.0
Building Resilience, Value and Competitive Advantage
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
The Five Phrases That Will Change Your Life
How To Unlock The For-Purpose Path
Each of us often feel pressures and challenges can appear overwhelming. We have big dreams, as individuals and as organizations, and the leadership required to achieve our goals can seem out of our reach. In this talk that lays out a clear five-step framework, which was viewed millions of times online when first delivered, Braun shares his experience as a model for how to get “unstuck,” outlining the key steps that can actively transform even the smallest ideas into a big reality.
Join Adam on an enlightening expedition as he delves into the pivotal moments when bold decisions shape our paths. Drawing from invaluable wisdom gleaned from renowned leaders, Braun shares his own transformative journey and the accessible strategies that amplify purpose and meaning, igniting a profound sense of fulfillment in our personal and professional endeavors.
Audience Takeaways:
The foundational steps to finding your essential mission
The small actions that great leaders take to make others feel big
How to confidently take the right risks that can transform your life
The most powerful lessons that the world’s best leaders embody