MAKING A DIFFERENCE – DANIEL LUBETZKY

Daniel Lubetzky is the son of Sonia and Roman Lubetzky. A Holocaust survivor and an Ashkenazi Jew of Lithuanian ancestry, Lubetzky’s father was a partner in International Bonded Warehouses and United Export Trading Association, both duty-free shop chains with headquarters in Laredo, Texas.  He was born and raised in Mexico City, Mexico.  As a teenager, he moved with his family to the U.S.

He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and international relations, graduating magna cum laude, from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. As an undergraduate, he studied abroad in both Israel and France.  Lubetzky then earned his Juris Doctor from Stanford Law School in 1993.

In 2003, concerned about unhealthy snacking choices and the rising obesity and diabetes epidemic in America, Lubetzky launched Kind Snacks with the value proposition of being “Kind to your body, your taste buds and your world”. Kind has since become the fastest-growing snack company in the US.

In 2010, Lubetzky co-founded Maiyet, a luxury fashion venture committed to forging partnerships with artisans in some of the world’s developing economies to create high end and unique products, while promoting self-sufficiency and entrepreneurship.

In 2015, President Barack Obama and Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker named him a Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship (PAGE). In 2018, Lubetzky founded New York-based family office, Equilibra, which backs entrepreneur-run businesses that offer packaged goods to consumers; investments include Greek yogurt brand Ellenos, and social enterprise Yellow Leaf Hammocks. As of November 2021, Lubetzky had a net worth of $2.2 billion.

In November 2020, it was announced that Kind North America would be purchased by Mars in a deal worth $5 billion. Lubetzky retained his stake in the company and involved in its operations.

In September 2021, Lubetzky teamed up with two of Kind’s former executives to create Somos (meaning “we are” in Spanish), an authentic Mexican food company.

Lubetzky is the author of the New York Times bestselling book Do the Kind Thing, Think Boundlessly, Work Purposefully, Live Passionately. The book is based on Lubetzky’s entrepreneurial experience, and was inspired by his father’s stories from the Holocaust.

He is the co-founder of the OneVoice Movement, an international grassroots effort, to amplify the voices of moderate Israelis and Palestinians seeking to end the conflict.

Lubetzky and Kind Snacks created the Kind Foundation. Its signature initiative, Empatico, is a video-conferencing and digital learning platform that connects classrooms around the world designed to help kids explore their similarities and differences and expand their world views.

In April 2020, Lubetzky’s Kind Foundation launched the Frontline Impact Project in consultation with Project N95. The project is a platform for healthcare and other frontline responders to request resources needed in the fight against COVID-19.  Frontline Impact Project has partnered with more than 40 brands like Unilever, Nestle, and Mars Incorporated, reaching more than 180,000 people working mostly in hospitals, nursing homes, and outpatient medical practices.

Lubetzky has been recognized with numerous awards nationally and internationally, which include:  100 Global Leaders for Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum, the King Hussein Humanitarian Leadership Prize, named as one of “43 Entrepreneurs Who Are Changing the World” by Fast Company, named among “25 Responsibility Pioneers” of social innovation by Time magazine, and Selected as Entrepreneur of the Year by Entrepreneur magazine, among others.