Doug Abrams

Artist, Athlete, Business leader, Change Agent, Concerned citizen, Connector, Entrepreneur, Environmentalist, Explorer, Filmmaker, Foodie, Global soul, Idea generator, Life mentor, Parent, Philanthropist, Producer, World traveler, Writer/Editor

Doug Abrams is an author, editor, literary agent, and film producer. He is the founder and president of Idea Architects, a creative book and media agency helping visionaries create a wiser, healthier, and more just world and with 21 New York Times Bestsellers. He wrote books with Desmond Tutu for over two decades and is the co-author of THE BOOK OF JOY with Desmond Tutu and The Dalai Lama, which inspired the film MISSION: JOY, one of Netflix’s highest rated films. Doug serves as the interviewer in the film and also served as an Executive Producer. Current projects include a new book with the Dalai Lama called How to Think: A Journey to Unleashing the Power of Your Mind, on the importance of mental training and sharing the Dalai Lama’s own seven level practice, a book called Are We Going to Be OK? which shares the truths from six of the global heroes he has worked with (Tutu, Dalai Lama, Hawking, Goodall, Mandela, Figueres) for living at this time in history, and a podcast and gathering he is launching with his friend, Soren Gordhamer of Wisdom 2.0. He is also the co-author of THE BOOK OF HOPE with Jane Goodall and has worked with Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac on their book, THE FUTURE WE CHOOSE. He also served as the US literary agent for David Attenborough's book, A LIFE ON PLANET EARTH. He is also serving as the Executive Producer of FINDING THE MOTHER TREE, a film being produced with Amy Adams’s Bond Group and starring Amy Adams. The film is based on the book by ecologist and TED speaker Suzanne Simard, who helped discover the intelligence and communication of trees. Books and films he has developed have been credited with convincing then-President Bill Clinton to stop the genocide in Kosovo (THE BRIDGE BETRAYED), for launching the modern anti-slavery movement (DISPOSSIBLE PEOPLE), and for helping to expand a mass incarceration reform movement (JUST MERCY, a book by TED Speaker Bryan Stevenson anda film starring Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Fox). His goal is to bring people together in a cultural conversation through books and media that will help catalyze the next stage of our global cultural evolution. Throughout all of his wide-ranging projects, Doug aspires to help create llife-changing and world-changing culture that can create a thriving and sustainable world.

Ideas, media, stories, humans (including my wife and kids), other life, laughter, chocolate chip cookies

Midwifing the Zeitgeist

Books, Culture, Ideas, Media, Stories

I'm in the idea business, and I started going to TED more than a decade ago and found my tribe of idea architects and visionaries. I have been to many TEDs and also was the co-host of a TEDx in Santa Cruz, which gave me a lot of respect for the art of the game. Many of my clients are TED speakers including Bryan Stevenson, Suzanne Simard, Christiana Figueres, Tom Rivett-Carnac, and Robert Waldinger (one of the 10 most popular of all time). Love meeting up with my tribe each year and have enjoyed TED Countdown as well. I'm hard to miss at 6'6" (almost 2 meters) so say hi as I love meeting fellow TEDsters.

Cooking, especially culture-forward lasagnas