Transformative Rites of Passage - A Conversation with Abby Falik

Abby Falik is an award-winning social entrepreneur committed to
launching the generation of leaders our world needs now.


In 2010 she founded Global Citizen Year, a non-profit that uses
the transition after high school to teach the REAL 21st century
skills: resilience, empathy, agency and leadership.  As CEO,
she raised and deployed over $65M in scholarships and equipped
thousands of diverse, emerging leaders to change the world — for
good.


In 2022 she joined the Emerson Collective as an Entrepreneur in
Residence to incubate new models to transform how young people
learn, launch and lead. Using Global Citizen Year as a blueprint,
she is on a mission to reinvent the “gap” year as an accessible,
purposeful and transformative rite of passage.


A recognized expert on social innovation, leadership, and the
changing landscape of education, Abby has been profiled by The
New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR and The Chronicle of
Higher Education.  Abby is a frequent speaker and has been
featured at forums including the Aspen Ideas Festival, the Obama
Foundation Summit, the Fast Company Innovation Festival, PopTech,
and The Nantucket Project.  In 2018, Abby was named one of
America's Top 25 Philanthropy Speakers by The Business of Giving.


Fast Company named her one of the Most Creative People in
Business, and Goldman Sachs has selected her as one of the 100
“Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs” four times.  For her
achievements as a social entrepreneur she has been recognized as
an Ashoka Fellow, a MindTrust Fellow, and a Draper Richards
Kaplan Entrepreneur.


She currently serves on the Advisory Boards of World Learning,
Teach for All, and Harvard Business School, as well as on Fast
Company’s Impact Council.


Abby received a B.A. in International Relations and an M.A. in
International Comparative Education from Stanford University. She
received an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.


She lives in Oakland, Ca. with her husband Joel Segre and their
two young sons.


Social Links


LinkedIn: @abbyfalik 


Twitter: @abbyfalik


Instagram: @abbyfalik