Andrew Zolli
I think and work at the intersection of global innovation, social change and resilience.
I’m the Executive Director and Chief Creative Officer of PopTech.
We bring together a community of innovators from many different fields to share ideas and to work on new approaches to some of the world’s toughest problems. We identify and train some of the most amazing people you’ll ever meet, doing things you cannot believe humanity is up to. We get them to work together on truly world-changing projects, doing stuff nobody has ever tried before, in areas like public health, climate, and violence cessation. And once a year we bring them together at much-beloved gatherings on the coast of Maine. Together, we’re crafting a new, collaborative approach to discovery and social change. It’s a project I’m deeply passionate about.
In addition to this work, I’ve been honored to serve as a Fellow of the National Geographic Society, an organization I have loved since I was a child. I’ve also advised a wide array of leading companies, governmental organization, NGOs, and cultural and civil society groups.
I live in Brooklyn, NY with my family, who, every day, teach me a little more about love.
In my office is this poster, by the talented Joey Roth. I aspire to the third category.
“The small scale of the groups within such networks helps them remain agile, while the many-to-many ties in the larger network ensure that even if 10 percent or 20 percent of its membership is eliminated, the network as a whole will continue to function. "How many times have we killed the number three in al-Qaeda? In a network, everyone is number three," notes [US Naval Postgraduate School professor of defense analysis Dr. John] Arquilla, dryly.”