2022-2023 Presidential Dialogue Series

Monday, March 27

Rockville Campus, Science Center West, Room 301 (map)
Reception 1:15 p.m.
Event 2 p.m.

About the Presidential Dialogue Series

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Seth Goldman

Seth Goldman is a local, mission-driven entrepreneur first known for his creation of Honest Tea, which was sold to Coca-Cola for $43 million. Mr. Goldman is now the Co-Founder and Chief Change Agent of Eat the Change, which produces organic plant-based snacks.  He is also the Co-founder of PLNT Burger and Chair of the Board of Beyond Meat.  He recently launched his latest tea line by combining  “justice” with “tea” to create “Just Ice Tea.” He has been widely recognized for his entrepreneurial success and impact, including Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year in Greater Washington, the Washington DC Business Hall of Fame, the Beverage Industry Magazine’s Executive of the Year and the Partnership for Healthier America’s CEO of the Year. A long-term proponent of democratizing organic food and building business based on fair trade practices, Goldman has successfully merged his passion for social justice with  healthy, profitable products.

Seth and his wife, Julie Farkas, have also launched ETC Impactnew window, which is a donating $1.25M over three years into nonprofit organizations that educate and inspire consumers to make climate-conscious choices with their diet.  

Mr. Goldman is a graduate of Harvard College (1987) and the Yale School of Management (1995) and is a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute. Seth and Barry Nalebuff are the authors, along with graphic artist Soongyun Choi, of The New York Times bestselling comic book, Mission in a Bottle.

 

 

About the Presidential Dialogue Series

Local and global communities have weathered a series of devastating events over the last several years:  the coronavirus pandemic, worsening racial violence, and economic destabilization (inflation, supply chain challenges and underemployment) to name a few. Simultaneously, new openings in public discourse, changes in labor and consumer markets, and a growing intolerance for racism have all created opportunities for change. Some notable leaders have advanced proactive, critical approaches to directing our paths forward. They have reminded us how law, health, democracy, education, and media have been systematically constructed through history to create inequities and injustices. As we seek to chart a different course—a few visionary leaders have excelled at leveraging positive trends amid crises in an effort to create a better tomorrow.

Please join me for a new presidential dialogue series, “Reimagined Community: Successful Agents of Change.” My conversations with thought leaders in business, politics, education, and journalism will explore the values and structures essential to transform our communities and advance a shared sense of the public good. Throughout the series we will examine how the instability created by crisis can also create space for productive, progressive transformation –and how we can position ourselves as agents of such change. 
- Dr. Jermaine F. Williams, President, Montgomery College