David Katz

David Katz is the Founder and CEO of Plastic Bank, an internationally recognized social fintech powering the global movement of #Us that stands against the extractive “buy-more machine” and replaces it with shared prosperity for the people and restoration for the planet.

His movement has enlivened an opportunity for progressive and purpose-led businesses to support over 62,000 collector families across 500+ underserved communities in the Philippines, Indonesia, Brazil, Egypt, and Thailand with income and social benefits in exchange for plastic gathered from the environment.

Under his leadership, Plastic Bank has enabled the collection of over 185 million kilograms of plastic from the environment, making it the largest volume of hand-gathered plastic in the world. With end-to-end traceability, Katz’s idea unlocks verified social and environmental impact for businesses, and opens pathways to prosperity for humans fighting poverty.

Katz is widely recognized as one of the world’s most compassionate entrepreneurs. His honors include the the Prix Voltaire, the United Nations Lighthouse Award for Planetary Health, the Paris Climate Conference Sustainia Community Award, the Ernst and Young Lifetime Achievement Award, The Globe and Mail’s Changemakers Award, The Global Presence Humanitarian Award, and the Entrepreneur Organizations’ Global Citizen Award.

He has also been featured in hundreds of global media and investigative outlets, including BBC, CNN, TIME magazine, Forbes, Fast Company, Business Week, and National Geographic. An acclaimed TED speaker, Katz has also appeared in award-winning documentaries and starred in an international reality television series.

Often described as a steward of the Earth, a champion for the underserved, and a thought leader on the prosperity effect, Katz challenges audiences to rethink value, redesign systems, regenerate the planet, and unlock human potential.