Hildy Gottlieb is a social scientist and asker of powerful questions. She is the co-founder and Chief Boundary Pusher at Creating the Future, a 10-year experiment in global systems change, rooted in the question, "If systems everywhere were aimed at bringing out the best in people (vs. reacting to the worst in people), how much more humane could the world be?”

In addition to her role at Creating the Future, Hildy is a speaker and consultant, helping organizations and companies bring out the best in their own situation, reaching for what is possible inside and outside their own four walls.

Hildy is a TEDx speaker, as well as a contributor to the Stanford Social Innovation Review and a blogger at Medium.com. She is also the creator and host of the Making Change podcast, where she has interviewed dozens of leaders from around the world about the factors that create powerful, positive change.

All Hildy's work is rooted in a combination of research and practical experience, built upon her decades as a consultant, a social change theorist, and a serial social entrepreneur. Hildy helped develop (and then taught) the current Masters degree program in Community Leadership at Duquesne University (pron. Dew-cáyne). She and her partner, Dimitri Petropolis, also co-founded the world’s first Diaper Bank, sparking the diaper banking movement across North America, and garnering them a Points of Light Citation from President Bill Clinton. 

Hildy’s best-selling books on the nuts and bolts of social change have all become industry standards and are used as texts in both undergraduate and graduate programs around the world. 

When not working, Hildy can be found in the garden, at the movies, shooting photos, or traveling the world in search of a quiet cafe to write.

Read personal stories about the difference Hildy has made in people's lives here.

The Longer Story...
Hildy began her career as the legislative aide to Tucson City Council Member Tom Volgy (pron. Vol-jee). After leaving politics, Hildy started and operated several successful for-profit ventures, including a commercial construction company, a plant nursery, and along with her partner, Dimitri Petropolis, a commercial real estate brokerage, management and business turnaround firm.

In 1993, Hildy and Dimitri chose to turn their business skills to making a difference in the world. Through their consulting firm Help 4 NonProfits & Tribes, the pair became known across North America for their work assisting community organizations with strategy, governance and resource development. By 1998, Hildy and Dimitri had grown frustrated with the lack of significant community improvement being created by “nonprofit” community benefit organizations around the world. Aiming their business turnaround skills at social change and leadership systems themselves, the result has been the world-changing work now being advanced both by Creating the Future, and through Hildy's consulting and speaking.