Schwab Foundation Selects High Resolves Founder
Mehrdad Baghai as a ‘Social Entrepreneur of the Year’
MEDIA RELEASE
Tuesday, 23 September 2019
Schwab Foundation Selects High Resolves Founder
Mehrdad Baghai as a ‘Social Entrepreneur of the Year’
Award honors Baghai’s commitment to citizenship education that aims to engage young
people in Australia and beyond
Baghai: “Our vision is a generation of young people determined to make a positive
difference in the world.”
NEW YORK, NY – The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, in partnership with the
World Economic Forum, today announced High Resolves Co-Founder and CEO Mehrdad Baghai
as a ‘Social Entrepreneur of the Year’. The Foundation cited Baghai’s role in the rapid global
expansion of High Resolves, a leader in the design and delivery of citizenship education.
Baghai joins the Schwab Foundation’s global network of more than 350 outstanding social
entrepreneurs from over 70 countries worldwide.
“In a world marked by growing division, inequality and fear, the skills of critical thinking,
collaboration, inclusive leadership, and social advocacy, are more important than ever. The daily
work at High Resolves is to cultivate the next generation of global leaders by preparing students to
choose civility as the right course to engage in diverse communities,” said High Resolves CoFounder and CEO Mehrdad Baghai. “I am humbled that High Resolves has been recognized by
the Schwab Foundation and personally honored to be joining a global network committed to
creating a more inclusive, just and optimistic world.”
High Resolves learning experiences are transformational because they draw on proven design
principles from learning science, behavioral economics, social psychology, and neuroscience.
Centered upon peak experiences that shift a person’s thoughts and feelings about the world, the
curriculum helps hardwire these shifts into long-term memory through repeated practice and
application in the real world.
“There’s a growing recognition that social innovation has diffused into every sector and institution,
and the presence of pioneering agents of change re-inventing the way our institutions operate is
critical to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030,” said Dr. Francois Bonnici,
Head of the Schwab Foundation. “The 2019 Schwab Foundation Awardees represent a new
ecosystem of leaders who are driving change and shifting organizations and systems towards a
more just, inclusive, sustainable future.”
Since inception, High Resolves has engaged more than 300,000 Australian high school students
and has now expanded to schools in Canada, China, Brazil and the United States. Through its
international collaborations and partnerships, High Resolves has grown its impact and reach to
make its educational empowerment programs more accessible to disadvantaged communities
around the world.
About the Schwab Foundation
The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship provides platforms at the country, regional
and global levels to promote social entrepreneurship. The Foundation is a not-for-profit
organization, founded in 1998.
The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship was co-founded by Klaus Schwab, Founder
and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, and his wife, Hilde. Since its inception in
2000, the Foundation has been identifying the world’s leading social entrepreneurs in over 50
countries around the globe. Social entrepreneurs implement innovative and pragmatic solutions to
social problems by tackling the root causes and creating social transformation. Selected social
entrepreneurs of the Schwab Foundation network participate in World Economic Forum events,
thus providing unique opportunities for them to connect with business, political and media leaders.
Learn more about the Schwab Foundation
About High Resolves & Mehrdad Baghai
Baghai has had an esteemed career, and his deep experience has been critical to the growth of
High Resolves. Mehrdad has been a business strategist, thought leader at McKinsey on growth
strategy, CEO of a technology company in California, technology venture architect and investor,
and a leading author on collective action and partnering.
In response to rising intolerance, Mehrdad Baghai, and his wife Roya, co-founded High Resolves,
a multi-year, transformation program that inoculates high school students against racism and
hatred, and trains them to be active agents of constructive social change in their communities.
Mehrdad’s personal childhood experiences motivated his academic work with Nobel-laureate Tom
Schelling and laid the foundation for what has become the immersive learning approach of High
Resolves.
High Resolves is being recognized for its distinctiveness. It was awarded the Patron’s Prize from
Good Design Australia for excellence in user experience design. In November 2018, it was
awarded the Aspen Institute’s John P. McNulty Prize, which celebrates the boldness and impact of
individuals who are using their expertise and entrepreneurial spirit to address the world’s toughest
challenges.
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Media Enquiries:
USA: jcollins@mercuryllc.com Australia: ah@highresolves.or