David Gershon
David Gershon
David Gershon is a renowned author and social innovator. He serves as CEO of Empowerment Institute and created the Cool City Challenge initiative.
He was born in Glasgow, Montana on April 7, 1956 to Wanda Hembd and Lyle Anderson.
Early Life and Education
David Gershon holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Georgia and is currently co-director of Empowerment Institute, an organization which equips change agents with tools and training to design and implement social innovations for behavior modification and community empowerment.
He has also founded several outpatient emergency clinics. His expertise in healthcare insurance, reimbursement and regulatory affairs gave him the edge to open these ERs outside hospitals.
Gershon is the Managing Partner of Endeavor Life Sciences Growth Advisors and provides strategic Go-to-Market plans, revenue generating business development advice, clinical trial design guidance and reimbursement advice to CEO/Entrepreneurs Founders of disruptive new healthcare and life sciences products/services that leverage technologies like AI/ML. With his advice, over 200 successful launches in 30 countries across 5 continents have taken place.
Professional Career
David Gershon is an author, entrepreneur and social entrepreneur. He co-directs Empowerment Institute’s School for Transformative Social Change, which equips change agents from around the world with skillsets necessary to design and implement groundbreaking social innovations.
As a theoretical physicist, Gershon is often labeled “theoretical.” But when he became frustrated with the lack of transparency in currency options pricing, he turned his expertise into an innovative software company that revolutionized how people price derivatives.
Gershon is renowned for his ability to organize large-scale consciousness-raising initiatives. He spearheaded the First Earth Run event that brought together 25 million people in 62 countries and raised millions of dollars for UNICEF to provide care to some of the world’s neediest children.
Achievements and Honors
Over his two and a half decades as Kiki & David Gindler Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Gershon has created technically precise yet emotive performances. As an advocate for new music, he has led numerous world premieres – works by John Adams, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Louis Andriessen, Christopher Rouse, Steve Reich, Ricky Ian Gordon, Shawn Kirchner, Ellen Reid and Chinary Ung among them – that have won critical acclaim worldwide.
After a prestigious career as an investor and trader on Wall Street, Gershon co-founded SuperDerivatives to develop a global pricing model for options. His work has been published in major journals, earning him recognition from Inside Market Data’s Hall of Fame. Furthermore, he leads Empowerment Institute – designing second order change solutions for cities and countries around the world that make seemingly impossible things possible.
Personal Life
David Gershon is a highly esteemed leader in the fields of behavior change and community empowerment. His innovations have earned him numerous awards and accolades for his efforts.
One popular example is Gershon’s Cool City Challenge, which encourages cities to build on their strengths and overcome weaknesses. This initiative stems from decades of groundbreaking behavior change work he has been engaged in.
Other remarkable accomplishments include organizing the First Earth Run, an international consciousness-raising event hosted in partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund that involved 25 million participants and 45 heads of state from 62 countries.
Net Worth
David Gershon is an actor best known for his roles in Exit Wounds and Half Past Dead. Additionally, he performs music professionally.
Gershon boasts a net worth of $2 million dollars. He runs an successful business in Boston and teaches many people Krav Maga and self defense techniques.
Since his youth, he has been practicing martial arts of various styles. He holds a 5th degree black belt in Krav Maga and a 2nd degree black belt in Judo.
He has an international following and is an expert in tactical survival and self protection. In Boston he runs the “Krav Maga Yashir Training Centre”, one of the premier places to learn Krav Maga and survival techniques.