A true force for change, Gary Hirshberg has been at the forefront of movements working for environmental and social transformation for 30 years. From his early days as an educator and activist to his current position as President and CE-Yo of Stonyfield Farm, the world’s largest organic yogurt company, Hirshberg’s positive outlook has inspired thousands of people to recognize their ability to make the world a better place.

A popular, entertaining speaker, Gary has taken his uplifting message to consumer and business organizations across America as well as worldwide. His topics range from the organic industry and farming to corporate social responsibility and the environment.
 
The husband of writer Meg Hirshberg, and the father of three teenage yogurt-eaters, Hirshberg, 53, has overseen the growth of Stonyfield from its infancy as a seven-cow organic farming school in 1983 to its current $300 million annual sales. This growth has been built with innovative marketing techniques that often combine the social, environmental, and financial missions of the company. One of the company's five missions is "to serve as a model that environmentally and socially responsible businesses can also be profitable" and Gary has realized this vision in every aspect of the company.

In the early days of Stonyfield, Gary wore many hats - from yogurt-maker to bookkeeper. He served as director of the Rural Education Center, the small organic farming school from which Stonyfield was spawned. Before that, he was executive director of The New Alchemy Institute, an ecological institute devoted to organic agriculture, aquaculture and renewable energy systems. He was also the Founding President of the Cape Cod Environmental Coalition which sued the US Air Force over a large radar facility that has recently returned to the news. And he was the Founding Chairman of the Cape and Islands Self-Reliance Corporation. Earlier in his career, he was a water-pumping windmill specialist, an author, an environmental education specialist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and a manager of environmental tours to the People's Republic of China.
 

Your passion for what you believe in is infectious. It definitely ignited a sense of action in me. You made me realize that I can have impact as a consumer, with my own purchasing power. As a manager, I can influence and educate my guests and associates.

Compass Group

Gary is a New Hampshire native and was one of the first graduates of Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. He has received six honorary doctorates. He serves on several corporate and non- profit boards including Honest Tea, Sambazon, Inc., Peak Organic Brewing and as the Chairman/Cofounder of O'Naturals, a chain of organic and natural fast food restaurants. He co-chaired The Social Venture Network for 5 years and is the Founder of the Social Venture Institute, a "boot camp" for community-minded entrepreneurs. He also coaches three youth soccer teams and is president of the Express Soccer Club.

Gary has won numerous awards for corporate and environmental leadership including: the 1999 Global Green USA's Green Cross Millennium Award (inspired by Mikhail S. Gorbachev) for Corporate Environmental Leadership. Gary was named "Business Leader of the Year" by Business NH Magazine and "New Hampshire's 1998 Small Business Person of the Year" by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

In January 2008, Hyperion Books (NY) published Hirshberg’s Stirring It Up: How to Make Money and Save the Word, which outlines how consumers and businesses can be forces for positive and tangible change. Robert Redford’s review: "Gary Hirshberg dared to dream new ways of doing business based on respect for customers, employees, and the earth. And, it worked. If you buy or sell anything, or simply want to feel hopeful about the future, this lively and legitimately optimistic book is worth every minute."