Steve Leventhal
Since joining WorldBeing as Chief Executive Officer in 2008, Steve Leventhal has focused on helping some of the world’s most marginalized and economically disadvantaged populations to find their personal strengths, advocate for their rights, and become agents of positive societal change. Under Steve’s leadership, WorldBeing’s evidence-based resilience programs have reached over 100,000 youth and women living in poverty in India, Kenya, and the US. Steve oversees all strategic planning, program development, external relations, and operations for the organization. Steve came to this work after a near-fatal car crash, in which, as his car tumbled down an embankment, he found a renewed purpose: to empower under-served adolescent youth, particularly girls and young women, to unleash their inner potential, transform their circumstances, and thrive in the face of pervasive adversity and conflict. Steve holds a BA in Psychology and Asian Studies from Washington University, St. Louis, MO, and an MPA with an emphasis in organizational psychology and conflict management from The Evans School of Public Affairs, University of Washington, Seattle, WA. He holds a 4th-degree black belt in the martial art of Aikido. In 2019, Steve received the Outstanding Practitioner Award at the 2019 World Congress of Positive Psychology, awarded bi-annually to a practitioner who has shown outstanding excellence and impact in advancing the practices of positive psychology.
