Summary
I have a lifelong love of purpose and social innovation, and have dedicated my professional life to leadership, systems change, and the art of connection. Over the years, I’ve been fortunate to work with hundreds of remarkable social entrepreneurs, supported the launch and growth of 250+ path-breaking organizations across 70+ countries, co-authored two books on purpose and career pathing, and partnered across sectors to turn bold ideas into durable impact.
A core throughline in my work is building partnerships and networks as living systems. I’ve designed and led cross-sector collaborations, and have founded and grown numerous networks that enable shared learning, trust-building, and collective action at scale.
As the founder of The Genuine, I serve as an executive coach and advisor to founders, CEOs, and senior leaders navigating growth, transition, and complexity. My work blends rigor and reflection, helping leaders clarify purpose, strengthen judgment, and align culture, systems, and strategy with the futures they are trying to build.
OnAir Post: Lara Galinksy
News
Sustainable Media Center Substack, – May 18, 2026
This week on the Sustainable Media Center Substack Live, Emma Lembke sits down with Lara Galinsky and Zachary Severyn for a wide-ranging conversation about coalition building, digital advocacy, AI, and the future of social media.
Together, they explore why trust has become the essential infrastructure for meaningful change in tech policy and digital reform. The discussion moves from youth mental health and algorithmic harms to AI governance, public-interest technology, and the growing movement to build systems designed around human agency rather than extraction and engagement.
Lara shares insights from her work at Project Liberty, arguing that no single organization or sector can solve today’s digital challenges alone. Zach reflects on organizing young people across borders and political divides, emphasizing the need for progress over perfection and collaboration over siloed advocacy.
The conversation also digs into what a healthier digital ecosystem could actually look like: interoperable platforms, greater user control over data and identity, more transparent AI systems, and technologies designed to support human flourishing instead of maximizing attention.
Throughout the discussion, Emma brings the conversation back to a central question: how do we build a future where technology serves people, communities, and democracy itself?
About
Source: The Genuine
How do we become extraordinary leaders?
How do we fulfill our purpose?
How can we lead our most meaningful, impact-driven lives?
These questions have animated Lara’s 25 years in leadership development, organizational growth, and social change work.
As the founder of The Genuine, Lara provides executive coaching, strategic planning, and advisory support to leaders seeking to elevate themselves, their teams, and their organizations for greater impact. She’s an expert on realizing purpose, having developed a science-backed methodology to support clients in understanding how to deeply integrate purpose into their work and workplaces. She works with leaders pioneering new initiatives, and with those looking to reimagine established practices.
For more than a decade, Lara served as the co-leader of Echoing Green, an angel investor in social change startups around the world. There she worked with extraordinary social entrepreneurs to support the launch and development of more than 250 groundbreaking organizations in more than 70 countries. While in her care, Echoing Green grew seven fold.
Lara serves as board chair of the Initiative for Medicine Access & Knowledge (I-MAK), which works to ensure the affordability of life-saving drugs around the world. She’s a founding advisory board member for the Women’s Leadership Council (WLC), which supports New York-based women executive directors and senior leaders of social impact organizations; and she founded and tends We Are Coaches, a learning and support network for leadership and executive coaches.
As a speaker, facilitator and thought leader, she has worked with dozens of organizations including Stanford University, Overdeck Foundation, 92Y, Harvard iLab, NoVo Foundation, Leading Edge Harvard Business Review, New School, Be Social Change, The Philanthropy Workshop/Ford Foundation.
Lara is a phi beta graduate of Wesleyan University and received her master’s with honors in strategic communications from Columbia University. Her coach training is from CTI and Coach Rising. She is the author of two books, Be Bold: Create a Career with Impact and Work on Purpose.
Tell Your Whole Story in an Interview (2014)
I start job interviews with the same question every time: “Tell me about your path leading up to today. Why is this role the right fit for you now?”
Source: Harvard Business Review
Find Your Moment of Obligation (2013)
People who successfully tackle big social, environmental, and economic problems are driven by what I call a moment of obligation — a specific time in their life when they felt compelled to act. These moments become their North Star; they keep them going in a positive direction when everything seems dark. The obligation is not only to the world but also to themselves.
Source: Harvard Business Review
Web Links
Experience
Head of Partnerships, Project Liberty · Full-time
Mar 2023 – Present · 3 yrs 3 mos
New York
- Lead global partnerships and ecosystem strategy for Project Liberty, designing and operationalizing the processes, frameworks, and collaborative structures that align technology infrastructure, policy innovation, and movement-building in service of a people-centered digital future in the age of AI.
- Architect and direct the Project Liberty Alliance, a cross-sector coalition of 175+ institutions spanning technology, academia, civil society, media, philanthropy, and policy.
- Serve as a field-builder and collaborator, forging partnerships that translate ideas into influence across responsible AI and digital governance.
- Shape and steward high-impact convenings, from state leadership summits with legislators from 30+ states, to flagship gatherings of 500+ global leaders, to multi-day programming at Davos and brand-building convenings at SXSW.
- Build and steward partnership frameworks, decision-making processes, and internal systems that enable sustained coordination across our entities.
Founder & Executive Coach, The Genuine
2016 – Present · 10 yrs 5 mos
New York City Metropolitan Area
- Serve as an executive coach and trusted advisor to senior leaders, founders, and CEOs, supporting leadership through complexity, transition, and growth.
- Developed a science-based purpose methodology and curriculum grounded in behavioral science and organizational psychology, helping leaders clarify direction and translate values into action.
- Collaborate with executives and leadership teams on strategy, decision-making, resilience, and culture, with a focus on institutional design, operating practices, and accountability.
- Designed and led organization-wide leadership programs, workshops, and retreats that embed purpose-driven leadership into teams and systems.
- Facilitate critical conversations among senior teams to strengthen trust, alignment, and performance. Website: thegenuine.org
Senior Director, Impact
Unfinished · Full-time
Feb 2020 – Mar 2023 · 3 yrs 2 mos
- Built and led an impact network advancing Unfinished’s mission to strengthen civic life in the digital age, working at the intersection of technology, economy, democracy, and culture. Directed grant programming and large-scale partnerships across technology, academia, social impact, and the arts.
- Led programming for Unfinished Live, the organization’s flagship public convening, designing complex, high-profile events that brought together globally recognized leaders, public intellectuals, artists, technologists, and policymakers. Across convenings at The Shed, curated hundreds of speakers and engaged thousands of participants through keynotes, partner activations, live podcast recordings, film screenings, major announcements, and immersive cultural moments, including a landmark public art installation by legendary digital artist Refik Anadol.
Business Planning, NoVo Foundation · Contract
2017 – 2019 · 2 yrs
Served as a consultant to the NoVo Foundation. Supported business planning and community research for The Women’s Building project– a mission-driven real estate project that aimed to transform a state prison into a hub for women’s equality.
Entrepreneur In Residence, The Future Project
2016 – 2019 · 3 yrs
New York City Metropolitan Area
- Designed and launched an Entrepreneur-in-Residence role at a nonprofit dedicated to equipping young people to imagine and build a better future.
- Supported the research, design, and early incubation of The Future Company, a social impact laboratory developing solutions to deeply entrenched societal challenges.
- Served as an inventor on human potential initiatives, advancing new models for leadership development, coaching, and purpose-centered growth.
- Built and led an organization-wide leadership coaching program, serving 150 staff members and strengthening leadership capacity across the institution.
Consultant, GOOD Worldwide Inc
2015 – 2016 · 1 yr
New York City Metropolitan Area
Supported corporations and philanthropies on their innovative, social impact programs, NPO partnerships, employee engagement initiatives, and purpose work.
Echoing Green
12 yrs 1 mo
Senior Vice President
2008 – 2015 · 7 yrs
- Co-led a globally respected nonprofit providing seed funding and strategic support to social entrepreneurs advancing systems change.
- Helped steer the organization through a multi-year strategic planning and organizational transformation process, including human capital development and change management.
- Defined and executed organizational vision, strategy, and operating plans, supporting the launch and growth of 250+ social change organizations across 70 countries during my tenure.
- Held enterprise-wide leadership responsibility with functional heads across programs, operations, fundraising, and communications reporting into my portfolio.
- Partnered with senior leadership to diversify revenue streams and raise tens of millions in philanthropic support over my tenure, securing multi-year commitments from major donors.
- Launched four programs and co-authored Work on Purpose during my tenure, expanding Echoing Green’s impact and reach.
Vice President Strategy
2003 – 2008 · 5 yrs
- Partnered with the President to re-launch and scale Echoing Green, operating in a start-up-like environment during a period of significant organizational growth.
- Designed and implemented the organization’s first comprehensive strategic plan and annual goal-setting processes, including hiring, performance management, and foundational HR systems.
- Doubled the number of Fellowship organizations supported, expanding annual cohorts from 10 to 20.
- Co-authored Be Bold, Echoing Green’s first book on building a career in social change, securing six anchor partners and 150+ distribution partners, resulting in 30,000 copies distributed.
National Program Director, Do Something
2000 – 2003 · 3 yrs
New York City Metropolitan Area
Senior member of the management team supporting millions of K–12 students nationwide through leadership and civic engagement initiatives.
- Led a six-person team overseeing program curriculum, grantmaking, digital platforms, and educator and youth support.
- Scaled a community coach model to 200 sites, training educators in service learning across the U.S.
- Built management systems, developed talent, and led cross-functional initiatives to support organizational growth and innovation.
- Partnered with the Martin Luther King Jr. family to create a national kindness and justice curriculum adopted by 15,000 educators and four million students as a standard MLK Day resource.
