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 upwards of 450,000 youth, women and schoolteachers living in poverty in India, Kenya, and the US. Steve oversees all strategic planning, program development, external relations, and operations for the organization. During Steve’s tenure, WorldBeing has pioneered the development, implementation, and scale-up of some of the first personal resilience and positive psychology programs delivered in low and middle-income countries.

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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.

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Steve Leventhal has served as an executive and strategic consultant in the US, Asia, and Africa with start-ups, Fortune 500 firms, and global nonprofit organizations. Prior to joining WorldBeing, Steve served as Director, External Relations at the San Francisco, CA-based Fritz Institute. Previously, at Population Services International | PSI, he brought together leading global private and public health partners to launch an innovative web-based medical training program for healthcare workers in Zimbabwe. Prior to that, Steve served as Director & General Manager of PlanetSearch Networks at Philips Electronics, and as founder and CEO of Point Asia, Inc.

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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.

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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 in ethical and evidence-based ways.