Lauren Bush is the CEO, Creative Director, and Co-Founder of FEED Projects, as well as the Chairman of the Board and Co-Founder of the FEED Foundation. Lauren started her work as an Honorary Spokesperson for the World Food Programme (WFP) in 2004, when she helped to launch their Universities Fighting Hunger initiative. In 2008, she was given the Marie Claire Prix De La Moda Humanitarian Award for her work with FEED. In 2009, she was honoured as a Fortune Most Powerful Woman Entrepreneur, and in 2010 she was included on Inc.’s “30 Under 30” List and given the Accessory Council’s Humanitarian Award.
My Definition Of Success | Since I started FEED, I’ve thought of success as one day closing the doors of FEED because we have solved world hunger. But over the years, I have come to define success by my favourite quote from Minor Myers Jr, which says “Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.”
My Highlights | I think the highlights of my life and career (which are mostly one in the same) will always be tied to the meals we provide and the children we feed. That FEED has been able to provide over 84 million meals to date is something I am so proud of. We have been able to do that through the sale of bags and accessories with tangible expressions of meals given on each product. For example, the FEED 1 bag feeds one child in school for one year. And our artisan products not only feed children, but also employ artisans in the countries those meals are being given. Everyone on team FEED is proud of that!
A Key Talent | Being an entrepreneur is a difficult but exciting path to choose. I think to be successful, you have to be clear about your vision and your mission while also being open to evolving how you do things. It is this crucial balancing act that is something I am very conscious of the more years I work on FEED and something I constantly working on to improve and get better at.
Principles I Live By | If I had to choose one value to live by it would be kindness. There is a magnet on the refrigerator at FEED that says, “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” Along those lines, it is very important to me to treat everyone I meet with equal respect and dignity as a human being.
Lessons I Have Learnt | The most important lesson I have learned thus far in my life and strive to continue to learn is to be confident in myself and the vision and purpose of what I strive to create and in who I want to become.
Resources I Use To Stay Inspired | I am so lucky to be surrounded by people who continually inspire me. My husband David is a huge source of encouragement, and I often go to him for business advice as well. I know that I am only as powerful as my team, so I’ve made a point to hire people at FEED who are smarter than me in various areas, and continue to bring creativity and innovation to the company. I learn a lot from them every day.
I also have learned the importance of taking time for myself to recharge. I am an avid reader and may or may not have a small addiction to Netflix.
My Future Dreams And Ambitions | My dream as the leader of FEED is that we would close our doors because we will have solved the problem of hunger.
On Inspiring Others | As described in the book Good to Great, which I highly recommend for any entrepreneur, I am a big believer in getting the right people on the bus. Team FEED is a very tight unit. We are only 11 people, but I’m continually amazed at how much we have been able to accomplish. I think we’ve been so successful because of our size, because each person really feels ownership over a specific area of the company, and has freedom to challenge the system and offer creative solutions to problems.
I Am Inspired By | I have been fortunate to have several wonderful mentors along the way, both in the non-profit world and the retail space. Muhammad Yunus defined and put a framework around the idea of “social business,” which is what FEED is. Approaching business with the ultimate intention and outcome of giving back to those in need is a powerful one. Professor Yunus is the father of this model and a personal hero of mine.
The Legacy I Would Like To Leave | I hope my legacy is one that encourages others to tackle big world problems through bite-size and innovative solutions. I also hope to have helped in the fight to end world hunger.
Suzana Machado Padua (Brazil, 1950) has a background in Visual Communication from the Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (1977). Since the late 80s, she began to work on environmental education, focusing on the protection of one of the most endangered species of primates in the world: the black-lion tamarin. This primate became the […]
Riaan Cruywagen started reading the Afrikaans news on SABC in 1975 and is regarded as one of South Africa’s iconic voices, guiding many through the turbulent 80’s and 90’s. He considers himself a truly proud South African and his legacy lives on as one of the best news anchor’s of modern times. The Legacy Project […]
Piers Fawkes is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of PSFK.com, a go-to source for new ideas and inspiration for creative professionals. Each month, 1 million creative professionals turn to the site to unearth new ideas that enable product, service and marketing innovation. Piers also hosts conferences and salons around the world, during which he and his […]
Matt Frazier is a marathoner and ultrarunner from Baltimore. His life as an endurance athlete changed when he found that he could run longer and faster on a vegetarian diet. After going vegetarian in March 2009, Frazier qualified for the prestigious Boston Marathon with a time of 3:09:59, more than an hour and a half […]
Dr Sherylle Calder is a visual skills coach and guru. She is a sport scientist and performance coach, who is also known as “The Eye Lady”. Dr Calder has helped teams win 2 back-to-back Rugby World Cups amongst many other sporting trophies and her expertise in this field has long been recognised by the top […]
Brad Sugars Legacy Project came from humble beginnings and is a self-made multi-millionaire most famous for his global business coaching franchise Action Coach. Along with his family, one of the biggest influences in his life is Jim Rohn. Brad often tells audiences the tale of how as a teenager he scrimped and saved his allowance […]
Stuart Turner is hoping he’ll soon be able to see the more of the world from his bedroom. The quadriplegic computer expert is helping to develop technology that will open up new vistas for those unable to travel by projecting what he calls “the extensible self”. Flying a camera mounted drone using just his head […]
Six years ago Luvo Manyonga was a crystal meth ‘tic’ addict. Now he is an Olympic silver medalist and his journey from the townships to ‘flying to Rio 2016 glory’ has been well documented across the web. Luvo Manyonga | The Legacy Project I feel so blessed to have recently had the privilege of briefly […]
These remain the property of its owner and are not affiliated with or endorsed by WeSpeak Global.
Our Mission
© All rights reserved 2025. Created using VOXEL THEME
