Nathan Meffert

Nathan Meffert is a business designer, investor, and social entrepreneur. First-hand experience in design, development, and advisory roles have given him a thorough understanding of business. Nathan is particularly interested in user-driven innovation and commercializing new products and services.

In 2007, two weeks spent with a 10,00-year-old village of indigenous cacao farmers in the Ecuadorian Amazon opened his eyes to the power of business to change the world. In 2008, Nathan co-founded New Leaf Design, to provide ecological design, planning, and education on every scale.

Nathan currently holds a position as Organizational Design and Lean Systems Manager at RFM, Inc., a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Materials USA, and a leading advanced precision manufacturing company. He is a member of the Lean Enterprise Institute (LEI), the Design Management Institute (DMI), and the Social Enterprise Institute (SEI).

Nathan received his BA from Hampshire College in 2002, where he studied in the Natural Science and Anthropology departments. He developed his life philosophies living "off the grid" on the Northern California coast, amongst the Napo Runa people of the Ecuadorian Amazon, and in modeling the lives of heroes such as Charles Munger, Crazy Horse, and Seneca. Nathan has honed his social business acumen under some of the most notable social entrepreneurs in North America.

You can read Nathan's blog - "Lean Experiments in Business, Change, and Happiness" here.