Nate Mook

Activist Entrepreneur; Former CEO of World Central Kitchen
Speaker Nate Mook in a blue shirt smirking
  • Mission-driven leader who, during his five years as CEO, transformed World Central Kitchen into a leading global nonprofit, growing from $1 million to $400 million a year generated in global impact
  • Partners with esteemed nonprofits and world leaders to spearhead humanitarian initiatives around the globe and amplify the voices of unsung heroes who are driving change
  • Shares valuable lessons on building a purpose-driven movement from the ground up and leading through crisis and change, while helping organizations connect people to their mission through storytelling

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A seasoned leader and gifted entrepreneur, Nate Mook knows what it takes to turn words into action and ideas into impact. For five years, Mook was the CEO of World Central Kitchen, working alongside world-renowned activist and humanitarian Chef José Andrés on the frontlines to ensure people in disaster zones have access to fresh meals and building food resilient systems with locally-led solutions. Widely recognized for his expertise in technology, filmmaking, and building nonprofit organizations, Mook brings a Swiss Army knife approach to crafting powerful stories that bring people together and drive change in the world.

Exclusively represented by Leading Authorities speakers bureau, Mook captures audience members’ imaginations from the jump as he takes them around the world, sharing moving stories of people working together in support of causes much greater than themselves. Addressing themes such as leading through crisis or change and environmental, social, and governance principles in business, he outlines how organizations can look within themselves to think bigger, recalibrate to more purpose-driven approaches, and change the world for the better. Mook inspires organizations to uncover why they do what they do and shares new and unique ways for how they can connect people to their mission through storytelling.

Mook’s support of World Central Kitchen began in 2012, but it wasn’t until 2017 that he formally joined the organization to oversee food relief efforts in Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. As CEO, he led the organization’s dramatic growth — building WCK from a one employee operation with less than $1 million per year in revenue to $400 million generated for global impact in 2022. Under Mook’s leadership, WCK became one of the world’s largest privately funded nonprofits. He also spearheaded the organization’s massive relief efforts in Ukraine. Following his leadership of WCK, Mook continues to support humanitarian work in Ukraine as President of The Ukraine Foundation.

Throughout his career, Mook has harnessed the storytelling power of film to advance conversations around important humanitarian and social causes. He served as the executive producer of the Emmy-nominated film “We Feed the People,” which spotlights World Central Kitchen’s evolution to becoming one of the world’s most highly regarded humanitarian organizations. He was also a consulting producer for the Emmy-nominated HBO documentary “The Slow Hustle,” producer for the HBO documentary “Baltimore Rising,” and director of “Undiscovered Haiti,” a documentary project co-produced with National Geographic and PBS. His career as a filmmaker has taken him all over the world and provided opportunities to collaborate with UN Women, USAID, United Nations Development Programme, World Bank, NGOs and startups of all sizes, and former President Bill Clinton. Mook spent his early career as a tech entrepreneur and co-founded multiple companies, including BetaNews, ConeXware, and Localist.

A true changemaker, Mook was recognized as a “Change Hero” by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for his work growing the TEDx program and elevating voices in underserved communities in Somalia. He serves on the board of March for Our Lives, and remains committed to building a better world through action and storytelling.

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Speaker Video

Bringing Maslow, Food, and FEMA: Meals after a disaster with Nate Mook | GovSummit 19

What we learned by driving 20,000 km across the planet | Nate Mook & Steve Garguilo | TEDxVilnius

The Future of Borders | Nate Mook & Steve Garguilo | TEDxCarthage

Purpose-Driven Leadership: Guiding Your Organization Toward its Mission. Prior to Nate Mook’s successful tenure as CEO for Chef José Andrés’ global nonprofit World Central Kitchen, the organization was a one-employee operation bringing in less than $1 million in revenue each year. WCK grew leaps and bounds with Mook at the helm, becoming one of the world’s leading humanitarian organizations and generating $400 million toward global impact by the end of his tenure. In this talk, Mook shares powerful stories rich with valuable leadership lessons for centering organizations around purpose, navigating through change and disruption, and sparking business growth while serving a greater mission.

Be the Changemaker: Turning Ideas Into Impact. Nate Mook’s action-packed career as a filmmaker, activist, entrepreneur, and former CEO of World Central Kitchen has taken him to every corner of the globe and he’s seen firsthand the potential of people to work together to make positive change in business and society. In this talk, he draws from his experiences leading humanitarian initiatives all over the world to share incredible stories of people helping people and demonstrates to groups how uplifting others and reaching business goals don’t have to be mutually exclusive — in fact, they go hand-in-hand. Mook engages audiences with thought-provoking insights for how to turn ideas into impact and opens people’s eyes to how everyone is capable of being a changemaker and making a difference in this world.

Environmental, Social, and Governance: Your Duty to Your Organization & the World. Environmental, social, and governance criteria are critical for any business, especially as consumers and investors look to support companies that can solve a problem or satisfy a need while having a net positive external effect. As a mission-driven leader, former World Central Kitchen CEO Nate Mook possesses expert insights for how leaders can build innovative, high-performing organizations while balancing the bottom line with an intentional commitment to benefitting others and the world around them through environmental, social, and governance principles.

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