A pioneer in the field of empowerment, Gail Straub codirects the Empowerment Institute, a school for transformative social change, where her primary focus is women’s empowerment. For the last three decades she has offered her work to tens of thousands of people worldwide and she has consulted for many organizations furthering women’s empowerment, including the Chinese Women’s Federation, Women for Women International, the Omega Women’s Leadership Center, and World Pulse.

Gail Straub also cofounded IMAGINE: A Global Initiative for the Empowerment of Women to help women heal from violence, build strong lives, and contribute to their community. This initiative applies the Institute’s empowerment methodology to the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goal “to promote gender equality and empower women.” IMAGINE initiatives are under way in Afghanistan, Kenya, Nigeria, Sudan, South Africa, India, Brazil, and Jordan.

Taking her empowerment work global early in her career, she served as the international director for the First Earth Run, a planet-wide initiative cosponsored by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and ABC Television. During the height of the Cold War, a torch of peace was passed around the world, mobilizing the participation of 25 million people in 62 countries and 45 heads of state. The event raised millions of dollars for UNICEF that was distributed to the neediest children in the world.

A contributor to the anthology Enlightened Power, Gail Straub is author of four books including, with her husband David Gershon, the best-selling Empowerment, the critically acclaimed The Rhythm of Compassion, and the awarding-winning feminist memoir Returning to My Mother’s House. She has served in the Peace Corps in West Africa, and on many Boards including the Omega Institute and the Russian American Humanitarian Initiative.