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Who Are Your Role Models?

I’ve given some thought to the people I follow, read about, and try to learn from. While we all have faults, secrets, and imperfections, there are a good two dozen people that I consider today to be my role models in a few different fields.

The question I want to know is who are YOUR role models? Who should I consider starting to follow and learn more about that isn’t on this list? Would you leave the names of your role models in the comments?

Here’s to all the solemn souls who have cared for humanity that have come before and all those blessed brothers and sisters who come after. Here are my current role models.

SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR/ACTIVIST ROLE MODELS
Mahatma Gandhi (The non-violent revolutionary)
Mother Theresa (The lady who cared for the sick and poor)
Martin Luther King, Jr. (The Man with a Dream)
Susan B. Anthony (Civil rights and suffrage leader)
Paul Farmer (Doctor for the Poor, Mountains Beyond Mountains)
Mohammed Yunus (Banker to the Poor)
Dennis Whittle (Founder of Global Giving)
Bill Drayton (Founder of Ashoka)
Matt Flannery (Founder of Kiva)
Jessica Jackley Flannery (Founder of Kiva)
Dan West (Founder of Heifer International)
Bernard Kouchner (Co-Founder of Doctors Without Borders)
Kerry Kennedy (Human rights activist)
Laura Arrillaga (Venture philanthropist)

BUSINESS ROLE MODELS
Bill Gates (the innovator and hard-line businessman)
Jeffrey Skoll (the eBay founder and social entrepreneur innovator)
Warren Buffet (the smartest fundamentalist around)
Marc Benioff (the SaaS phenomenom-maker)
Marc Andreessen (keeps hitting home runs)
Steve Jobs (he comeback kid)
Larry Page (the technologist and business innovator)
Sergey Brin (the dynamic duo part deux)
Richard Branson (loses his virginity every day)
Thomas Edison (succeeded by failing 3,635 times)
Steve Jurvetson (the VC gadget-lover)
Andrew Carnegie (the library funder)
J.P. Morgan (the financial system saver)
John D. Rockefeller (the competitor)
John D. MacArthur (the PBS funder)
Sam Walton (the great retailer, scaler, and SIFE founder)
Henry Ford (his ability to scale, not him per say)
Larry Ellison (his ability to sell, not him per se)
Tom Perkins (his ability to put together venture deals, not him per se)
Jimmy Wales (the maker of ubiquitous information)

ECONOMIST ROLE MODELS
Jeffrey Sachs (End of Poverty, Common Wealth)
Hernando De Soto (The Mystery of Capital)
George Soros (Open Society)
Milton Friedman (Capitalism and Freedom)
John Maynard Keynes (The General Theory)

JOURNALIST/AUTHOR ROLE MODELS
Tom Friedman (Lexus and The Olive Tree)
John Perkins (Confessions of An Economic Hitman)
Robert Kiyosaki (Rich Dad Poor Dad)
Napoleon Hill (Think and Grow Rich)
Jim Collins (Good to Great)

POLITICAL ROLE MODELS
Abraham Lincoln (The Uniter)
Benjamin Franklin
(The Inventor)
John F. Kennedy (The Dreamer)
Benazir Bhutto (The Fighter)
John McCain (The Fighter)
Barack Obama (The Changer & Inspirer)
Al Gore (The Authentic)
Bill Clinton (The World Changer)
Jimmy Carter (The Carer)

Hillary Rodham Clinton (The Courageous)
Mario Cuomo (The Speaker)

…And anyone who worked or is currently working to increase human prosperity, ensure an economically prosperous and sustainable world, and reduce human suffering, poverty, disease, warfare, and genocide.

Who do I need to know about??? Who’s doing amazing things??? Leave a comment…