About Citizen You
About the Book | About the Author | About the Site
About the Book
In Citizen You, Jonathan Tisch challenges readers to take up the mantle of social engagement by showing them how individuals are working to change the world. A member of a family long known for charitable and civic activism, Tisch has devoted a lifetime to what he calls “active citizenship,” a new style of social activism that uses creativity and grassroots participation to solve seemingly intractable problems.
Tisch has filled Citizen You with accounts of people who, through small efforts, have benefited the community at large. We meet inspirational individuals such as:
- Scott Harrison, founder of charity: water, an organization that funds water projects in underdeveloped countries;
- Eric Schwarz, who founded the Citizen Schools movement, which is transforming education in inner-city neighborhoods around the country; and
- Vanessa Kirsch, whose New Profit model of "social venture investing" is making non-profit community groups more powerful and effective than ever ever.
Through these individuals, we see the transformation of volunteerism to involvement, charity to social entrepreneurship, paternalism to community-based action, and targeted philanthropy to systemic change.
At a time that is full of unprecedented challenges on the national and world stage, Citizen You dares us to reshape the social, political, and intellectual structures that have long confined us. Citizen You offers fresh thinking that redefines the very concept of activism.
About the Author
JONATHAN M. TISCH is Co-Chairman of the Board and a member of the Office of the President of Loews Corporation, one of the largest diversified financial holding companies in the U.S., and is also Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of its subsidiary, Loews Hotels. Recognized as a national leader of the multi-billion dollar travel and tourism industry, Tisch founded and served as Chairman of the Travel Business Roundtable from 1995–2008 and in 2009 merged it with the Travel Industry Association to create the U.S. Travel Association, of which he serves as Chairman Emeritus. Tisch is also committed to a vibrant tourism industry in New York City, where for nearly six years he served as Chairman of NYC & Company, the city’s official tourism marketing agency and local convention and visitors bureau. Concurrent with his national efforts to help stimulate travel in the aftermath of September 11th, Tisch served as Chairman of “New York Rising,” a task force set up to help rebuild the city by reviving tourism. Believing you can do well and do good at the same time, Tisch is a champion of corporate responsibility and his community and philanthropic activities are extensive. In 1990, Tisch created the Loews Hotels Good Neighbor Policy, the company's formal commitment to the long-standing tradition of understanding its responsibility to the communities where it owns and operates hotels. Loews Hotels Good Neighbor Policy was awarded the President’s Service Award, the highest honor given by the President of the United States for community service directed at solving critical social problems. Tisch serves on the Board of Trustees for Tufts University, where he is also the naming benefactor of the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service, and previously served as the Vice-Chairman of national Welfare to Work Partnership.
KARL WEBER writes about business and current affairs. His books include Creating a World Without Poverty, co-authored with Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus, The Triple Bottom Line, with sustainability expert Andrew W. Savitz, and Food Inc., the companion to the award-winning documentary. He lives and works in Irvington, New York.
About this Site
Jonathan Tisch conceived of CitizenYou.org to bring people together to build a movement based on "active citizenship."
Here you can get information on the book, learn how others are working to improve their communities, sign up for updates, and find out how you can make a difference.
The stories on this site are meant to inspire action. They also show people how they can use their unique skills, talents, and passions to develop inventive solutions to longstanding problems.
