Ari has enjoyed a dynamic career as a leader at the intersection of social and environmental justice and social finance for three decades. He presently works as a business strategy and finance consultant, executive coach + mentor, and public speaker.

He received his Bachelor of Arts with Honors from the University of Wisconsin and completed additional academic work at Harvard, Georgetown, UCLA & Cambridge University in England. He is a certified Co-Active Coach through the Coaches Training Institute.

A passion for the earth, a love of people, and the joy and power that come from community building are the common threads that connect the many different roles Ari has played throughout his career, including Executive Director, Restaurateur, Chief Executive Officer, Co-op General Manager, Event and Experience Designer, Mountain Guide, General Manager, Board President, and more.

Ari co-founded the award-winning Gather restaurant in Berkeley, known for its outstanding cuisine, sustainable food and beverage programs, design, and financing strategies. The NY Times called Gather “a Michael Pollan book come to life,” and Esquire Magazine named Gather one of the Best New Restaurants in the US in 2010. Ari also co-founded Back to Earth in 2001, the world’s first exclusively organic catering and event production company. He also spent five years as the General Manager of the Kootenay Co-op in Nelson, British Columbia, a $25M+ operation and Canada’s largest member-owned grocery cooperative.

In addition, Ari has received recognition for his activism and art about waste and consumerism. In 2007, as a personal meditation, he saved every piece of trash and recycling he created over the entire year. Upon completion, he commissioned an artist to turn it all into a work of art. As a result, numerous print, television, web, and radio media outlets told his story worldwide.