kNOw THEM InitiativeYPO-Presidents' Action Network
Dick Simon is Co-Founder and Chair of Young/World Presidents Organization (YPO-WPO) Peace Action Network (PAN), which engages business leaders making a difference in areas of conflict and need. YPO-WPO is comprised of 24,000 CEO members in over 130 countries whose combined businesses generate over 10% of global GDP. PAN facilitates communication between these leaders on opposite sides of geopolitical and religious divides through Forums, educational programs and travel experiences to countries that are traditionally difficult to access and understood only as adversaries in the West, such as North Korea, Iran and Cuba.
Simon’s work has earned him recognitions including YPO Global Humanitarian, Best of the Best, and the New Frontier Forum Awards. In addition, Simon received Harvard Business School’s Making a Difference Award and was one of Real Leaders Magazine's "100 Visionary Leaders."
In 2012 Simon launched the kNOw THEM Initiative (knowthem.org) to raise awareness about the most dangerous four-letter word in the English language, THEM, which marginalizes, dehumanizes and creates conflict. The Initiative includes social media campaigns and public lectures, as well as educational curricular materials, parallel narratives comparing North Korean, Iranian and Cuban perspectives with dominant American/Western perspectives where both sides' versions of their shared history diverge sharply.
Beginning in 2000, when he and his wife Patty spent the year traveling with their children, then 6, 8, and 10 years old, throughout the developing world, Simon has photographed and gathered the stories of people on all sides of conflicts around the world (dicksimon.com). His images and stories have been exhibited in galleries and museums, and featured in New York Times, BBC, ABC, CBS, National Public Radio, Boston Globe.
Simon is the CEO of RSI, Inc., a Boston-based real estate development and investment management company with office, retail, and industrial properties.