David Lubell

David Lubell is Founder and Director Emeritus of Welcoming America and formerly the Founding Director of the Welcoming International initiative. He led and served the organization from its founding until 2021.

An accomplished social entrepreneur, David inspires people to build a different kind of world – one that embraces immigrants and refugees, and fosters opportunity for all.

David is also the founder and former Executive Director of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC), which has grown into a model for immigrant rights organizing throughout the U.S. At TIRRC, David helped found Welcoming Tennessee, the model for what is now Welcoming America.

A graduate of Wesleyan University, David received a master’s degree in public administration from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He is the recipient of several social entrepreneurship fellowships, including Ashoka, Draper Richards Kaplan, and Harvard. He is also a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader and was named among the 2016 Chronicle of Philanthropy's 40 under 40 list. In 2017, David was awarded The Charles Bronfman Prize, which recognizes young humanitarians whose work is inspired by their Jewish values and is of universal benefit to all people.

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