Neil Ghosh Shares Lessons from Extraordinary People Striving to Do More Good

RCB President Jeff Stone with Past President Sanjay Singh and Neil Ghosh

This week, the Rotary Club of Birmingham (RCB) welcomed Neil Ghosh, a social impact strategist, entrepreneur, and author of Do More Good: Inspiring Lessons from Extraordinary People. Ghosh shared stories from three decades of work in government, philanthropy, and international development, drawing lessons from figures like Chef José Andrés, Ross Perot, and the Dalai Lama, who wrote the book's foreword. He shared that the people he profiles are not extraordinary because of wealth or status, but because of the kindness and empathy they showed when it mattered most—a quality he believes is available to anyone, starting today.

Ghosh also introduced his GEMS framework for civic engagement—Get involved, Empower others, practice Microphilanthropy, and Show up—along with a call to "start small." Drawing on his own upbringing in Calcutta, where his family had little money but never ran out of generosity, he urged members to see citizenship not as something inherited, but as something practiced.

Bio for Neil Ghosh

Neil Ghosh is a cross-sector executive whose 30+ year career spans the nonprofit, government, philanthropic, and private sectors. He is the author of Do More Good, featuring a foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, which highlights 30 extraordinary individuals he has met and learned from in his mission to inspire purposeful leadership and civic responsibility.

Over the course of his career, Neil has launched and scaled both nonprofit and for-profit ventures, building teams, partnerships, and sustainable business models that have supported vulnerable communities in more than 50 countries.

He has delivered keynote addresses and participated in more than 100 events across the United States, Australia, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Latin America, speaking on inclusive business/impact investing, bridge-building, ethical leadership, and the idea that unity does not require uniformity.

His work and writing have been featured in outlets including CNN, The Washington Post, Devex, Voice of America, The Australian, Economic Times, The Huffington Post, Patheos, and Stanford Social Innovation Review. Learn more at www.neilghosh.org Connect via LinkedIn or at neil@neilghosh.net