Benjamin D. Stone

As Director of Small Business and Start Up Development at American Express OPEN, Benjamin D. Stone spearheads the company’s multifaceted initiatives to spur economic growth in the United States. Prior to joining American Express, Mr. Stone built and led Indego Africa (IA), an award-winning social enterprise unleashing the potential of more than 500 women artisan entrepreneurs in Rwanda.  Before that, Mr. Stone was an attorney at the global law firm of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, where he defended technology manufacturers, energy companies, and individuals in business disputes and government investigations. Mr. Stone currently serves as Vice Chairman of IA.

Mr. Stone has published articles in Beyond Profit and McKinsey & Co.’s What Matters, co-authored a chapter for Social Entrepreneurship in the Age of Atrocities (edited by Dr. Zachary D. Kaufman), and founded the blog Social Enterprising. Mr. Stone regularly lectures about entrepreneurship, leadership, and social innovation at venues like the United Nations, Harvard Business School, the U.S. Department of State, the National Press Club, and the Clinton School of Public Service. Mr. Stone was selected by Young Professionals in Foreign Policy and the Diplomatic Courier as among the “Top 99 Under 33 Foreign Policy Leaders,” received the Global Leaders’ Future Global Leader Award, and was honored by 85 Broads as a “Guy Who Rocks.” Mr. Stone also won the 2009 Fair Trade Federation Photography Award and has exhibited his photos and mini-documentaries at galleries across the United States.

Mr. Stone holds a B.A. in English Literature from Washington University in St. Louis, a J.D. from New York University School of Law, and a certificate from the Stanford Graduate School of Business Executive Program in Social Entrepreneurship.