Contributor

David Bronner

Cosmic Engagement Officer (CEO) of Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps

David Bronner is Cosmic Engagement Officer (CEO) of Dr. Bronner’s, the top-selling brand of natural soaps in North America and producer of other organic body care and food products. He is a grandson of company founder, Emanuel Bronner, and a fifth-generation soap maker. Under David and his brother Michael’s leadership, the brand has grown from $4 million in 1998 to just under $100 million in annual revenue in 2015. David and Michael established Dr. Bronner’s as a sustainable leader in the natural products industry by becoming one of the first body care brands to formulate with hemp seed oil in 2000 and certify its soaps, lotions, balms and other personal care products under the USDA National Organic Program in 2003. Both actions resulted in high-profile litigation with government agencies, DEA and USDA respectively, that Dr. Bronner’s ultimately won, cementing Dr. Bronner’s issue-oriented activism in the natural products marketplace. Today, Dr. Bronner’s coordinates or partners with certified Fair Trade projects for all major ingredients, including olive oil from Palestine and Israel, coconut oil from Sri Lanka, peppermint oil from India, and sustainable palm oil from Ghana. David pioneered the use of 100% post-consumer recycled (PCR) bottles for packaging the liquid soaps, as well as a hemp and recycled paper blend to package the brand’s bar soaps. As the main facilitator of the Hemp Industries Association’s (HIA’s) successful multi-year litigation against the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), from 2001-2004, David played a crucial role in defending sales of hemp foods and body care products in the U.S. from prohibition. David has also been arrested for acts of civil disobedience, including for symbolically planting hemp seeds on the lawn of the DEA, and for locking himself in a steel cage in front of the White House to protest federal policies preventing farmers from growing industrial hemp in the U.S. He is an active supporter of both the HIA and Vote Hemp. David is also a key leader in the fight to label GMO foods in the U.S., and dedicates time and resources to many other issues, such as farm animal protection, the fight for a living wage, and responsible integration of cannabis and psychedelic medicine into American and global culture (David is a board member of the Multi-Disciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies). His activism embodies the company’s mission — which encompasses a commitment to making socially and environmentally responsible products of the highest quality, and to dedicating profits to help make a better world. David was born in Los Angeles (Glendale), California in 1973 and earned an undergraduate degree in biology from Harvard University. He lives in Encinitas, California with his wife Kris. He is a dedicated vegan and enjoys surfing and dancing late into the night.