Since August 2003, CEO and Chief Old Person Nancy Lublin has overseen the website dedicated to youth volunteering and activism Do Something's growth and led the effort to begin awarding more grant money to young people who want to make a difference. She turned the organization from a debt-ridden, “old school” not-for-profit with offices in multiple cities nationwide, to a fast-moving Internet company capturing the attention of a generation of do-ers.

Nancy is deeply passionate about Do Something and the activist mission behind the organization. She says her first activist campaign was liberating the purple crayons in pre-school after one loud boy had declared them “not allowed for girls.”

Armed with a $5,000 inheritance from her immigrant great grandfather at the age of 23, Nancy founded the organization Dress for Success, which to this day provides women with interview suits, career development training, and boosts in their self-confidence in more than 70 cities in four countries.

Nancy’s Dress for Success experience made her a lifelong not-for-profit fundamentalist. She dedicated herself to inspiring, supporting and celebrating other young people who want to change the world. Although she is now a reluctant, Converse-wearing “Old Person,” she gets it because, well, she did it.

Nancy was named to the World Economic Forum’s 100 Most Influential Young leaders (2007), one of Glamour Magazine’s Women of Worth (2006), received Fast Company’s Fast 50 Award (2002), and was named the NYC Women’s Commission Woman of the Year (2000).

Nancy graduated from Brown University, Oxford University (where she was a Marshall Scholar), and New York University School of Law. She is married Jason Diaz and they have a young daughter named Sydney who likes to eat bananas and say "P-U” when she takes off her socks.

Blog Entries by Nancy Lublin

Obama's Chance to Lead: Sign the Disability Treaty

Posted July 1, 2009 | 12:06 PM (EST)


President Obama has made it a priority to re-position the United States as a leader in the global arena. One area where we are conspicuously silent--and could lead or at least participate more fully--is disability rights.

Over all, according to the U.N., 650 million people, 10% of the world population,...

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What the Service Movement Can Learn From Tehran

10 Comments | Posted June 24, 2009 | 08:42 PM (EST)


Today was the last day of the National Conference on Volunteerism and Service. Nearly 4,000 people attended the gathering in San Francisco, including First Lady Michelle Obama, Governor Schwarzenegger, and other notables.

At the same time, thousands of young people across the globe were taking to the streets, organized via...

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Lower the Voting Age

28 Comments | Posted May 28, 2009 | 01:48 PM (EST)


Apathetic. Vain. Indifferent. Selfish. These are typical words used to describe teenagers today...on TV, in movies, by frustrated parents. But these words don't actually represent this generation at large. Instead, statistical evidence and trendspotting refers to today's teens as outspoken, informed, mature and wired. I'd like to call them something...

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Credit Card Bill of Rights

3 Comments | Posted May 7, 2009 | 11:23 AM (EST)


Today I was on a conference call with senior chief advisor to the President, Michael Barr, during which I learned about the Credit Card Bill of Rights. I think this is a great start on behalf of young people, all of whom either have been or will be solicited to...

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On Underdogs

1 Comments | Posted April 16, 2009 | 10:41 AM (EST)


I love an underdog. No, I don't necessarily mean the cartoon. I mean like David, as in Goliath, or the Bears, as in The Bad News Bears. (Yes, that might be the first time those two things were ever in the same sentence.)

This week, DoSomething.org was nominated for a...

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Another Nice Guy Bites The Dust

Posted April 2, 2009 | 05:00 PM (EST)


Rick Wagoner's forced resignation proves the common stereotype: nice guys finish last. He is a man who doesn't live in excess, is honest, works hard, and values philanthropy. But he isn't just a nice guy he's a smart businessman. I know this because Rick Wagoner is my friend.

Rick,...

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No Answer

Posted March 18, 2009 | 11:11 AM (EST)


I hate caller-id. Sure, it allows me to screen calls from my mother, but it also allows foundations to screen my calls.

I run a charity. If my name pops up in your call id, chances are I'm about to ask you for something--money, free ad space, your first born....

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Innovation is Great but Execution is Better

Posted March 3, 2009 | 05:23 PM (EST)


The White House is quietly launching a Social Innovation Office. From what I can glean online (gossip) leads me to believe that the concept is to gather "founders" of innovative social organizations all in one place and pick their creative brains for ways to implement change.... kind of a government-sponsored...

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How The Gays Can Save Us

Posted February 23, 2009 | 04:47 PM (EST)


I've got a simple, cost-free proposal for stimulating the economy: legalize gay marriage.

Forget your politics. Shelve your bigotry. Just listen to the numbers....

The average American wedding costs $20,000. The number of gay couples living together without the benefit of marriage is estimated at 3 million. Using those numbers,...

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An Ugly Truth

Posted February 12, 2009 | 04:26 PM (EST)


Nobody seems to know this awful fact: one out of every three homeless in America is under the age of 18. Yikes.

This year alone, there are 1.6 million young American adults who are homeless. According to the National Coalition for the Homeless, the majority of homeless and runaway...

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Not for Nothing: Reforming TARP Compensation

Posted February 6, 2009 | 05:54 PM (EST)


"They don't get it...What planet are these people on?" cried Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MS). Billionaire investor Carl Icahn called it "egregious" and "absurd." The only people happy about bloated executive compensation? The late-night talk show hosts.

So this week, President Obama -- while calling these pay packages "shameful" and "the...

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Our Not-for-Profit Business

Posted September 21, 2008 | 06:15 PM (EST)


I don't run a non-profit. There are lots of non-profits in America--in Detroit, parts of Wall Street, etc. I run a not for profit. We're a business. The only difference is that instead of selling soap or sneakers, we sell hope and leadership.

For a long time, the for profit...

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Giving Kids The Choice To Help

Posted September 20, 2007 | 08:00 AM (EST)


Do Something is the not-for-profit internet company that inspires and empowers kids to, well, do something. We believe that there is a lot of creativity and passion in generation Z (kids under age 25). Their idea of getting involved isn't writing a big check or attending a charity dinner--they actually...

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