Dani Zapotoczny

Dani Zapotoczny comes to the role of Executive Director of the HOW Institute for Society and Rockefeller Foundation Partnership for Moral Leadership in the Social Sector having worked for over two decades in global social impact and strategic philanthropy. She spent 14 years at the United Nations Foundation building partnerships with the private sector, NGOs, foundations and the creative community to advance progress across the Sustainable Development Goals before joining Ocean Wise to help kickstart their international expansion as Vice President of Global Engagement.

She is passionate about the role of individuals in creating a wave of positive impact and explores this through her work at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy. She teaches a class called Innovating for Social Impact and is the faculty lead on the Policy Pathways: Leading with Purpose program that brings undergraduates to Washington, D.C. for an immersive experience with social impact organizations. She has a long history of leveraging storytelling to catalyze social change. She has explored this through strategy work with Lucasfilm on the Star Wars Force for Change social action campaign; research and roadmapping for Girl Rising, an innovative documentary that explored the role of education in opening critical life paths for girls around the world; and by helping launch the UCLA Burkle Global Impact Initiative.

Prior to joining the UN Foundation, Dani served for nine years as Vice President at Wheelhouse Entertainment where she co-produced Paramount Pictures critically acclaimed film We Were Soldiers and oversaw development, production, and marketing for writer/director Randall Wallace (Braveheart, We Were Soldiers, Pearl Harbor). During that time, she worked closely with Mr. Wallace to direct his philanthropic giving and donated her time for a decade as the Founding Executive Director of Hollywood for Habitat for Humanity, an entertainment industry partnership with Habitat for Humanity that raised millions of dollars to help hardworking families partner with their local community to build and buy a home.

She has a B.A. in Public Policy Studies from Duke University and calls Durham, NC home along with her husband and two sons. She actively engages in the boys’ ninja, Scouts and other endeavors and with her husband’s entertainment company, Magic Factory, to help kids discover the magic of reading through book series that inspire kids to explore our national parks (Ranger Baldy’s Adventures), save the day with cool inventions (Mad Scientists’ Club) and never stop dreaming (Sign of the Sandman).