Education:

• BA, Boston University, MA
• MBA, Purdue University, IN
• MAPP, University of Pennsylvania, PA
• CAPP, The Flourishing Center, NY

Location: New York, NY   Teaches: CAPP Online

Professional Experience:

Sid is a learner, dad, husband, public speaker, facilitator and social entrepreneur whose purpose is to help humanity flourish, now and in the future.  He speaks seven languages and has delivered three TEDx talks.  His talk 5 Techniques to Speak Any Language is a top 25 most viewed talk on the TEDx channel with over 10M views.

Sid is the founder of Humans United Giving Support (HUGS – formerly called Hug Don’t Hate), an organization that has been spreading love in Boston since 2005.  He moved to New York in 2010 and made it his new home, where he worked as a sugar trader and taught Sid’s Happiness Workshop.  Subscribing to the philosophy and movement of Effective Altruism he is leveraging his previous experience and graduate degrees in Business Administration and Applied Positive Psychology to do the most amount of good he can with the resources he has available. 

Sid does this as the co-founder of Generation Pledge, a community dedicated to helping ultra high net wealth (UHNW) inheritors improve their impact and well-being, and as a faculty member of The Flourishing Center.

My Story:

Whenever someone grows into privilege, it is difficult to notice just how privileged they are in a global sense.  Having grown up in Brazil, that was not an option for me.  All it took was a peek outside the window to realize how incredibly privileged my reality was compared to most humans.  By the time I turned 15, I had decided that it would be my life’s mission to make the world a more fair and more flourished place.

This pursuit led me to explore poverty alleviation, international geopolitics and the different structures that cause and cure discrimination and othering.  Eventually, it brought me to positive psychology and the social sciences – as I sought to find ways to help societies flourish – and to effective altruism – where I found a framework to evaluate and direct impact.

Today I work in the intersection of both, using empirically validated methods to improve local and global well-being, while helping develop and promote ideas that make our altruistic efforts more impactful.

Favorite Quote:

“Live what you believe, or you end up believing the life you live.”

– Anonymous

Words of Wisdom:

Morning Ritual:

When my alarm goes off, our dog, Clover, jumps over to say “good morning.”  We snuggle for a bit, play, and then go out to the living room to say “good morning” to baby Theo and mommy Faran. 

Then, Clover and I need to say “good morning” to each other again on the couch, while singing the “Hello, Good Morning” song. I pick up baby Theo and we do our little partner dance.  Then I give mommy Faran a warm hug while the coffee brews.

A Little Known Fact About Me…

In 2009 I developed a supposedly incurable condition on my right ankle. I thought I was never going to walk again without feeling excruciating pain. After hundred of hours of physical therapy, I not only became pain free but I also became a distance runner. I’ve completed 3 marathons and counting.

This is how I proposed to my wife

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvMoDeOeT0s

This is my Zulu class singing the South African National Anthem to Desmond Tutu:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3XRlbhgN1Y