Jesse Israel
Founder, The Big Quiet (Mass Meditation Movement)
Jesse Israel a social entrepreneur, meditation leader and former record label executive with a love for piano karaoke and his Mom’s tacos.
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Full Bio
His work journey started as a Sophomore at NYU when he co-founded Cantora Records. Truth be told, he had no idea what the hell he was doing, but through following his gut and a willingness to experiment, he went on to sign multi-platinum bands like MGMT, advise rappers like The Wu Tang Clan’s GZA and spearhead Cantora’s tech investment start-up fund.
By putting all of his energy into “hustling,” he began experiencing debilitating stress and panic attacks. His mental health and wellbeing challenges led me to find meditation. The practice was so transformative for me that he went on to found the social meditation community Medi Club, which has grown into a community of thousands of young people, creatives and entrepreneurs who gather monthly to practice meditation and talk about the things they don’t usually have the space to discuss. Medi Club has launched over 300 circle programs, where community members have stepped up to lead their own meditation and talk circles in their homes.
Feeling called to create accessible entry points into meditation on a larger scale, he applied his extensive experience in the music industry to found The Big Quiet. Today, The Big Quiet is a movement that gathers thousands of people at a time for mass meditations at the most iconic places in the world — like Madison Square Garden, the top of the World Trade Center and under the blue whale at the American Museum of Natural History. The Big Quiet features rare performances from celebrated musicians that are passionate about meditation like Miguel, members of Arcade Fire, Local Natives and Bishop Briggs. In 2019, The Big Quiet set off on the first-ever mass meditation tour, selling-out epic locations in 10 cities throughout the nation.
In 2020, he was invited on tour with Oprah Winfrey and WW to speak at and lead Big Quiet mass meditations at 15,000+ person North American arenas. When he is not hosting The Big Quiet, he is speaking about community building, the power of quiet and mindful leadership at organizations like Adidas, Google, Ford and Parson’s School of Design, and teaching his meditation course to leaders and cultural icons from around the globe. he also organize the Cyclones – a social impact bicycling club with thousands of riding members and responsible for funding sustainable bike shops & bike share programs throughout rural Tanzania.
Jesse is a selected leader from Harvard Divinity School’s How We Gather Program, a trained facilitator from Columbia School of Social Justice’s Empathetic Facilitator program, a founding meditation teacher from the 1 Giant Mind Meditation Teacher Training Academy and the former president of The Burger Boys Cheesburger Club (that’s not a joke). As a consultant, Jesse has helped launch community-driven businesses like MNDFL and The Assemblage, and have advised tech-funds leading to seed investments in businesses that have grown to over $1 Billion in valuations.
The Wall Street Journal said Jesse is “rebranding meditation for millennials,” trend Forecasting agency The Cassandra Report called The Big Quiet a “cultural phenomenon”, and Vogue said that The Big Quiet has “refined the ancient practice of meditation into something exceptional, uplifting, and undoubtedly social.” His work has also been featured in the New York Times, Vice, Fast Company, The Fader and WIRED.
Jesse’s mission is to connect people to their joy and power so they can make a fulfilling contribution to the world.
Testimonials
Ernie was perfect for our Elders Conference at Little River Casino Resort in Manistee, Michigan. We will definitely be using PDA again!
LITTLE RIVER BAND OF OTTAWA INDIANS
Our speaker was great and the crowd enjoyed her! She was very engaging. Thank you again PDA for the great list of suggestions!
MEDTRONIC
Everything went great! and our speaker was wonderful! Thank you so much for all your help PDA! Looking forward to the next one.
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI – KANSAS CITY
I hope that this message finds you well. We had a phenomenal time with Atsuko this past Thursday. We wanted to just let you know how amazing she was. All those that were in attendance thoroughly enjoyed her and had nothing but amazing things to say about her. Thank you for working with us to make sure this happened!
BAYLOR UNIVERSITY CAMPUS
We had a fantastic day with Inge! She was very engaging with all those that attended. Her personal stories about the holocaust were very special and we were moved that she was willing to share them with everyone. Thank you again, PDA for all your hard work and dedication to make this program such a success!
SALT LAKE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Dear PDA Group, Thank you so much for your hard work in scheduling our speaker! From the moment we reached out to you the first time, you worked with us on all details and logistics and kept us up-to-date on the progress. Thank you for all your hard work on making our event such a success! We couldn't have done it without you and your team!
SAP COMPANY
Thank you again, Dr. Kimbrough, for a great presentation, our attendees are still talking about it!
CAMPUS LABS
Dr. Henry Lee's presentation was entertaining, insightful and wise. I, and everyone at Pfizer, especially appreciate the remarks you directed about following your passion and preparing yourself to excel. Thank you, everyone, at PDA for helping to make this happen!
PFIZER
The event was successful! I received many messages expressing how awesome, outstanding and inspiring Ms. Webb-Christburg's speech was."
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. MEMORIAL BREAKFAST, BOSTON, MLK SPEAKER
Everything went well. Atsuko was very easy to work with and the students enjoyed her performance! Thank you again for your recommendation and I hope to work with you again in the future!
CENTRAL MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY
Dr. Novello left this morning after a very successful event on our campus! Thank you PDA Group for your help from the first phone to the last you were with us every step of the way.
GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY
Jordan Carlos was very very entertaining! A majority of students who answered the event survey indicated they really enjoyed Jordan and definitely will bring him back!
WESTERN CAROLINA UNIVERSITY
On behalf of myself and my organization Entertainment Unlimited the Campus Programming Board of Ferris State University, we thank you PDA and Dan for a successful event!! Dan was magnificent! Students really enjoyed the presentation. I know I did. Can't wait to bring in more programs with PDA Group.
FERRIS STATE UNIVERSITY
It was a great pleasure to work with PDA Group! The communication was always prompt, friendly and helpful. We loved the speakers and events we booked through Mr. Peter Walker (PDA Group).
WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY
Thank you, Peter, for all your help, you'll be happy to know that the event went incredibly well! Aneesa Ferreira was by far one of the best speakers we've ever had!
FURMAN UNIVERSITY
Videos
Jesse Israel - 90 Second Meditation to Reset the Nervous System
Jesse Israel: mental health, leadership and The Big Quiet mass meditation story
Books
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