Greg Mortenson

Greg Mortenson is an American author, humanitarian, former mountaineer, and co-founder of the Central Asia Institute, a nonprofit focused on expanding education in remote areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan. He also founded Pennies for Peace, an educational program supporting literacy and schooling. Mortenson’s humanitarian work began after a 1993 attempt to climb K2 led him to a Pakistani village, where he became committed to helping provide local children with access to education.

Mortenson co-authored Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace…One School at a Time with David Oliver Relin. He later wrote Stones into Schools: Promoting Peace with Books, Not Bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan, which continues the account of his education initiatives.