The Promise of a Pencil: How an Ordinary Person Can Create Extraordinary Change

Written by Adam Braun

Narrated by Kirby Heyborne

The riveting New York Times bestseller about a young man who built more than 250 schools around the world—and the steps anyone can take to lead a successful and significant life.

Adam Braun began working summers at hedge funds when he was just sixteen years old, sprinting down the path to a successful Wall Street career. But while traveling he met a young boy begging on the streets of India, who after being asked what he wanted most in the world, simply answered, “A pencil.” This small request led to a staggering series of events that took Braun backpacking through dozens of countries before eventually leaving a prestigious job to found Pencils of Promise, the organization he started with just $25 that has since built more than 250 schools around the world.

The Promise of a Pencil chronicles Braun’s journey to find his calling, as each chapter explains one clear step that every person can take to turn their biggest ambitions into reality. If you feel restless and ready for transition, if you are seeking direction and purpose, this critically acclaimed bestseller is for you. Driven by inspiring stories and shareable insights, this is the book that will give you the tools to make your own life a story worth telling.

*All proceeds from this book will support Pencils of Promise.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Mar 18, 2014
• ISBN: 9781442373662

Adam Braun

Adam Braun is the Founder of Pencils of Promise, an award-winning for-purpose organization that has built more than 200 schools across Africa, Asia, and Latin America and delivered over 30 million educational hours to children in poverty. PoP was founded with just $25 and has grown under Braun’s stewardship with his unique approach that blends nonprofit idealism with for-profit business principles. He has been a featured speaker at the White House, Clinton Global Initiative, and United Nations. All proceeds from The Promise of a Pencil will go to support Pencils of Promise.

Reviews for The Promise of a Pencil

[angelalam-300700 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A good book about life, business, non-profits, and following your dreams told in bite sized chapters titled as mantras. A lot of inspiration from a 25 year old entrepreneur!

[angiestahl-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

So, this book was not what I was hoping it would be. I'd heard such great things about it! I find these kinds of stories about walking away from a lucrative career to pursue a dream to better the world, so compelling. I personally know many people who have done something similar on a smaller scale.Let me say that the advice Adam Braun gives I found to be mostly solid. Each chapter has a practical lessons with the story of that chapter bearing it out. I loved the start - the caution not to settle for normal, to get out of your comfort zone, to do small things that make others feel big, to embrace lightning moments.Loved the insight into how the author was brought up and his parents' instilled values, loved that he bootstrapped the Promise of a Pencil organization with $25. Except...The author was brought up affluent. His birthday parties, which were no small affairs, became fundraisers. He graduated from an Ivy league school, so he is surrounded by access to money and influence. His brother was (is?) Justin Bieber's manager, and he had more than a little help from Bieber and his celebrity friends. I mean it would have been harder not for him to succeed and he had no shortage of safety nets and soft landings had he failed. I guess from a privileged world, he is a rare bird to leave security, but I feel like there's a million like him who don't have the resources or network he has. How do we inspire them and tap their potential to make a difference?What I really wanted was insight on how to bootstrap a non-profit, how to serve in a part of the world while navigating foreign laws and customs...something more like a playbook. And what I got was essentially a well-written and inspiring informercial in book form for Braun's organization. It's a good cause and worth supporting, but it seemed an opportunity missed. I would have liked either it to be more instructional on how to change the world with nothing more than $25 OR to have more information on how to get involved with Braun's Promise of a Pencil foundation. Instead, I got something else and while it wasn't bad, neither was it provocative in the way I'd hoped.

[billsearth · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

one of the best true stories of a motivated generous person finding how to help others learn, and how to set up and run a nonprofit organization that will outlast him.

[katsmiao · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It's probably been said a million times, but the only way to describe this book is with one word: inspirational.

I was so inspired, and so in awe of Adam's drive, determination and passion, that somewhere in the middle of the book I looked up his website and donated.

I admire what he has accomplished, and I don't have that same passion in me, so I admire it in others and do my little bit to support great causes like this one. What can be better than providing education to someone who would otherwise not get that opportunity?

[lolhscybrarian · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This narrative non-fiction read chronicles the life of Adam Braun. At 25 Adam's his unhappiness was masked by his seemingly perfect life. He decided to make a change and through his journey and efforts has created the for-purpose organization Pencils of Promise. The book is organized into mantras and can be read all together or on there own. This is our Sophomore class One Grade, One Read Summer Reading book.

[zzshupinga · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

ARC provided by NetGalleyAdam Braun seemed to have it all. At 16 working summers at hedge funds, a job with Bain & Company after graduation, and well on his way to a successful Wall Street Career. But everything changed that day in college that he met a young boy in India who wanted nothing more than...a pencil. After leaving his job Adam founded an organization called “Pencils of Promise” that has since its founding built over two hundred schools around the globe. In this book Braun shares his journey on finding his true calling. And discusses how each person can ignite their own passion and potential to make reality happen.This is one of those books that is difficult to review, given that Adam is writing about his own life, his own successes, and trying to explain how others can use this same path to achieve their goals. Which isn’t a bad thing, but...the book isn’t quite the game changer that the book description makes it to be. In part, because Adam came from an extremely privileged life. This isn’t to discount what he’s been able to accomplish, but it does put him ahead of others because he had experiences that they don’t (or never will in some cases) have. And these experiences gave him the knowledge of how to navigate some of the complex worlds around him, like businesses and asking for donations. He also gets a bit self congratulatory at times which is a bit of a turn off for me.While Adam has a great deal to offer, I almost feel like the book would have been more balanced if he had worked with someone else to write it. Perhaps as he matures his writing style will as well. I give the book 3.5 out of 5 stars.