Born February 1, 1955, in West Islip, Long Island, New York, Bruce Piasecki was raised by a widowed mother, Lillian Anna (née Kureczko) Piasecki, who took in foster children from a variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds.[6][7]
In 1981, Piasecki established AHC Group, Inc.[13][14] to help businesses, particularly Fortune 500 firms, in realizing their full potential in terms of environmental strategy and public policy.[1]
Combining writing with environmental business consulting, Piasecki authored one of his first articles on managing toxic waste, "Unfouling the Nest," which was published in the September issue of Science 83 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.[15]
While serving as president of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, American diplomat Frank E. Loy awarded Piasecki sufficient funding to research hazardous waste policies and technologies in twelve nations of Europe from 1983 to 1988. This led to the publication of his two early books Beyond Dumping (1984) and America's Future in Hazardous Waste Management (1987). This work developed into a decades-long mentoring relationship, with Loy accepting multiple speaking engagements as a Senior Associate at Piasecki's Achieving Results workshops.[16]
In the 1990s, Piasecki served on a White House council formed by then-Vice President Al Gore.[1] That came about largely because in 1990 Simon & Schuster contracted with Piasecki to publish In Search of Environmental Excellence: Moving Beyond Blame. He and co-author Peter Asmus asked famed oceanographer Jacques Cousteau to write the Foreword for the book. Cousteau complied, as his chief scientist had earlier completed an interview with Piasecki about his prior books on hazardous waste. However, Cousteau assigned the actual writing task to his son, Jean-Michel Cousteau, but put his imprimatur on that introduction to the book.[17]
In 1995, his book Corporate Environmental Strategy: The Avalanche of Change since Bhopal was reviewed by Booklist.[18]
His 2007 book, World Inc., explores how countries increasingly turn to corporations, rather than governments, for problem-solving.[12] The book was later released in a number of foreign language editions, including Japanese, Italian, Greek, Portuguese, and Korean.[19]
In March 2012, the first hardcover edition of Piasecki's book, Doing More with Less: The New Way to Wealth (Wiley),[20][21] reached the #5 spot in the New York Times nonfiction bestsellers list.[22][23]VoiceAmerica interviewer David Gibbons[24] called it "a fine book that weaves its way through the definitions of frugality and historical context as framed by the lives of Benjamin Franklin among others." Another book, New World Companies, was reviewed by Kirkus, which called it "Optimistic and full of good intentions."[25]
American writer and academic Jay Parini wrote the Foreword to Piasecki's 2015 memoir, Missing Persons.[6][26]
In 2021, he and his wife, Andrea Masters, launched the Creative Force Fund Award for Social Impact Journalists.[1][27] The award is given to young journalists covering business and society who are under the age of 35.[1]
In March 2022, his book A New Way to Wealth: The Power of Doing More with Less was published. The book has been reviewed by Kirkus Reviews.[28]
In 2023 he published his memoir Doing More With One Life: A Writer's Journey Through the Past, Present, and Future with an introduction by noted author Jay Parini who writes "Piasecki takes us on an unexpected journey into a new form of autobiography, a life story projected and reflected." And, "This comes directly from the realms of modern business, but also indirectly from the wit and ambitions of Ben Franklin. It is this eclectic mix that proves electrifying." Piasecki uses the art of the autobiography to include a young man's journey as reflected in the writings of Ben Franklin, an immigrant's narrative like Mary Antin in The Promised Land, and allusion found in the writings of Walt Whitman. Piasecki discusses his memoir in a podcast here.[29]
In his most recent book, Wealth and Climate Competitiveness: The New Narrative on Business and Society,[30] published in January 2024 by Rodin Books and based on two decades of running business workshops, the author argues that a set of five recurring prejudices, from 1900 to 2020, have held up real progress on climate action.
In addition to his book writing and business consulting activity, Piasecki is also a regular contributor to the social publishing platforms Medium[31] and Muck Rack.[32]
In 2021, Paris-based artist and podcast host Mia Funk invited Piasecki to collaborate in interviews at The Creative Process[33] with notable business leaders such as Bill Novelli of Unilever and Chris Coulter of GlobeScan. The ongoing theme of these podcasts is how to achieve successful results in business and society.
Bibliography
1984: Beyond Dumping
1987: America's Future in Toxic Waste Management: Lessons from Europe
1990: In Search of Environmental Excellence: Moving Beyond Blame
