After miraculously surviving a near-fatal hit-and-run, Dr. Robert Carpenter – known simply as Dr. Rob – decided to dedicate his life to helping empower others to transform themselves and society through storytelling, creative leadership, and teaching and training around the world. As a part Black, part White, part Native American individual who grew up with two White parents in a mostly Latino neighborhood with Jewish and Asian best friends, and as someone who spent formative years gaining a diversity of experiences and skills – interning at the White House, running a tech startup, serving as Transportation Commissioner of Los Angeles, working on numerous Hollywood sets, earning a doctorate from the University of Southern California, and living in various parts of the U.S. and Middle East – Dr. Rob uses his unique background to help individuals, families, and organizations embrace new perspectives so that they can become who they are called to be. He is a UCLA faculty member who holds joint roles in the Departments of Communication and Public Health, a thriller novelist and nonfiction author, and teacher and trainer who has equipped countless leaders and organizations around the world to reach their full potential, specifically in the areas of storytelling for leaders, creative leadership, and mental and emotional health. His novel Of Kennedy & King and nonfiction book The Creative Leader are debuting in 2025. He is also the author of the previously published popular press books The 48 Laws of Happiness and Icons & Legends, among others, and author of scholarly pieces for the Harvard Public Health Review and Oxford Business Review. When not teaching, writing, or spending time with his beautiful bride Elizabeth and their dogs Rocket and Bam Bam, he can be found serving as a facilitator for the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley or working with various community projects.