Ben Cohen was born in Brooklyn in 1951 and brought up in Merrick, NY. In 1978, he and his longtime friend, Jerry Greenfield, started a homemade ice cream parlor in an old gas station in Burlington, Vermont. The ice cream was well received and after a few years, Ben & Jerry’s started to distribute pints to grocery stores in New England and eventually nationally and internationally. Along the way, Ben held the positions of scooper, crepe maker, truck driver, Director of Marketing, Sales Director, CEO, and Chairman of what became a $300 Million-a-year public corporation.
In 2000, despite his efforts to keep the company independent, Ben & Jerry’s was sold to Unilever.

Ben and Jerry have received numerous awards and recognition, including the Corporate Giving award from the Council on Economic Priorities, the US Small Business of the Year Award from President Ronald Reagan, the James Beard Humanitarian of the Year award and several honorary doctorates.

Along with Jerry he authored the book, Ben & Jerry’s Double Dip: How to Run a Values-Led Business and Make Money, Too.
Ben has served on the boards of the Social Venture Network, Hampshire College, Oxfam, Greenpeace, Business for Social Responsibility and Heifer International. In addition, Ben also served as the National Co-Chair of the Bernie 2020 Campaign.

Currently Ben divides his time between the Eisenhower Media Network, a group of retired military officers who support a less militaristic multi polar world order and Up In Arms—a campaign to shift money from Pentagon excess to social needs. He is married to Tatiana Repnikova and has a daughter, Aretha.

When Ice Cream Takes a Stand

Session

When Ice Cream Takes a Stand