Dr. Ivan Misner is the Founder and Chief Visionary Officer of BNI, the world’s largest business networking organization. BNI was founded in 1985. The organization now has over 8,000 chapters throughout every populated continent of the world. In 2015, BNI Members generated more than $11.1 billion in closed business.
Dr. Misner’s Ph.D. is from the University of Southern California. He is a New York Times Bestselling author who has written 21 books including his latest release, “Who’s In Your Room?” He is a columnist for Entrepreneur.com and has taught business management at several universities throughout the United States. In addition, he is the Senior Partner for the Referral Institute – a referral training company with trainers around the world.
Called the “Father of Modern Networking” by CNN and one of the “Top Networking Experts to Watch” by Forbes, Dr. Misner is considered to be one of the world’s leading experts on business networking and has been a keynote speaker for major corporations and associations throughout the world. He has been featured in the L.A. Times, Wall Street Journal, and New York. Times, as well as numerous TV and radio shows including MSNBC, CNN, the BBC and The Today Show on NBC.
Dr. Misner is on the Board of Trustees for the University of La Verne. He is also the Co-Founder of the BNI Charitable Foundation and was recently named “Humanitarian of the Year” by the Red Cross and awarded the John C. Maxwell Leadership award. He and his wife, Elisabeth, are now “empty nesters” with three grown children.