Todd Bernstein

Who is Todd Bernstein?

Todd Bernstein is the founder and director of the annual Greater Philadelphia Martin Luther King Day of Service, the oldest and largest King Day of Service event in the United States. In 1994, Bernstein helped to create the King Day of Service with Pennsylvania U.S. Senator Harris Wofford and Atlanta Congressman John Lewis, both veterans of the civil rights movement with Dr. King. Bernstein is also president of Global Citizen, a non-profit organization founded in 1995, which promotes sustainable civic engagement through volunteer service, locally and globally.

In 1996, Bernstein started the nation’s first King Day of Service in Philadelphia. The Greater Philadelphia King Day of Service has drawn more than one million volunteers over ninteen years. Each year, it has been the largest King Holiday event in the nation. This past January, more than 125,000 people volunteered in some 1,700 projects in the 19th annual event. In 2012, Vice President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden participated.

What started in Philadelphia has become a national movement, with projects taking root in hundreds of cities, large and small, across the nation. Bernstein also founded MLK365, which transforms the King Day of Service into a year-round civic engagement initiative. This program promotes and supports sustainable civic engagement by providing ongoing volunteer opportunities, educational programs, and community partnerships across the Greater Philadelphia region