Lucky Husband, Stoked Dad, Humble Author, Passionate Speaker & Social Entrepreneur on a quest to understand how small ideas become powerful movements
From the time he was little growing in Baltimore City, Thibault wrestled to understand why we as human beings seemed so divided. He continued to ask himself what truly causes those divides that separate races, cultures and communities, and can anything be done to bridge them?
Armed with that burning question, in 2002, Thibault traveled to South Africa, where he combined his passion for bringing people together with a love of sports to help create Peace Players, a nonprofit with the mission of bringing together children from war-torn countries around the world through basketball and dialogue. PeacePlayers has since worked with over 75,000 youth from over 20 countries around the world and has trained over 2,000 coaches/changes agents. The program has won numerous global awards, including the 2007 ESPYs Arthur Ashe Courage Award.
Bothered by how real estate and the control of land seemed to have done more to divide us as people then actually bring us together, in 2006, Thibault moved back to Baltimore where he helped start Seawall, an impact driven company made up of passionate social entrepreneurs who believe in re-imagining the real estate industry as we know it. Seawall believes that all facets of the built environment should be used to empower communities, unite our cities, and help launch powerful ideas that create important movements. Since its inception, the company has focused its energy and resources on providing discounted apartments for teachers, collaborative office space for non-profit organizations, workforce housing, community-driven retail, public markets, launchpads for chefs, and creative space for charter schools. In 2011, Thibault was honored by President Obama’s White House as a Champion for Change and Seawall’s projects have received numerous local and national awards.
In 2020, fascinated by the lessons he learned over the years, Thibault launched the Larger Than Yourself podcast, a collaborative space for brave people to share how they are helping small ideas become powerful movements. The mission is to amplify the impact of their stories and inspire the courage in others to reimagine industries, lead with purpose, and challenge the status quo.
In November of 2021, Thibault’s first book, Larger Than Yourself is set to come out.
Most importantly, Thibault is the proud husband of Lola Manekin and the father of Durban and Finley Manekin.