Said Elias Dawlabani is a human evolution theorist and a leading authority on the application of stage development to large scale change. He is a writer and public speaker specializing in the Gravesian approach to psychosocial development and the evolution of societal systems. Named one of the world’s boldest thought leaders in 2019.

He is the author of three books. His first MEMEnomics, The Next-Generation Economic System (2013), brought recognition of his stage development model as a specialty in the field of cultural economics. His work has been translated to over 20 languages including Korean, Mandarin, German and Russian. He has given keynote speeches on sustainable and regenerative economics in many parts of the world.

His second book, The Light of Ishtar (2021) is a personal memoir that chronicles his journey in life with his wife and soulmate Elza Maalouf through myth and psycho-spirituality. Since 2018 he has turned his attention to the application of stage development to climate change and the economics of the Anthropocene, which are the subject of his third book: Second Sapiens, the Rise of the Planetary Mind and the Future of Humanity (fall 2024). Evolutionary thinkers who read the book consider it a visionary road map that inspires hope and action. Others have called it a manifesto for the future.

Dawlabani is the founder of The MEMEnomics Group, an advisory that is dedicated to speaking Gaian truth to economic power by uncovering the values of a regenerative future driven by a mandate for de-growth. He was a close associate of renowned geopolitical advisor, the late Don E. Beck, PhD. Beck was Graves’ successor and one of the architects behind South Africa’s transition from Apartheid and the author of Spiral Dynamics, the most authoritative theory on stage development and change. Before teaming up with Beck, Dawlabani had a prominent career in the real estate and home building industries.

In 2005, Dawlabani cofounded The Center for Human Emergence Middle East, with Beck and Maalouf. The center is a think tank that frames sociopolitical and economic issues of the region through the prism of cultural stage development. He’s a past lecturer on the topic of transformational leadership at the Adizes Graduate School in Santa Barbara, and the University of Virginia.

Dawlabani is a contributor to several online platforms, and to the Integral Leadership Review, Kosmos Journal and other publications. His research is cited by several academic publications including the National Bureau of Economic Research.

His work is featured in the Leader to Leader Quarterly Journal, Newsweek, The Christian Science Monitor, and on NPR, PRN, and Voice of America.