Nate Morris is the founder of Morris Industries, a Lexington, Kentucky-based conglomerate that is reimagining the industrial economy. Morris’s passion to solve the environmental threats posed by global waste was pivotal in his founding of Rubicon, a software company focused on waste and recycling, and the signature asset of Morris Industries.

Founded with a $10,000 line of credit, Rubicon now operates in 20 countries on 5 continents, with a valuation in excess of $1 billion. The company helps Fortune 500 organizations, main street businesses, and municipalities around the world move toward zero waste. Under Morris’s leadership as Chairman and CEO, Rubicon has become a catalyst for groundbreaking change across the waste management sector.

A ninth-generation Kentuckian, Morris was born in Lexington and raised by a single mother with help from his grandmother and grandfather, an Army veteran and former President of United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 862.

Morris was the first Kentuckian to be named to Fortune Magazine’s 40 Under 40 list. He is also the youngest inductee ever to the Kentucky Entrepreneur Hall of Fame.

The Morris Foundation, founded by Morris and his wife Jane Mosbacher Morris, is focused on promoting access to the American Dream. As part of the foundation’s focus on education, Morris spearheaded the development of the Social Enterprise Scholars Honors Pathway at the Gatton College of Business and Economics at the University of Kentucky. Morris also co-chairs the Gatton College’s Capital Campaign Committee, serves on its Dean’s Advisory Council, and is Entrepreneur-in-Residence.