Robert Landau

​A Grandfather's Promise to the Future​

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For Robert Landau, The Guardian Project began with three very special people: his three grandchildren.

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Like every loving grandparent, Robert wants his grandchildren to grow up in a world filled with opportunity, hope, peace, and possibility. He wants them to discover their passions, pursue their dreams, and live lives of purpose and joy.

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But Robert has come to recognize something profound. He can encourage his grandchildren to go to school, work hard, earn good grades, and follow their dreams. He can no longer promise that doing all those things will guarantee them a healthy, peaceful, prosperous, and sustainable world.

And that realization changed everything.

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Rather than promise a future he cannot guarantee, Robert decided to promise what he is willing to do today.

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Those promises became the foundation of The Guardian Project.

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A Lifetime of Learning, Leading, and Looking Ahead

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Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Robert grew up surrounded by creativity. His father was a screenwriter, and his mother taught drama. During college, a year studying in Sweden opened his eyes to new possibilities and launched a lifelong journey in international education.

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Over the next four decades, Robert served as a teacher and school leader in Switzerland, Indonesia, the Czech Republic, China, Cambodia, and Singapore. Along the way, he came to understand that while cultures, languages, and circumstances may differ, people everywhere share a fundamental hope: a better future for their children.

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His commitment to education extended beyond the schools he led. In China, he helped establish a foundation supporting educational opportunities in Gansu Province. In Cambodia, he founded and chaired a foundation providing university scholarships to promising young people facing economic hardship.

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After returning to the United States in 2015, Robert served as Executive Director of the Hawaiʻi Association of Independent Schools. He later founded Two Roads Education, through which he continues to help schools and organizations rethink education, strengthen leadership, and prepare young people for an uncertain future.

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Throughout his career, Robert has been guided by a fascination with what lies ahead and a conviction that we have a responsibility to influence the future through our actions today.

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From Grandfather to Good Ancestor

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Becoming a grandfather sharpened that conviction.

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Robert began asking himself a question that would eventually inspire The Guardian Project:

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What kind of world will our grandchildren inherit, and what am I willing to do today to help create a future in which they, and all living things, can thrive?

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He realized that being a loving grandfather means more than caring for his grandchildren today. It means accepting responsibility for the world they will inherit tomorrow.

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And that responsibility extends far beyond his own family.

The Guardian Project grew from this deeply personal realization into a global movement inviting people of all ages to make and keep Five Promises to the Future, transforming concern into commitment and commitment into meaningful action.

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The Promise I Can Make​

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Robert cannot promise his grandchildren a perfect world. He cannot guarantee that their education, hard work, or determination will protect them from the challenges of an uncertain future.

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But he can promise something within his power.

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He can make the Five Promises to the Future. He can live those promises through his choices and actions. He can invite others to join him. And he can devote the years ahead to helping leave a world in which future generations can thrive.

That is the promise he makes to his grandchildren.

And it is the promise he invites others to make to their children, grandchildren, and generations yet to come.

Serve the Future. Keep the Promises. Become Good Ancestors.