Jack Canfield earned his Bachelor's of Arts from Harvard and a Master's degree from the University of Massachusetts. he also has an honorary doctorate from the University of Santa Monica. Canfield has been a high school and university teacher, a workshop facilitator, a psychotherapist and a leading authority in the area of self esteem and personal development for approximately 30 years.
Canfield is the founder and co-creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul book series, which has over 36 titles, 53 million copies in print and is translated into over 32 languages. He is the founder of Self Esteem Seminars in Santa Barbara, California, which trains entrepreneurs, educators, corporate leaders and employees in how to accelerate achievement. Canfield is also the founder of the Foundation for Self Esteem which provides self esteem resources and training for social workers, welfare recipients and Human Resource professionals. Some of his clients include Virgin Records, Sony Pictures, Merrill Lynch, Caldwell Banker, Federal Express, Bergen Brunswig Pharmaceuticals and the American Alzheimers Association.
In 1987, Canfield was appointed by the California Legislature to the California Task Force to Promote Self Esteem and Personal and Social Responsibility. He is the co-founder of the National Association for Self Esteem, and a member of the association for Holistic Education, as well as the National Association for for Self Esteem, where he was also a past member of the Board of Trustees and the recipient of the 1993 National Leadership Award. He is also a member of the National Staff Development Council and the National Speakers Association. In 1989, Canfield was awarded the Certified Speaking Professional designation, an honor that is held by less than 5% of NSA's membership. In 1997, he was nominated by three of NSA's past presidents for the coveted CPAE designation.
Canfield has appeared on such television shows as Oprah, The Today Show, 20/20