Eric Utne is an entrepreneur, publisher, and educator. In 1984, he founded Utne Reader, of which he was chair for many years. In June, 2006 the magazine was sold to Ogden Communications, publisher of Mother Earth News, Natural Home, and ten other special interest publications.

From 2005-2006 he published Cosmo Doogood's Urban Almanac: Celebrating Nature & Her Rhythms in the City, which he describes as a "21st century version of Poor Richard's Almanac."

Utne is the father of four Waldorf-educated sons and was the 7th & 8th grade class teacher at City of Lakes Waldorf School in Minneapolis from 2000-2002. He has a B.E.D. (Environmental Design) from the University of Minnesota. He is the President of the Board of Trustees of Sunbridge College, a Masters Degree-granting Waldorf teacher-training college, based in Spring Valley, New York.

In November, 2006 he was elected to the Executive Committee of the Nobel Peace Prize Forum.

He is in the midst of launching two new initiatives:
1. The Earth Corps for Global Service, a kind of "Peace Corps for the whole Earth"; and, 2. The Peoples' Peace Prize, a web-enabled, global process in which anyone can nominate, vote for, and contribute to candidates for what will possibly be the largest cash prize for doing good in human history.