Honoree Details

Jean Oelwang is the Founding CEO and President of Virgin Unite, the entrepreneurial foundation of the Virgin Group. For over 17 years, she has worked alongside Sir Richard Branson and partners worldwide to incubate and launch groundbreaking initiatives at the intersection of business, social impact, and environmental action. Under her leadership, Virgin Unite has helped catalyze efforts such as The Elders, The B Team, the Carbon War Room, Ocean Unite, the Caribbean Climate Smart Accelerator, and the Branson Centres of Entrepreneurship.

Jean has been instrumental in uniting leaders across sectors to embed purpose into business and drive systemic change on issues ranging from climate action to human rights. She has worked with over 25 Virgin businesses to integrate people and planet into their core strategies, while also co-founding and supporting collective platforms like The Audacious Project, The Africa Donor Collective, and The New Now.

Before Virgin Unite, Jean spent 18 years living and working across six continents, helping to build and scale mobile phone companies in South Africa, Colombia, Bulgaria, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, and the U.S. She also worked with the Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife in Australia and volunteered with homeless youth in Chicago as a U.S. VISTA.

Jean serves on numerous global boards and advisory councils, including The Elders, The Sara Blakely Foundation, Just Capital, and the Vatican’s Humanity 2.0 initiative. She is recognized as a pioneering voice in bridging business, government, and civil society to co-create solutions for the world’s most pressing challenges.