David Rockefeller Bridging Leadership Award Honorees

Sir Richard Branson is Founder and Chairman of the Virgin Group. Virgin is one of the world´s most recognized and respected brands and has expanded into many diverse sectors from air and ground travel to telecommunications, health, space travel and renewable energy through more than 200 companies worldwide, employing approximately 50,000 people in 29 countries.

In 2004, Sir Richard established Virgin Unite, his nonprofit foundation. It mobilizes the talent and resources from across the Virgin Group and beyond, to tackle tough social and environmental problems in an entrepreneurial way. It is built on the belief that the only way we can address the scale of the challenges facing the world today is by revolutionizing the way businesses and the social sector work together – driving business as a force for good. Sir Richard has been working closely with Virgin Unite to bring together the right partners to help create new global leadership models to address conflict, climate change and disease.

Sir Richard and his close friend, Peter Gabriel, had an idea about the need for a new leadership model for our “global village.” Inspired by the role that elders play in traditional societies as a source of advice, wisdom and experience, they took the idea to Nelson Mandela and were thrilled when he agreed to help bring a group of “global elders”together. Founded in 2007 with the support of Virgin Unite and a great group of partners, The Elders comprises ten visionary leaders including Graça Machel, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Kofi Annan and President Carter. They work both publicly and behind the scenes, collectively and individually, in areas of conflict such as Kenya, Cyprus, Darfur and Zimbabwe and also work on a number of global issues, such as health and gender equality.

In 2009, Sir Richard brought together a group of the world´s top entrepreneurs to initiate the Carbon War Room. The vision is to mobilize capital, innovation, expertise and international collaboration to increase the effectiveness of climate change efforts already underway and to focus on filling any gaps. These keen entrepreneurial minds will work together to help speed and scale solutions that will deliver a low-carbon economy.

Sir Richard and Virgin Unite also support a number of initiatives that lead to economic empowerment and healthy communities. These initiatives range from the creation of sustainable healthcare models in Africa, to supporting young entrepreneurs through the Branson School of Entrepreneurship in South Africa, to creating opportunities for disadvantaged young people in the United Kingdom and the United States.

Zainab Salbi is Founder and CEO of Women for Women International, a group that is dedicated to helping women survivors of war rebuild their lives. A survivor of war herself, Ms. Salbi started Women for Women International in response to the rape and concentration camps in Bosnia in 1993. Since then, the organization has served more than 250,000 women in eight conflict and post-conflict areas from Congo and Rwanda to Afghanistan and her native country Iraq.

Ms. Salbi is the author (with Laurie Becklund) of the national best-selling book Between Two Worlds: Escape from Tyranny: Growing Up in the Shadow of Saddam, an account of life in Iraq and the hold that Saddam Hussein had over her family. She documents the stories of women survivors of war in her second book The Other Side of War: Women´s Stories of Survival and Hope.

For her lifelong dedication to providing educational and economic training and opportunities for women survivors of war, Ms. Salbi has received many honors including a White House Honor from President Bill Clinton for her work in Bosnia (1995), the Forbes Trailblazer Award (2005), Innovator of the Month by Time Magazine (2005) and most recently a nomination from President Clinton as a Harper´s Bazaar 21st Century Heroine. Women for Women International was the recipient of the prestigious Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize Award in 2006.

Her work has been featured in major media outlets, including eight appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show and many appearances on CNN and in The Washington Post and The New York Times.

Ms. Salbi has a master´s degree in Development Studies from the London School of Economics and a BA in Sociology and Women´s Studies from George Mason University. She is a blogger for Marie Claire magazine and the Huffington Post and documents her travels and encounters with women worldwide on Twitter.