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Jan Olaf Willums
President - Inspire Management
Norway

Dr. Willums is founding chairman of the InSpire Group, which includessocial venture capital investments and financial advisory services ofsocial responsible investments. Dr. Willums has been a private equityinvestor since the 1980’s and has been cofounder of several high-techcompanies including what is today the world’s largest solar company.His latest investment is in THINK GLOBAL, the electric car makerheadquartered in Norway, where he is President.
His not-for-profit work is channeled through his Foundation forBusiness and Society, which is an active member of the Bellagio Forumfor Sustainable Development, of which he is the vice chairman. He wasrecently named Adjunct Professor in Innovation at the Norwegian Schoolof Management, and is on the board of the School’s Centre for CorporateCitizenship.

Dr. Willums has held senior management positions in various energycompanies, including head of Volvo Petroleum, the energy company of theSwedish car maker, and advisor to the chairman of Petronas in Malaysiain the 1980s. He later became Executive Director at the InternationalChamber of Commerce in Paris, Head of the World Industry Council forEnvironment, and founding Director of the World Business Council forSustainable Development in Geneva. In 1998 he returned to Norway asSenior Vice President of Storebrand, the largest financial institutionin Norway, where he later founder the InSpire Group.

Dr. Willums has a masters degree from the Swiss Institute of Technologyand a Doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He ismember of the International Advisory Boards of the World BankInstitute, of the Private Sector Advisory Group on Corporate Governanceat the World Bank, and of the President’s Environmental Advisory Boardof the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD),