Originally from the former USSR, Lilia Jolibois grew up in the United States, where she earned a degree in economics from Harvard University. Trilingual, she has lived in seven different countries and worked with collaborators across 40 countries. As a senior executive, she has made her mark at investment bank Merrill Lynch, at Sara Lee, and at the Lafarge Group, where she dedicated 18 years of her career.

A board member of the INSEAD Foundation and the Cara and Cadogan Petroleum companies, she is frequently invited to speak at conferences—especially for MBA students—on topics such as leadership, governance, sustainability, diversity, inclusion, and belonging in a professional context. Calm, eloquent, and open, she embodies the leader who inspires others to do more and do better for the common good.