Richard Branson - Business Stripped Bare

The aim from the start was for the Elders to be a group of global advisers and not to instruct people to do things. They were to be individuals, and not simply representatives of a country or state. They were to be beyond party politics and free to speak what they saw as the truth.

I appreciate that you would have difficulty finding much time yourself but it would give enormous credibility to the future of the Elders if you were to give it your blessing and be its founding father.

I would pledge myself to find the time and resources to help organise it behind the scenes and to make sure it becomes a force for good in the world and hopefully continues for many years to come.

Kind regards,

Nelson Mandela loved the idea. It appealed to his entrepreneurial instincts. He agreed to become its founding Elder, along with his wife Graca, and they issued invitations to the eleven people in the world he felt had the greatest moral authority.

I’ll never forget walking out of Madiba’s home with Jean Oelwang after he and Graca had made the final selection of Elders. I had a wonderful feeling that this was the start of one of the most hopeful and inspiring ventures in my life. I also felt so blessed to be able to spend time with two true global leaders. Graca and Madiba share the extraordinary ability to lead with humility, honesty and an unfailing focus on those whose voices are not yet being heard. Madiba frequently reminds us that if something is not going to make a difference at village level, then we shouldn’t be doing it.

With Virgin Unite’s support, we then went on a journey of creation, reaching out to people all over the world to shape initiative and build support. We had two glorious weeks during which Archbishop Tutu and ex-President Carter helped Peter and me to host a range of different groups on Necker — from scientists, to philosophers, to entrepreneurs, to front-line leaders. As with the development of any business idea, there were moments when we thought: what are we doing?, and then that magnificent moment when it all clicked into place and we knew that this was going to be something that really could make a huge difference in the world. We also wove in some fun — impossible not to do with the cheeky archbishop there to keep us all on our toes. One of my fondest memories from this time is of Peter and me teaching him to swim in the beautiful waters surrounding Necker.

I will never forget the speech Madiba gave to everyone when we first brought the initial group of Elders together at Ulusaba:

Let us call them Global Elders, not because of their age, but because of their individual and collective wisdom. This group derives its strength not from political, economic or military power, but from the independence and integrity of those who are here. They do not have careers to build, elections to win, constituencies to please. They can talk to anyone they please, and are free to follow paths they deem right, even if hugely unpopular. I know that as a group, you will support courage where there is fear, foster agreement where there is conflict and inspire hope where there is despair.

After this gathering the Elders decided they wanted to announce their existence to the world on Madiba’s upcoming birthday on 18 July 2007. The team at Virgin Unite went into overdrive preparing for the launch and working with me to raise the funds we needed for the first few years — all in a little over five weeks! During this time, we had the opportunity to connect with an amazingly humble and sincere group of entrepreneurs and organisations who helped found the Elders. Their spirit in coming together behind this dream and the absence of any individual agendas truly captured the essence of the Elders. They have not only become partners in this initiative, but I’m also sure they will become lifelong friends.

As I write this, the other Elders are Madiba’s wife, Graca Machel, a renowned advocate for women’s and children’s rights; the Anglican archbishop Desmond Tutu, who was a tireless campaigner against apartheid in South Africa; Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations from 1997 until 2006; Ela Bhatt, founder of India’s Self-Employed Women’s Association; Lakhdar Brahimi, the Algerian-born former ambassador who began life in his country’s liberation struggle and then became a mediator in many Middle Eastern conflicts; Gro Harlem Brundtland, the former prime minister of Norway, who has made a significant impact on global society through her commission on the environment and sustainable development; the sociologist Fernando Cardoso, the former president of Brazil, who has fought hard for human rights in South America; Jimmy Carter, who brokered the historic Camp David peace accords when he was president of the US; Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and a distinguished United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 1997 until 2002; Muhammad Yunus, the Bangladeshi economist and Nobel Peace Prize winner, and founder of the wonderful Grameen Bank; and Aung San Suu Kyi, a fearless and outspoken critic of the military junta which dominates her Burmese homeland.

The Elders are, in essence, a group of immensely influential world figures acting like entrepreneurs who use their moral courage, wisdom and independent leadership to help tackle huge intractible problems. The beauty of the Elders is that they are at a time in their careers where they have no other agenda but that of humanity.

Once, whole empires were operated out of small rooms by a handful of oligarchs. Those days are effectively over, thank goodness, and certainly it’s not anyone’s plan to give the Elders political power! But what we do hope and intend is that the Elders can bring their influence to bear on the world stage, quickly and responsively, providing the peoples of this planet with a voice and a conscience.

So over these few pages, as I explain to you how the Elders work, I hope to convince you that entrepreneurism is not something you ever grow out of; nor is it something uniquely fitted just to sole traders, or small companies, or even to modular enterprises like the Virgin Group. Entrepreneurism is — if this doesn’t sound too pompous — a universal business virtue . I mean that it can be applied to problems, challenges and opportunities regardless of scale .

The Elders have been assembled in much the same way that a Virgin company is created. We have facilitated their organisation, and have provided them with the means to work together. We’ve made sure there is a motivated administrative team. And we are ensuring that the Elders’ name and brand is protected. It is important that the group develops a recognised single identity, to sustain it through frequent changes of membership and a constantly evolving roster of activities.

Peter Gabriel and I felt it was essential that we stepped back from this — that the Elders had complete independence and that their articles of association enshrined that complete independence. The Elders are beholden to nobody — and that includes the founders and any of the people funding them.

The twelve Elders are people with tremendous personal integrity. They are generally all over sixty years of age, and beyond ego. Their mission statement says that the Elders’ role is to work to resolve global issues and alleviate human suffering. It has taken a huge amount of work to get the mission statement and the structure properly sorted.

As mentioned, we’ve brought together a wonderful group of entrepreneurial founders whose generous contributions ensure that the first three years’ operating costs of the Elders are paid for, so that they can go on missions to places like Darfur and Kenya. The Elders are not paid for their work. They are able to tap into some of the leading conflict and dispute-resolution professionals from around the globe. The international stature of the Elders means that if they call on someone for specialised help in a project, then they will get an immediate response. Professional mediators will be able to do the groundwork before the Elders go into any area.