Travel's transformative effect
- By Richard Branson -
- Sep 19, 2012
Writing this on our Virgin America flight from New York to San Francisco - busy day! Travel can have a transformative effect, bringing worlds closer together and helping us tap our humanity and humility especially in regions where people have far less than us or have endured tragic natural disasters.
The wonderful Conde Nast Traveler Magazine celebrated its 25th anniversary by recognizing a group of Visionaries at Lincoln Center last night, and I found myself counted among some amazing Visionaries. They include:
New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg (for helping cities become more carbon efficient), New York Times columnist Nic Kristof (for making gender equality a global priority), Christy Turlington Burns (for reducing maternity deaths), water.org’s Gary White (for making water more accessible through micro loans), artist Ai Weiwei (for boldly speaking out against and enduring China’s authoritarian brutality), actress Olivia Wilde (for her work in Haiti), former child soldier Okello Sam (for his school in Uganda), and actress Susan Sarandon and former child sex slave Somaly Mam (for their work helping other recovering sex slaves).
Among us too was Puma CEO Jochen Zeitz (for convincing companies to pay for their impact on nature), who I’ve partnered with on a new business-as-a-force-for-good initiative to be unveiled soon.
It was an inspiring night filled with hope and inspiration. Each Visionary has designed globes that are now for auction: check them out at charitybuzz. I hope everybody can find time to learn about all the Visionaries’ contributions and put their own passions to work to make this world a better place.
By Richard Branson. Founder of Virgin Group
