Laurene Powell Jobs is founder and chair of Emerson Collective, an organization focused on harnessing the potential of individuals from underserved communities to help them build a better life. The Collective supports social entrepreneurs and organizations working in the areas of education, social justice and conservation. It primarily advocates on behalf of underserved students.

Powell Jobs also serves as president of the board of College Track, an after-school program she founded in 1997 to prepare underserved high school students for success in college. Started in East Palo Alto, College Track has expanded to serve students in Oakland, San Francisco, New Orleans and Aurora, Colorado. The program's intensive academic and extracurricular program is designed to ensure admittance to and graduation from college. All of the program's graduates have completed their secondary education and gone on to college.

In addition to her work with the Emerson Collective and College Track, she serves on the boards of directors of NewSchools Venture Fund, New America Foundation and Conservation International. She also serves as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Powell Jobs holds a BA and a BSE from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Earlier in her career, she spent several years working in investment banking and later co-founded a natural foods company in California. She is the widow and heir of Steve Jobs, co-founder and former CEO of Apple Inc. She manages the Laurene Powell Jobs Trust.

Aspen Ideas, Business Leadership, Education Professionals, Women in Business, Women in Leadership, Non-Profit & Association, Creative Thinking, influential, interesting, Aspen Ideas Festival - 2010 Speakers, Influential Women, Influence & Persuasion, Inspiring, Education Industry, Education Philanthropy, Philanthropist, Women's Health, Women's Rights, Women, Women in Society, SXSW, Milken Institute,