Jennifer Buffett

President and Co-Chair

In her capacity as President of the NoVo Foundation, Jennifer Buffett is responsible for the day-to-day creation and oversight of vision, strategy and program development, and is chief liaison in NoVo’s partnership building with other foundations and nonprofits.  Jennifer co-chairs the Foundation’s board with her husband, composer and producer, Peter Buffett.

Through the NoVo Foundation she works passionately to empower girls and women worldwide and end the violence and exploitation against them.  She serves on the boards of the Nike Foundation to promote “the girl effect” – the economic and social empowerment of adolescent girls in the developing world that results in a ripple effect of positive change, the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) and V-Day. She is also a leadership council member of the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) and BRAC USA.

Jennifer began her work in philanthropy in 1997 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, primarily as funder of social service organizations, with a focus on early childhood education for at-risk children and families.

In September 2008, Jennifer and Peter received the Clinton Global Citizen Award for their “visionary leadership and sustainable, scalable work in solving pressing global challenges.” Presenting the award to the Buffetts, Former President Bill Clinton said, “The Buffetts are leading an inspirational campaign to improve the status of women and girls across the globe. Their innovative approach to philanthropy has leveraged the capacity of existing organizations to affect real, positive change.”

In December 2009, Jennifer and Peter were named in Barron’s list of top 25 most effective philanthropists.