Jacob Sylvester Bilabel
STUBBORN OPTIMIST
Managing Director at THEMA1; Founder of the Good Life Academy
Berlin
Where sustainable living meets social action meets the good life, you’ll find Jacob Bilabel. A mediocre but passionate surfer, a Kundalini Yoga teacher, and fan of the great outdoors, his credo is: “Talk without action means nothing”, and by looking at all he’s done, it’s clear that Jacob takes this to heart.
Jacob is the Co-founder and Managing Director of the Berlin-based Think-Do Tank THEMA1, Chair of the green consumption-oriented Consumer Information Lab, and Founder of the Good Life Academy which provides accessible personal development tools to help individuals live up to their potential and create a happier, healthier, and more human future for us all. Ever the interdisciplinarian, Jacob tackles these issues with the mind of a humanist: his academic background is in Linguistics and Social Anthropology.
An impassioned musicophile, Jacob is also one of the driving forces behind the pan-European Green Music Initiative, which provides a platform for the music and entertainment industry to coordinate projects in the fight against climate change. He previously worked as VP of Corporate Communications and New Business at Universal Music Germany, set up MySpace’s operations in Germany, and served as a personal consultant to Mr. Joschka Fischer, Germany’s Foreign Minister, during the the 2005 elections.
While he spends most of his days living happily in Berlin with his wife and two dogs, Jacob will sing the praises of heartbreak during the Club of Broken Hearts at this year’s House of Beautiful Business.