--- description: Find out why Laurene Powell Jobs is one of the 100 most influential people of 2023. title: Laurene Powell Jobs: The 100 Most Influential People of 2023 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt098051628a50fa3b/698a3bdf011682f738982eae/Laurene-Powell-Jobs-time100-2023.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Apr 13, 2023 # Laurene Powell Jobs by Yo-Yo Ma  Valerie Plesch—Getty Images/Bloomberg Laurene Powell Jobs is a modern-day Emerson, a tireless advocate for humans and for society. She’s also an incredible gardener—she keeps bees and is deeply knowledgeable about plant life and the conditions in which living things thrive. She is, amazingly, both specialist and generalist. Just look at her philanthropic and investment institution Emerson Collective and its vast range of engagement, from immigration to journalism to entrepreneurship. She shines a light on people finding solutions to seemingly intractable problems, whether climate change, [a struggling education system](https://time.com/4495705/xq-super-school-grant-american-high-school/ "undefined"), or endemic poverty. Through it all, there is a devotion to learning, teaching, and education, a lifelong commitment to creating spaces for curiosity to run free. Her work imagines the very best version of America, and the world. How does she do it? Laurene is capable of two things that are rare to find together: [great analytical thinking](https://time.com/4452517/apple-tim-cook-advice/ "undefined") and boundless empathy. When you have both, you make good decisions and can work toward both short- and long-term goals—which is really what gardening is all about. _Ma is a Grammy-winning cellist and a humanitarian_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6269891/laurene-powell-jobs/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6269891/laurene-powell-jobs/"},"headline":"Laurene Powell Jobs","datePublished":"2023-04-13T10:32:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:22:05.341Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6269891/laurene-powell-jobs/","keywords":["TIME 100","franchise","sponsorshipblock","TIME100 2023"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt098051628a50fa3b/698a3bdf011682f738982eae/Laurene-Powell-Jobs-time100-2023.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt098051628a50fa3b/698a3bdf011682f738982eae/Laurene-Powell-Jobs-time100-2023.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6269891/laurene-powell-jobs/","name":"Laurene Powell Jobs"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME100 | The 100 Most Influential People of 2023","description":"See all the people on Time's 2023 Time 100 list","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/P6RIsapV/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2023-04-13T10:30:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/P6RIsapV.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6269891/laurene-powell-jobs/","duration":"PT1M53S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6269891/laurene-powell-jobs/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```