Jan Christian Vestre is CEO of the Norwegian family owned company Vestre, one of Europe’s most successful manufacturers of urban furniture. He took over the family business at the age of 25 and since then the company has established subsidiaries in a number of new countries and more than tripled its turnover.

Jan Christian was awarded ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ in 2019 and was named “Sustainable Leader of the Year’ in 2020. He has a Master’s degree in law studies from the University of Oslo and has previously worked in the Norwegian Ministry of Trade and Industry and in the Norwegian Parliament. Jan Christian believes that designers and businesses must contribute to achieve the UN’s 17 sustainability goals, and that today’s most important task is to accelerate the green shift and create social and democratic meeting places for all people.