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“Partnering” by Jean Oelwang

Tangible lessons from 65+ of the world's most remarkable partnerships.

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Forge Deep Connections that make great things happen

Some of the most successful people in the world all have a secret power—their partnerships.

It’s not their technical skills or experiences that matter most, it is their ability to partner and forge deep connections. We want to share this wisdom with the world to help people build more meaningful lives and change the lives of others for the better.

Our deep connections shape who we are and have a profound ripple effect on everything we do, supporting us to achieve more, withstand anything, and amplify positive impact. These enduring partnerships are the foundation of a meaningful life as well as the backbone of any successful organization and collaboration, including many of humanity’s greatest accomplishments.

Yet at every turn, we are trained and pushed towards individual achievement. 

Hyper-individualism has created an environment of fear, division, and domination, which has crushed our ability to relate meaningfully to each other and diminished our capacity to innovate and collaborate.

We want to spark a relationship reset, helping move us from a hyper-individualistic world to a hyper-connected world.   

Our story

Header Image
Jean Oelwang
Cofounder Plus Wonder, President and founding CEO of Virgin Unite

Guided by a belief that deep connections of all kinds can help people to achieve something bigger, Jean Oelwang and a great group of partners formed the not-for-profit initiative, Plus Wonder.

Over the last 15 years, we’ve interviewed 60 extraordinary partnerships like President and Rosalynn Carter, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Leah Tutu, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, and a host of others you will be delighted to meet.

Keith & Todd,

They hosted us in their living rooms and selflessly and honestly shared their heartbreak and failures as well as their successes.

After collecting thousands of pages of transcripts from our open conversations, we began to notice recurring patterns in all the diverse partnerships. Their beautiful insights helped us to uncover a unique framework, The Six Degrees of Connection, which can help everyone build deeper relationships, find their true purpose, and make a difference in the lives of others.

We’ve also found this framework to be at the center of most successful large-scale collaborations, including some of humanity’s greatest collective achievements, such as closing the ozone hole and ending apartheid.  

We’re excited to share these frank, eye-opening, and humbling real-life stories with you, and invite you to join us in a global movement towards cooperation and purpose, one that positively impacts the world around us.

Meet our team

We are a collective of friends who have philanthropically funded Plus Wonder to get this Deep Connection wisdom into the world as widely as possible. Any proceeds from books or other activities will all be donated directly back to Plus Wonder to spark meaningful connections.

Jean Oelwang

Leadership

Lisa Weeks Valiant

Partnerships & Operations

Lindsay Clark

Program Manager

Nicholas J. Martino

Education

Breanna Morsadi

Education

Meet our board

Mich Ahern

Andrea Barron

Todd Holcomb

Uzodinma Iweala

Ellie Kanner

Joann McPike

Jean Oelwang

Greg Rose

Shannon Sedgwick Davis

John Stares

Kelly Thornton Hallman

Keith Yamashita

We would love for you to join us in building relationships that matter.

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