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Nadja Swarovski is the first female Member of the Executive Board of Swarovski, the world’s leading crystal manufacturer. She is the great-great-granddaughter of Daniel Swarovski, who founded the company in the Austrian alps in 1895. Today Swarovski turns over €3.2 billion a year. Nadja leads Swarovski’s Corporate Branding and Communications and the company’s creative collaborations, as well as its Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives and philanthropic programs. In the past 20 years, her bold commissioning of new products that celebrate crystal have continually positioned Swarovski at the forefront of design and consumer trends. From Alexander McQueen to Daniel Libeskind, the relationships she has built with figures in the worlds of fashion and jewelry, design and architecture, film and art, have established her as one of the world’s leading creative patrons. In fashion, Nadja has re-established Swarovski’s legacy of collaborating with the industry’s leading lights and brightest emerging talents, implementing groundbreaking designer support and catwalk initiatives including the Swarovski Collective (founded in 1999), and Runway Rocks (founded in 2003). In design, Nadja launched Swarovski Crystal Palace in 2002, an initiative that pushed the boundaries of lighting through collaborations with designers in the medium of crystal. The result was a spectacular body of work that offered a snapshot of the most exciting creative minds of the 21st century, including Libeskind, Zaha Hadid, John Pawson, Tom Dixon, Ross Lovegrove, Arik Levy and Yves Béhar. In 2007 Nadja developed Atelier Swarovski, a cutting-edge jewelry and accessories line featuring collaborations with designers including Christopher Kane, Viktor & Rolf, Jean Paul Gaultier and Karl Lagerfeld. Atelier Swarovski was joined this year by Atelier Swarovski Home, a home décor brand created in partnership with innovators such as Ron Arad, Tord Boontje, Fredrikson Stallard and rising stars Raw Edges. In addition Nadja has revitalized Swarovski’s relationship with the film industry through partnerships with costume and set designers. Swarovski crystals have been featured in movies including The Young Victoria, Black Swan and Skyfall. In the music industry she has overseen the use of Swarovski crystals to adorn the costumes of performers such as Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Jennifer Lopez and Madonna. Since 2012 Nadja has also driven Swarovski’s Corporate Social Responsibility strategy, ensuring that ethical and environmental standards are embedded in the company’s business practices as it pursues its aim of becoming a world leader in sustainable luxury. She is an Ambassador for Women for Women International, and under her leadership Swarovski has signed up to the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles and the UN Global Compact. Nadja chairs the Swarovski Foundation, which she established to consolidate Swarovski’s long-term commitment to charitable giving. With a focus on education, the Foundation supports projects that foster creativity and culture, meet social needs and promote wellbeing, and conserve natural resources. The Foundation has supported projects that include the restoration of the San Giorgio statue at the Basilica di San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice, the new Swarovski Foundation Centre for Learning at the Design Museum in London, Women for Women, and Water Aid. Born in Germany, Nadja is an Austrian and American citizen, and was educated in Europe and the US. After graduating from the Southern Methodist University in Dallas in 1992, she completed a graduate course in Fine and Decorative Arts at Sotheby’s in New York, and in Gemology at the Gemological Institute of America in New York. She is currently based in London.