When she was in her twenties, Jess Richards took a job with a company she’d never heard of, Flight Centre, as a short-term measure to support herself while she looked for a real job.

Jess, the 175th person I’ve met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, ended up staying in her temp job for 17 years. She climbed the ranks, and was eventually sent from her native England to Sydney to run the company’s Australian business travel division.

Jess loved the company and her role. But she started thinking there was a different way to do corporate travel. What if clients were educated about the environmental impact of their travel programs? And what if staff were given itineraries that took account of their wellness needs?

So Jess left Flight Centre to co-found EnPerSo Business Travel, which not only manages clients’ travel programs, but also focuses on environmental sustainability, personal wellness and social responsibility. EnPerSo aims to make 1,000 companies’ travel programs carbon-neutral by 2025.

It’s a bold goal. But Jess is smart, driven and passionate about sustainability, so I’m confident EnPerSo will succeed.