Denis O’Brien founded Digicel in 2001, and as chairman of the company has overseen the opening of 31 markets of telecommunications services in communities across the Caribbean, Central America, and Asia Pacific. He is also the founder and chairman of the Dublin-based media group Communicorp, which hosts some of the most popular radio stations in Europe, such as Dublin’s 98FM and the UK’s Heart and Smooth Radio. In 2004, the Digicel Foundation was founded by Denis O’Brien, which aids communities in Jamaica, Haiti, Papua New Guinea, and Trinidad & Tobago in education, special needs, and community development.
The foundation has supported multiple community projects, including the construction of over 170 schools in Haiti following a series of natural disasters, creating over 500 classrooms in rural areas of Papua New Guinea, and raising literacy in Jamaica to 86.5% by partnering with USAID and the Jamaican Ministry of Education. Additionally, O’Brien is the chairman and co-founder of the human rights organization Frontline Defenders and serves on the board of the humanitarian group Concern Worldwide. He earned a BA in Politics and History from University College Dublin and an MBA from Boston College, and is the recipient of numerous honors and awards for his philanthropic work. For over a decade now, Denis O’Brien has participated in the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, and is a contributing author to the Forum’s website.
