In a world where visibility often outweighs virtue, it is worth pausing to recognise a different kind of leadership: the quiet, consistent kind that lifts communities and leaves a meaningful legacy. Bermuda has been fortunate to have such a leader in Brian O’Hara.

Leaders in business and philanthropy have paid tribute to him for his exceptional contributions to benefit Bermuda’s community. They praised Mr O’Hara for intentionally providing opportunities for Bermudians in international business, promoting women into senior positions, and establishing a culture of ethics, excellence and respect at the company he led as CEO. In addition, he was hailed for the support he gave to the Bermuda community in numerous ways, personally and professionally.

Much has been said over the years about Brian’s role as an architect of Bermuda’s global re/insurance sector. He was the first employee of XL when it started in the 1980s. Over the years, he contributed to the transformation of Bermuda from an emerging domicile into one of the world’s premier insurance hubs.

What is less publicly acknowledged is the depth of his humanity: the quiet generosity, the strategic philanthropy, and the decency that shaped lives far beyond boardrooms.

Brian was one of the Bermuda Foundation’s founding board members. As he stepped down after 13 years of service, the foundation took the opportunity to celebrate his work and commemorate his giving, and the spirit behind it.

When he came to live in Bermuda in the 1980s, Brian brought with him a sense of belonging. His parents had been stationed here during the Second World War, and his sister was born here, giving him an early emotional connection to the Island. But it was his values that anchored him here. Under Brian’s leadership, XL grew into a global force, but the company’s ethos remained grounded: invest in people, hire Bermudians wherever possible, promote women to senior leadership, build an organisational culture where fairness and integrity mattered.

At the start of the 21st century, when corporate culture was a footnote rather than a strategy, Brian championed it.

It was the same clarity that shaped his approach to philanthropy.

Under his guidance, the XL Foundation became one of Bermuda’s most influential corporate philanthropic bodies, supporting education, youth development, social services and community resilience. When asked to fund a school swimming pool, Brian declined … believing that the company should make a more substantive, long-term investment in young people and the future. As a result, XL developed a world-class IT curriculum for Bermuda’s public senior schools, partnering with leading universities (Stanford University and University of Virginia) to equip students and teachers for the digital age. That initiative, the Bermuda Technology Education Collaborative, was built jointly by the private and public sectors, and it was transformational to those students.

And in 2006, long before “corporate social responsibility” had become fashionable, XL launched its Global Day of Giving, when thousands of employees across more than 70 offices around the world were encouraged to spend a full day contributing to the communities in which they worked, lived and raised their families. It was pioneering then; it remains powerful now. At a time in Bermuda when philanthropy was not automatic or required, he was characteristically at the forefront of a movement that has lifted up so many Bermudians, and the community generally.

Personally, he has quietly financially supported individuals in need, donated to causes he believes in and has always been ready and willing to assist in addressing community needs. His work has demonstrated the goal of true philanthropy: to make a systemic and sustainable difference.

Another of Brian’s consequential acts of leadership occurred quietly, without fanfare. In 2013, when a small group set out to establish the Bermuda Foundation, the community was being asked to trust a new and untested idea: a permanent charitable endowment for Bermuda. When Brian was approached to join the board, he said yes, immediately.

That single act of trust – lending his name and his reputation – was significant in the creation of this long-term project built to strengthen the island’s non-profit sector for generations. Today, the Bermuda Foundation stands as a cornerstone of strategic giving.

What we honour in Brian is not only the scale of his achievements, but the quality of his character. He has lived here, raised his family here, and given consistently, quietly and generously to the community he shared and to which he is committed. He has one home and it’s in Bermuda.

As we face new social and economic challenges — from rising community needs to uncertainty in philanthropic funding — we are at times concerned about the future of the Third Sector and the essential services it provides to our community. But while there are people like Brian among us, we will be OK. At the celebration of his work, one speaker described him as “a good man” — not as a sentimental praise but referring to a standard of conduct.

In honouring Brian, we reaffirm our collective commitment: to give with intention, to lead with courage, and to build something enduring for Bermuda.

Legacies are not measured in monuments or titles, but in the lives strengthened by one person’s willingness to do the right thing, even when no one is watching. Thank you, Brian, for showing us what that looks like.

• Amanda Outerbridge is the chair and Myra Virgil is the managing director of the Bermuda Foundation, a community organisation established in 2013 to create an enduring source of funds dedicated to building a permanent financial asset to support Bermuda’s Third Sector long-term, while inspiring philanthropy for social impact. For more information, visitbermudafoundation.org