[1][2] She created the Sylvia Bongo Ondimba Foundation, "For the family", in January 2011 "to improve the plight of vulnerable and disadvantaged people around the world".

She is the daughter of Edouard Valentin (died 28 January 2019), a French businessman who headed the group called Omnium Gabonais d'Assurances et de Réassurances (OGAR, Gabonese Insurance and Reinsurance).

In 1974, after a long stay by the Valentin family in Tunisia, Sylvia and her parents decided to move to Gabon, where she received an academic and Christian education at the Libreville Immaculate Conception Institution.

[citation needed] Sylvia Bongo Ondimba graduated with an advanced-level degree (DESS) in corporate management in France, and then decided to return to Gabon.

[4] Sylvia Bongo Ondimba was hired and promoted to the post of deputy managing director of the country's largest real estate firm, Gabon Immobilier, where she was named responsible for the company's marketing and economic development.