Jolande is currently chair of the Supervisory Board of the University of Amsterdam. She is also chair of Chapter Zero Netherlands and of the Board of the Dutch Emission Authority (NEA), member of the Board of SAAT Triodos and the Impact Economy Foundation, and supervisory board member at Renewi and KPN.

Between 2008 and 2012, Jolande represented the Dutch Green Party, GroenLinks, in the lower house of the Dutch parliament, leading the party from 2010. Before that she worked as an economist in the fields of science, policy and business. She was a.o. head of the Incomes Policy department at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment, and director of the LEEFtijd center of expertise, a consultancy for sustainable employment issues.