Jiakai has held leadership roles at several prominent domestic and international nonprofit organizations, including the China Red Cross Jet Li One Foundation, Beijing Youcheng Entrepreneur Poverty Alleviation Foundation, Rare Conservation (based in Arlington, Virginia), and the World Wide Fund for Nature China Representative Office. Before entering the nonprofit sector, Jiakai worked in the Leveraged Finance Group of Credit Suisse’s Investment Banking Division in New York. He holds a BBA from the University of Toronto and an MBA from the University of Michigan. He was awarded a full scholarship from the Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) program at Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, granted to leading figures in the nonprofit sector.
In 2019, Jiakai was recognized as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, appointed to its Global Future Council on China, and named “Future Leader of the Year” by the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai.
他曾在中国红十字会李连杰壹基金、北京友成企业家扶贫基金会、美国瑞尔保护协会（Rare Conservation）、世界自然基金会（World Wide Fund for Nature）中国办公室等国内外公益机构担任领导职务。
在进入公益领域前，袁家凯曾任职于瑞士信贷纽约投行部杠杆融资组。他拥有多伦多大学工商管理学士（BBA）、密歇根大学工商管理硕士（MBA），并荣获长江商学院工商管理博士（DBA）项目授予公益领域领军人物的全额入学奖学金。
2019年，袁家凯被世界经济论坛评为“全球青年领袖”，并担任世界经济论坛未来理事会的中国理事会成员。同年被上海美国商会评为“年度未来领袖”。