IMAGINE Mission Board Member &
Master of University College, Oxford
I am the Master of University College Oxford. Prior to that I was Director of SOAS University in London. I was appointed a Labour life peer in 1997 and was the first black woman to serve in a British Cabinet as Secretary of State for International Development. I went on to become Leader of the House of Lords. I have a lifelong interest in, and commitment to, issues of equality and social justice. My career has spanned local and national government in the UK as well as global leadership in my role as Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs at the United Nations. I also served as UK High Commissioner to Australia and between 1994 and 1998 worked extensively in South Africa.
My work in the voluntary and charity sector and in non-governmental organisations has gone hand in hand with my policy and political work. In addition to being a patron of the Amos Bursary, I sit on the board of the Mastercard Foundation, the UN Foundation, and the Mo Ibrahim Foundation. I am also a board member of the Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative, Institute of Government, and Grenfell Foundation.
