KIM CAMPBELL

The Role of Women in Politics: From Elections to Leadership

March 21 at 7:30pm · Mountainlair Ballroom

Kim Campbell served as Canada´s 19th and first female prime minister in 1993. She previously held cabinet portfolios as minister of state for Indian Affairs and Northern Development, minister of justice and attorney general, and minister of National Defence and Veterans’ Affairs. She was the first woman to hold the Justice and Defence portfolios, and the first woman to be Defence Minister of a NATO country. Campbell participated in major international meetings including the Commonwealth, NATO, the G-7 Summit and the United Nations General Assembly.

On January 1, 2004 Campbell assumed the position of secretary general of the Club of Madrid, an organization of former heads of government and state who work to promote democratization through peer relations with leaders of transitional democracies. The Club of Madrid was incorporated in Madrid in May of 2002, and Campbell is a founding member and also served as its vice president (2002 - 2004). She continues her long-standing relationship with Harvard University as an honorary fellow of the Center for Public Leadership at the Kennedy School of Government.

In October of 2003, Campbell assumed the presidency of the International Women's Forum, a global organization of women of significant and diverse achievement. She also chaired the Council of Women World Leaders (CWWL) from 1999 to 2003. The Council’s membership consists of women who hold or have held the office of President or Prime Minister in their own country.

Campbell speaks widely on issues relating to international politics and conflict resolution, democratization, international trade, gender, leadership, and Canadian/American relations. She makes frequent appearances on radio and television in North America and abroad.

A senior fellow of The Gorbachev Foundation of North America in Boston and a member of the International Council of the Asia Society of New York, Campbell also serves on advisory boards of numerous other international organizations. She is a director of several publicly traded companies in the hi-tech and biotech industries.

Campbell was educated at the University of British Columbia and the London School of Economics where she is an honorary fellow. She holds six honorary doctorates. Her bestselling political memoir Time and Chance was published in 1996.