Dangerous Women: Risk in Leadership Debate
Dr Ruth Sacks of Westminster Business School, in association with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Women’s Association, hosted a panel discussion on the topic of ‘Dangerous Women: Risk in Leadership’ on 25th April 2016. The panel discussion, chaired by Corin Robertson heard from Karen Pierce CMG - British Ambassador to Afghanistan; Abigail Boyle – Head of Yemen Team, FCO; Jane Marriott OBE - Director, FCO-Home Office, International Counter-Terrorism Unit and Anne Reevell - Country Director, BBC Media Action, North Africa. Topics discussed ranged from leadership styles and career development to personal security, risk assessment and working in conflict zones.
Speaker Biographies
Corin Robertson (Moderator)
Corin Robertson joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1994. From 1994 to 1995 she was the Desk Officer for Greece and Cyprus; from 1995-1997 she was on full time Japanese language training first in London and then in Kamakura, Japan, before taking up the job of Second Secretary (Global Issues) at the Embassy in Tokyo from 1997 to 2000; from 2000 to 2002 she was the Head of the EU/Gibraltar Section in EU Department (Internal) in London; from 2002 to 2006 she was First Secretary (European Parliament) and then First Secretary (Antici) at the UK Permanent Representation to the European Union in Brussels. From 2011 to 2014 she was the Deputy Head of Mission, British High Commission Ottawa. Corin is currently Director for Estates and Security at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office.
Karen Pierce - British Ambassador to Afghanistan
Karen became British Ambassador to Afghanistan in May 2015. She previously served as Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UK Mission to the UN and Other International Organisations from 2012 to March 2015.
Abigail Boyle – Head of Yemen Team, FCO
Abigail joined the Foreign and Commonwealth in 2003, gaining her first international experience at the British Embassy in Baghdad in 2005. She was posted to the UK Provincial Reconstruction Team in Helmand in 2008, then seconded to the US State Department. From 2012-13 Abigail was Head of Post in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo. She took up her current role in 2014.
Jane Marriott OBE - Director, FCO-Home Office, International Counter-Terrorism Unit
Starting her career in the Cabinet Office in 1998, Jane Marriott has acted as Political Advisor to Coalition Forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, been Senior Political Advisor to US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke and Chargé d’Affaires, and Ambassador to Sana’a Yemen.
Anne Reevell - Country Director, BBC Media Action, North Africa
Anne Reevell’s award-winning programmes for the BBC include Diary of a Princess: Diana’s landmine campaign in Angola. She filmed Long Road to Tripoli for Al Jazeera English during the 2011 Uprising, joining BBC Media Action as Country Director, Libya in 2013. Following the escalation of conflict in 2014 Anne relocated the BBC Media Action operations to Tunis where she setup El Kul - a news and information platform for young Libyans.
