Kim Campbell

Kim Campbell’s background

As Canada’s first and only female Prime Minister, Kim Campbell’s life has been a life of firsts. From the age of 16 when she became the first female student body president of her high school, until 30 years later as the 19th Prime Minister of Canada.

Through her political career, during which she served at all three levels of Canadian government, Kim knows what it’s like to make it in a man’s world and is widely regarded as one of the foremost thinkers and speakers on gender issues and Leadership. Considered a “leader of leaders,” she was elected Secretary General of the venerated Club of Madrid, the largest forum of former democratic presidents and prime ministers.

Before rising to her nation’s highest office in 1993, she was the first Canadian Prime Minister to have held office in all three levels of government: municipal, provincial and federal. She has held cabinet portfolios of Minister of State for Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Minister of National Defence—the first woman to hold the top defense position in any NATO country—and Minister of Veterans’ Affairs.

After her tenure as Prime Minister, Ms. Campbell continued to serve as a diplomat, Counsul General and as a Fellow, lecturer and faculty member at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, where remains an Honorary Fellow. From 2014-18, she was the Founding Principal of the Lougheed leadership College at University of Alberta, creating a world class, interdisciplinary leadership program for undergraduate programs that is empowering change-makers. She currently serves as a Distinguished Senior Fellow at University of Toronto.

A member of Global Leadership for Climate Action, a task force of world leaders, she is a stalwart champion for the environment, making a strong business and economic case for sustainability. Straight-speaking, independent-minded and always thought-provoking, Ms. Campbell combines the stature and knowledge of a former head of state with an inspiring voice for women’s leadership and protecting our planet.

Holding audiences since the age of ten, Ms. Campbell speaks widely on issues related to leadership, international politics, democratization, climate change, gender and Canadian/American relations all over the world. In the first half of 2009 alone she addressed audiences in, Kiev, Cordoba, Toronto, Prague, Brussels, Vancouver, London, Beijing and Washington, DC among others.

Praised as a leader who “occupies a special place in the world of leadership, not only as a woman of many extraordinary firsts…,but as a woman who’s created a rich legacy of inspiration and expanded opportunities for girls and women across the globe,” former Prime Minister Campbell brings a deep understanding of the major issues of the day. Whether diving into trade, geopolitics, gender equity, Canadian/American relations or climate change, her keynotes inspire and illuminate. Most of all, they treat audiences to an encounter with one of the most extraordinary and accomplished women of our time.