Contributor Biography
The Right Honourable Kim Campbell P.C.; C.C.; Q.C. served as Canada’s nineteenth 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 Minister of 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. Ms. Campbell participated in major international meetings including the Commonwealth, NATO, the G-7 Summit and the United Nations General Assembly.
After her tenure as Prime Minister, Campbell was a Fellow at the Institute of Politics (Spring 1994) and the Joan Shorenstein Center for the Study of Press and Politics (1994-1995) at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. She served as the Canadian Consul General in Los Angeles (1996-2000). She taught at the Center for Public Leadership at the Kennedy School at Harvard from (2001- 2004) and remains an Honorary Fellow there.
From 2004 through 2006 Ms. Campbell served as 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. Ms. Campbell is a founding member and additionally has served as its Acting President in 2002 and Vice President 2003-2004. Ms. Campbell currently sits on the Board of Directors.
Kim Campbell served as Chair of the Council of Women World Leaders (CWWL) from 1999-2003. The Council’s membership consists of women who hold or have held the office of President or Prime Minister in their own country. From Oct. 2003 – Oct. 2005, Ms. Campbell served as President of the International Women's Forum, a global organization of women of significant and diverse achievement. Ms. Campbell serves on the board of the Women's Leadership Fund of Naissance Capital in Zurich.
Ms. Campbell is Chair of the Board International Advisors of the Foundation for Effective Governance in Kiev. She is a Trustee of the Crisis Group, the Salk Institute, and the International Center for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence (ICSR) at King’s College London. She is the chair of the steering committee the World Movement for Democracy. She also serves on advisory boards of numerous other international organizations such as the Arab Democracy Foundation in Doha, the Global Security Institute (GSI), and the Middle Powers Initiative (MPI). Ms. Campbell is a member of the Pacific Council on International Policy, (the West Coast affiliate of the Council on Foreign Relations), the Global Council of the Asia Society of New York and Board of the Forum of Federations. She is also on the High-Level Advisory Group of the EastWest Institute’s International Task Force on Preventive Diplomacy and serves on advisory boards for Glendon College at York University among others. Ms. Campbell ´s corporate director experience includes the high tech, bio-tech and medical devices industries and she is a consultant on issues related to democratization and leadership. She currently sits on the board of the Women’s Leadership Fund, an investment fund based in Geneva.
Kim Campbell was educated at the University of British Columbia (BA, 1969, LLB, 1983) and the London School of Economics (Doctoral studies in Soviet Government, ABD, 1970-73) where she’s an Honorary Fellow. She holds seven honorary doctorates. The 3rd Edition of her best-selling political memoir Time and Chance was released in May of 2008 with an updated epilogue by the University of Alberta Press.
Throughout her political career in Canada Kim Campbell was deeply engaged in international issues including law reform and criminal justice, international trade (her signature appears on the NAFTA side agreements) and security (both as Minister of Defence and Prime Minister. As Justice Minister she served on the War Cabinet during the First Gulf War.) Since leaving politics Ms. Campbell continues to be involved in global issues where she works with many world leaders and former heads of state and government. Her views are sought in many international fora.
Ms. Campbell is married to composer, pianist, and actor, Hershey Felder.
