To mark International Women’s Day, in partnership with the EU Delegation to the UK, Aspen Institute UK are bringing together leading speakers from the public policy, think tank, and foreign affairs sectors to discuss the distinctive contribution of women to policy making, and hear how they found success in their field.
It is increasingly recognised how gender insights into work, politics, and conflict are valuable to creating effective policies: ones that have the potential to ensure equal opportunity unconstrained by gender bias.
The panel discussion will be followed by a networking reception from 18:00, where we hope those working in public policy will be able to meet with like-minded individuals.
ON THE PANEL:
Phoebe Arslanagic-Wakefield – Phoebe is Chair of the Women in Think Tanks Forum, a network founded to give all women in policy the chance to network and opportunity to develop professionally, while encouraging a greater diversity of people into policy. She currently holds the position of Senior Policy Advisor at the impact-focused charity Impetus and was previously Senior Research Fellow in social policy at the think tank Bright Blue. Phoebe is a columnist for the City A.M. newspaper with regular bylines in other outlets.
Brigid Laffan – Brigid is Emeritus Professor at the European University Institute (EUI). She was Director and Professor at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the EUI, Florence until her retirement in August 2021. Brigid was the founding director of the Dublin European Institute, UCD from 1999. She was a member of the Board of the Mary Robinson Foundation for Climate Justice, the Fulbright Commission, and was the 2013 Visiting Scientist for the EXACT Marie Curie Network; in 2003 Brigid was elected as a member of the Royal Irish Academy. In 2018 POLITICO ranked her among the women who shape Europe. Brigid’s latest book with Stefaan Telle The EU27 Response to Brexit is forthcoming in April 2023.
Rashmin Sagoo – Rashmin is the Director of the International Law Programme at Chatham House. She developed her international law, policy and diplomatic experience in the government, humanitarian and international organization sectors. Rashmin joined Chatham House from the British Red Cross where she advised it and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement on a range of issues, notably: international humanitarian law, international human rights law, international disaster laws, data and counterterrorism.
Dr Karin von Hippel – Karin is the Director-General of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). Karin jouned RUSI after serving in the US Department of State as a Senior Adviser in the Bureau of Counterterrorism, and in her final position as Chief of Staff to General John Allen, Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter-ISIL. Prior to those roles, Karin co-directed the Post-Conflict Reconstruction Project at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC and was a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Defence Studies, King’s College London. She has worked for the UN and EU in Somalia and Kosovo, and has direct experience in over two dozen conflict zones.
Moderator:
Deborah Bonetti – Deborah is the Director of the Foreign Press Association in London and the UK Correspondent for QN-Il Giorno, an Italian national daily newspaper. She is a member of the UK Lobby and Chair of the Foreign Lobby – the group of international journalists who have regular briefings with departments of State and Number 10 Downing Street. She is an Observer on the National Committee for the Safety of Journalists (DCMS) and a regular Royal Commentator on various outlets, including RAI Italian TV. She has co-written a book on “Boris Johnson, the Media and the Pandemic” and one on: “The Foreign Correspondents’ View on Brexit”, both with Bite-Sized Books.