New York, New York, USA

Baroness Valerie Amos: First Black Woman in a British Cabinet/ First Black Leader of the House of Lords

valerie-amos-soas
Baroness Valerie Amos

Today we’re heading to London to meet the Baroness!

Baroness Valerie Ann Amos was born on March 13, 1954 in Georgetown, Guyana but moved to London at age nine. She became the first black woman in a British Cabinet in 2003 when she was appointed Secretary of State for International Development and was also the first black Leader of the House of Lords and Lord President of the Council.

She is formally known as The Right Honourable Baroness Amos of Brondesbury in the London Borough of Brent. As a Minister in the British Government, she worked to tackle poverty in Africa by increasing aid flows through debt relief initiatives and promoting private-sector investments. Appointed to the United Nations in September 2010 as the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Baroness Amos is responsible for the oversight of all emergencies requiring humanitarian assistance. She manages governmental, inter-governmental and non-governmental relief activities.

Educated in the London Borough of Bexley, she Chaired the Royal African Society, a member of the Fulbright Commission and a Fellow at the Oxford University’s Centre for Corporate Reputation. Baroness Amos holds Honorary Doctorates, from Manchester, Warwick, Staffordshire, Bradford, Birmingham, Leicester and Bennett College, and North Carolina universities. She receives an Honorary Doctorate of Civil Law.

The Guyanese Girl definitely Rock!

 

Baroness Valarie Amos
Baroness Valerie Ann Amos

.

Leave a comment