Helle Thorning-Schmidt secured herself a place in the history books when she became the first woman to hold the post as Leader of the Danish Social Democrats and in 2011 as Prime Minister of Denmark. As Prime Minister of Denmark from 2011-2015, Helle steered Denmark through a difficult financial crisis while reducing child poverty and increasing spending on education. From 2016 to 2019 she was CEO of Save the Children International and hence held an international leading position in an organisation with an annual turnover of more than DKK 10 billion and 17,000 employees in 100 countries. Since summer 2019, Helle spends time on her board roles and advisory activities as well as the international think tanks she is part of. Since 2020, Thorning-Schmidt has served as a Co-Chair of the Facebook Oversight Board. Additionally, she was appointed by the World Health Organization’s Regional Office for Europe to serve as a member of the Pan-European Commission on Health and Sustainable Development, chaired by Mario Monti Helle grew up in the city of Ishøj with a single mother and has been politically active since her early youth. She has a Master’s Degree in Political Science from the University of Copenhagen, and a Master’s Degree in European Studies from the College of Europe in Bruges. Helle Thorning-Schmidt has an extensive background spanning politics, international relations and business. She is deeply engaged in the geopolitical and economic issues as a member of several foreign policy think tanks. In 2017, Helle was a co-chair of the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, and is on the board of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship. Helle is an incisive, honest and direct speaker. Born in Copenhagen, she is fluent in English and has a working knowledge of French.