Mary Goudie

Baroness Goudie has been a Member of the House of Lords since 1998 when she was appointed a life peer. She has held senior positions in the Parliamentary Labour Party in the House of Lords and is a senior member of the British/Irish Inter-Parliamentary Committee in the House of Lords and a former member of the Communications Committee, the Procedures Committee and the European Committee on Law and the Constitution.  At present she is a member of the Tax Law Rewrite Committee and member of the Committee of Selection. The Baroness is Vice Chair of All-Party Identity Fraud Committee and led the campaign for ratification of the United Nations’ Treaty on Human Trafficking and a subsequent Treaty of the Council of Europe on Human Trafficking.

She is Chair of the Women Leaders’ Council to Fight Human Trafficking at UN.Gift. She launched the global initiative to fight human trafficking in March 2007 and continues to lead this campaign. Baroness Goudie is involved with the G8 and G20 promoting the role of women and children in the global economy.

She has continued to work tirelessly on legislation in the House of Lords and is currently pushing through one of the government’s major reforms, The Equality Bill.

Since 2000, she has been a patron of the Community Foundation of Northern Ireland which benefits numerous charities, especially those focused on assisting women and children.  She led the campaign to increase the endowment fund with funding from the British government, foundations and individuals. In 2007 she launched the Patrons fund to ensure sustainability and continues to lead this campaign.

In Scotland, Baroness Goudie has served on the governing Board of Napier University where she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate degree in 1999 and was a member of the Board of the Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice in Glasgow. She has been included in the “List of Most influential Women in Scotland” published by leading Scottish newspapers.

In 1971, Baroness Goudie became the youngest woman to be elected to the London Borough of Brent Council. During her time on the Borough Council she worked to advance the Campaign for a Housing Aid Centre and a Law Centre and helped found a Housing Association for the Borough.

Outside of government, she has a consultancy practice which has provided strategic counselling to more than 25 large companies, organizations and professional services firms and has directed a wide range of public affairs assignments.

She is also actively engaged in numerous philanthropic organizations including her role as a member of the Executive and Board of Directors of Vital Voices Global Partnership. In this role she has been involved in training community and business leaders and parliamentarians. In addition she has been very active in raising funds for Vital Voices’ projects. She is also a trustee of Piggybankkids and a trustee for Share Gift.

Baroness Mary Goudie has been described as possessing a powerful combination of qualities: She has earned an enviable and impressive reputation for advancing a variety of Parliamentary and Constitutional issues while being an enthusiastic and energetic networker who has amassed an enviable collection of influential contacts around the globe who regard her as a valued and trusted friend.

She is married with two sons and resides in London, Glasgow and Cape Cod, Massachusetts.