Rt Hon. Justine Greening

Justine Greening served in the UK government at a pivotal time in domestic and global politics. Pre-politics, having studied Business Economics and Accounting, Greening had a successful career in finance and industry with roles at PwC, GSK, and Centrica, and holds an MBA from the London Business School. It was fitting that she began her Ministerial career in Chancellor George Osborne’s Treasury team as Economic Secretary to the Treasury, playing a key role in delivering the 2010 emergency budget.

Quickly promoted by Prime Minister David Cameron to the Department for Transport, Greening delivered the successful transport strategy that underpinned the London 2012 Olympics, working with then Mayor Boris Johnson. From there, she moved to the Department for International Development, where she oversaw the UK’s global development programs, leading the UK humanitarian response to Ebola and the Syria refugee crisis. She was a leading architect of the Sustainable Development Goals and a member of the UK National Security Council, representing the UK on the Board of the World Bank and chairing the UN Security Council. She was appointed by then UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to the High Level Panel on Women’s Economic Empowerment. Her roles have placed her at the heart of the institutions that shape geopolitics and geoeconomics.

However, Greening's passion has always been education. Describing it as her “dream job,” she became the first comprehensive-educated Secretary of State for Education in Theresa May’s Government. She led the Department for Education’s work on skills, social mobility, and opportunity, launching the department’s first Social Mobility Action Plan and embedding the principle that where you start in life should not determine where you finish.

Greening stepped out of Cabinet to launch the Social Mobility Pledge, and since leaving Parliament, she has become a leading campaigner for social mobility and purpose-led business. She founded the Purpose Coalition, which works with leading employers, universities, and local authorities to improve opportunity outcomes on the ground and measure impact. Through this work, she brings together leaders from business, education, and government to drive systemic change and embed purpose into company strategy and operations.

Today, Greening is a leading commentator and keynote speaker on leadership, equality of opportunity, and how purpose can reshape organizations and economies for the better. Drawing on her experience at the highest levels of politics, business, and social reform, she shares insights on leadership and how collaboration between sectors can deliver a fairer future for everyone. She also speaks on the uncertain world of geopolitics and geoeconomics, the complex drivers of which she became intimately familiar with during her time at international development.